Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, IN PRAISE OF COMMON THINGS, by LIZETTE WOODWORTH REESE


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

IN PRAISE OF COMMON THINGS, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: For stock and stone
Last Line: Is it but a step to run to thee.
Subject(s): Worship


FOR stock and stone;
For grass, and pool; for quince tree blown
A virginal white in spring;
And for the wall beside,
Gray, gentle, wide;
For roof, loaf, everything,
I praise Thee, Lord;
For toil, and ache, and strife,
And all the commonness of life.
Hearty, yet dim,
Like country voices in a hymn,
The things a house can hold;
The memories in the air;
And down the stair
Fond footsteps known of old;
The chair, the book or two;
The little bowl of white and blue.
What would it be,
If loveliness were far from me?
A staff I could not take,
To hurry up and down,
From field to town;
Needs would my wild heart break;
Or, I would vacant go,
And, being naught, to nothing grow.
This is the best:
My little road from east to west,
The breadth of a man's hand,
Not from the sky too far,
Nor any star,
Runs through the unwalled land;
From common things that be,
Is it but a step to run to Thee.





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