The sweet brier grows in the merry green wood, Where the musk rose diffuses his perfume so free, But the blight often seizes both blossom and bud, While the mildew flies over the mulberry-tree. In the nursery reared, like the young tender vine, Mankind of all orders and every degree, First crawl on the ground, then spring up like the pine, And some branch and bear fruit like the mulberry-tree. The vast tree of life we all eagerly climb, And impatiently pant at its high top to be; Though nine out of ten are lopp'd off in their prime, And they drop like dead leaves from the mulberry-tree. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A WINTER NIGHT by WILLIAM BARNES AT APRIL by ANGELINA WELD GRIMKE MOONRISE IN THE ROCKIES by ELLA (RHOADS) HIGGINSON TO SENECA LAKE by JAMES GATES PERCIVAL NORTHERN FARMER, NEW STYLE by ALFRED TENNYSON |