Bright in September, bright against the sky, Bright against mountains, bright against the sea, Oh, acid fruit and worthless! pass it by; Oh, beautiful and worthless! let it be. Yet the birds take these branches for a house, Wild grape festoons them, binding tart with tart; And to the end of time unshaken boughs Are not for us to laugh at, O my heart: Unshaken boughs, and fruit ungathered yearly Save by the wind that brings its scattering down, To bruise on rocks, smash open, juicing clearly, And rot beneath the tree till it is brown. Out in back pastures known to sheep and cows, Blind foot-note to a page, they stand apart; But to the ends of time unshaken boughs Are not for us to laugh at, O my heart! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...OFFERING by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON THE MARIPOSA LILY by INA DONNA COOLBRITH THE SOBBING OF THE BELLS (MIDNIGHT, SEPT. 19-20, 1881) by WALT WHITMAN OLD HOMES by EDMUND CHARLES BLUNDEN BESIDE THE SHORE ROAD by HARRY RANDOLPH BLYTHE |