Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, NOT ROSES TO THE ROSE, I TROW, by ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

NOT ROSES TO THE ROSE, I TROW, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
Last Line: A verse they owe you at the least
Alternate Author Name(s): Stevenson, Robert Lewis Balfour
Subject(s): Poetry & Poets


NOT roses to the rose, I trow,
The thistle sends, nor to the bee
Do wasps bring honey. Wherefore now
Should Locker ask a verse from me?

Martial, perchance,''"but he is dead,
And Herrick now must rhyme no more;
Still burning with the muse, they tread
(And arm in arm) the shadowy shore.

They, if they lived, with dainty hand,
To music as of mountain brooks,
Might bring you worthy words to stand
Unshamed, dear Locker, in your books.

But tho' these fathers of your race
Be gone before, yourself a sire,
To-day you see before your face
Your stalwart youngsters touch the lyre.

On these''"on Lang, or Dobson''"call,
Long leaders of the songful feast.
They lend a verse your laughing fall''"
A verse they owe you at the least.





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