Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


THE LAST SWEEP OF THE SCYTHE by CHARLES TENNYSON TURNER

First Line: THE YEAR HAD RUSHED ALONG THROUGH MAY AND JUNE
Last Line: THAT FALLEN CORN IS BREAD, AND MANY A LOSS TRUE GAIN.
Subject(s): HARVEST;

The year had rushed along through May and June,
And my own natal month, her goal to win;
And now the fruitful sheaves were coming in;
The glow of August made the barren moon
As mellow as the corn-lands. One bright field,
Which to the southward sloped, enhancing all
The beauty of the view, was last to fall
Before the sweeping scythe. Its doom was sealed;
I grieved to think how fleet and fugitive
Are all our joys, how near to change or harm:
And how that azure distance would outlive
Its golden foreground, losing half its charm!
But I remembered, ere I looked again,
That fallen corn is bread, and many a loss true gain.



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