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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


PAST SORROWS by CHRISTOPHER PEARSE CRANCH

Poem Explanation

First Line: AS TANGLED DRIFTWOOD BARRING UP A STREAM
Last Line: FORGETS THE OLD GRIEFS, AND HEALS THEIR DEEPEST SCARS.
Subject(s): GRIEF; HOPE; ISLANDS; LIFE; SORROW; SADNESS; OPTIMISM;

As tangled driftwood barring up a stream
Against our struggling oars when hope is high
To reach some fair green island we descry
Lying beyond us in the morning's gleam,
And shimmering like a landscape in a dream --
Yet waiting patiently the logs float by,
And all our course lies open to the eye --
So sorrows come and go. What though they seem
A blight whose touch might turn a young head gray,
Joy dawns again. Hope beckons us before.
The tide that pressed against us breaks our bars;
The visionary islands smile once more.
Life, with its rest by night, its work by day,
Forgets the old griefs, and heals their deepest scars.



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