Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE TOADSTOOL, by OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: There's a thing that grows by the fainting flower Last Line: His throat is swelling with baffled love. Subject(s): Toadstools | ||||||||
THERE's a thing that grows by the fainting flower, And springs in the shade of the lady's bower; The lily shrinks, and the rose turns pale, When they feel its breath in the summer gale, And the tulip curls its leaves in pride, And the blue-eyed violet starts aside; But the lily may flaunt, and the tulip stare, For what does the honest toadstool care? She does not glow in a painted vest, And she never blooms on the maiden's breast; But she comes, as the saintly sisters do, In a modest suit of a Quaker hue. And, when the stars in the evening skies Are weeping dew from their gentle eyes, The toad comes out from his hermit cell, The tale of his faithful love to tell. Oh, there is light in her lover's glance, That flies to her heart like a silver lance; His breeches are made of spotted skin, His jacket is tight, and his pumps are thin; In a cloudless night you may hear his song, As its pensive melody floats along, And, if you will look by the moonlight fair, The trembling form of the toad is there. And he twines his arms round her slender stem, In the shade of her velvet diadem; But she turns away in her maiden shame, And will not breathe on the kindling flame; He sings at her feet through the livelong night, And creeps to his cave at the break of light; And whenever he comes to the air above, His throat is swelling with baffled love. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A BALLAD OF THE BOSTON TEA-PARTY [DECEMBER 16, 1773] by OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES A SEA DIALOGUE by OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES A SUN-DAY HYMN [OR LAMENT] by OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES AFTER A LECTURE ON KEATS by OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES BILL AND JOE by OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES BIRTHDAY OF DANIEL WEBSTER by OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES BOSTON COMMON: 1630 by OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES BOSTON COMMON: 1774 by OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES BOSTON COMMON: 1869 by OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES BROTHER JONATHAN'S LAMENT FOR SISTER CAROLINE [DECEMBER 2O, 1860] by OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES |
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