Man's earthliness which saints deplore Suggests that his most potent worth Is surely to refresh the store Of diligent dead, compact with earth. In their dull drudgery he shall Enlist, save that he makes his tomb The sea where pallid fishes fall Like slow snow down the tall green gloom. Such proud exemption justly goes Never to them who vainly sing In strenuous awe before a rose, Or tremble in the furious spring. Wherefore, dark mariners, you earn A certain envy that you set Wide banners on the wind, and spurn The crowded island, and forget You ever trod its greenest shore; But most, that finally you stand In cold unlaboring coral or Insinuate the sterile sand. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE CATS' MONTH by WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS THE ROSE-BUD; TO A YOUNG LADY by WILLIAM BROOME THE POLAR QUEST by RICHARD EUGENE BURTON AT APRIL by ANGELINA WELD GRIMKE HYMN TO SANTA RITA; THE PATRON SAINT OF THE IMPOSSIBLE by ALVEY AUGUSTUS ADEE SEVEN SAD SONNETS: 2. THE OTHER ONE COMES TO HER by MARY REYNOLDS ALDIS |