Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE ROSE AND THE FERN, by OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Lady, life's sweetest lesson wouldst thou learn Last Line: Gather life's full-blown rose! Subject(s): Flowers; Roses | ||||||||
LADY, life's sweetest lesson wouldst thou learn, Come thou with me to Love's enchanted bower: High overhead the trellised roses burn; Beneath thy feet behold the feathery fern, -- A leaf without a flower. What though the rose leaves fall? They still are sweet, And have been lovely in their beauteous prime, While the bare frond seems ever to repeat, "For us no bud, no blossom, wakes to greet The joyous flowering time!" Heed thou the lesson. Life has leaves to tread And flowers to cherish; summer round thee glows; Wait not till autumn's fading robes are shed, But while its petals still are burning red Gather life's full-blown rose! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE WHISPER OF THE ROSE by EDMUND JOHN ARMSTRONG THE WISDOM OF THE ROSE by ELSA BARKER LOVE PLANTED A ROSE by KATHARINE LEE BATES ROSES; A VILANELLE by LOUISA SARAH BEVINGTON THE PAINTER ON SILK by AMY LOWELL VARIATIONS: 17 by CONRAD AIKEN WORDS IN A CERTAIN APPROPRIATE MODE by HAYDEN CARRUTH A BALLAD OF THE BOSTON TEA-PARTY [DECEMBER 16, 1773] by OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES |
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