Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE LOST PHILOPENA, by SILAS WEIR MITCHELL


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE LOST PHILOPENA, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: More blest is he who gives than who receives
Last Line: And freely squander what thou hast from all.
Subject(s): Gifts & Giving; Nature


MORE blest is he who gives than who receives,
For he that gives doth always something get:
Angelic usurers that interest set:
And what we give is like the cloak of leaves
Which to the beggared earth the great trees fling,
Thoughtless of gain in chilly autumn days:
The mystic husbandry of nature's ways
Shall fetch it back in greenery of the Spring.
One tender gift there is, my little maid,
That doth the giver and receiver bless,
And shall with obligation none distress;
Coin of the heart in God's just balance weighed;
Wherefore, sweet spendthrift, still be prodigal,
And freely squander what thou hast from all.





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