Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, SO MUCH TO LEARN, by RICHARD EUGENE BURTON


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

SO MUCH TO LEARN, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: So much to learn! Old nature's ways
Last Line: So brief the time, so much to learn!
Subject(s): Learning; Life; Nature; Soul; Wisdom


SO much to learn! Old Nature's ways
Of glee and gloom with rapt amaze
To study, probe, and paint -- brown earth,
Salt sea, blue heavens, their tilth and dearth,
Birds, grasses, trees -- the natural things
That throb or grope or poise on wings.

So much to learn about the world
Of men and women! We are hurled
Through interstellar space a while
Together, then the sob, the smile,
Is silenced, and the solemn spheres
Whirl lonesomely along the years.

So much to learn from wisdom's store
Of early art and ancient lore.
So many stories treasured long
On temples, tombs, and columns strong.
The legend of old eld, so large
And eloquent from marge to marge.

So much to learn about one's self:
The fickle soul, the nimble elf
That masks as me; the shifty will,
The sudden valor and the thrill;
The shattered shaft, the broken force
That seems supernal in its source.

And yet the days are brief. The sky
Shuts down before the waking eye
Has bid good-morrow to the sun;
The light drops low, and Life is done.
Good-by, good-night, the star-lamps burn;
So brief the time, so much to learn!





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