I HAD a beautiful garment And I laid it by with care; I folded it close, with lavender leaves, In a napkin fine and fair: "It is far too costly a robe," I said, "For one like me to wear." So never at morn or evening I put my garment on; It lay by itself, under clasp and key, In the perfumed dusk alone,— Its wonderful broidery hidden Till many a day had gone. There were guests who came to my portal, There were friends who sat with me, And clad in soberest raiment I bore them company; I knew that I owned a beautiful robe, Though its splendor none might see. There were poor who stood at my portal, There were orphaned sought my care; I gave them the tenderest pity, But had nothing beside to spare; I had only the beautiful garment, And the raiment for daily wear. At last, on a feast-day's coming, I thought in my dress to shine; I would please myself with the lustre Of its shifting colors fine; I would walk with pride in the marvel Of its rarely rich design. So out from the dust I bore it— The lavender fell away— And fold on fold I held it up To the searching light of day. Alas! the glory had perished While there in its place it lay. Who seeks for fadeless beauty Must seek for the use that seals, To the grace of a constant blessing, The beauty that use reveals, For into the folded robe alone The moth with its blighting steals. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE FAERY FOREST by SARA TEASDALE BALLADE MADE FOR HIS MOTHER THAT SHE MIGHTE PRAYE by FRANCOIS VILLON NURSE'S SONG, FR. SONGS OF EXPERIENCE by WILLIAM BLAKE THE CHILDREN'S HOUR by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW A HYMN WRITTEN IN WINDSOR FOREST by ALEXANDER POPE THE GREENWOOD SHRIFT; GEORGE III AND A DYING WOMAN IN WINDSOR FOREST by ROBERT SOUTHEY |