My children have the things I wanted -- college, The skill to draw, the ear that music thrills, The power to delve in wider fields of knowledge, The sight of cities far beyond the hills. Their feet shall run in places where mine tarried, Their hands shall cling where mine have lost their hold, Their hearts be sturdier than the one I carried -- They shall not stand aghast for lack of gold. A crooked tree may bear a wealth of flowers Like rosy clouds, or fruit like purple gem. So, from my poverty, I build the towers Where stars of hope shall never set on them. This is the thought that makes me proud and glad: God lets me give the things I never had. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...READING WHITMAN IN A TOILET STALL by TIMOTHY LIU A WORKING PARTY by SIEGFRIED SASSOON THE FISHER'S BOY by HENRY DAVID THOREAU REALISM by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH THE HUNCHBACK by JOHN PEALE BISHOP ENGLISH ENCOURAGEMENT OF ART (FIRST READING) by WILLIAM BLAKE A NEW PILGRIMAGE: 33 by WILFRID SCAWEN BLUNT THE THREE SAD SHEPPARDESSES, GOE TO A LITTLE TABLE, WHERE THEY SINGE by ELIZABETH BRACKLEY |