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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


THE WAY TO THE ARBUTUS by CATHERINE CATE COBLENTZ

First Line: I CANNOT REMEMBER THE NAMES OF ROADS AND HILLS
Last Line: PAST THE PLACE I FOUND A GENTIAN IN THE RAIN.

I cannot remember the names of roads and hills,
I remember only where the wild flowers grow;
By an old stone cellar there are daffodils
And bluets where a pasture brook runs slow.

I cannot remember which is east or west,
I remember only where a lady's-slipper stood;
And I recall arbutus, growing best
Around a certain corner of a certain wood.

I cannot remember the path that winds along there,
I remember only a wild rose in the lane
Where you cross by a thicket beyond the maidenhair,
Past the place I found a gentian in the rain.



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