Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, I DO NOT FEAR, by ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

I DO NOT FEAR, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: I do not fear to own me kin
Last Line: Alone of all things have the power.
Alternate Author Name(s): Stevenson, Robert Lewis Balfour
Subject(s): Love; Nature; Spring


I DO not fear to own me kin
To the glad clods in which spring flowers begin;
Or to my brothers, the great trees
that speak with pleasant voices in the breeze,
Loud talkers with the winds that pass;
Or to my sister, the deep grass.

Of such I am, of such my body is,
That thrills to reach its lips to kiss.
That gives and takes with wind and sun and rain
And feels keen pleasure to the point of pain.
Of such are these,
The brotherhood of stalwart trees,
The humble family of flowers,
That make a light of shadowy bowers
Or star the edges of the bent:
They give and take sweet colour and sweet scent;
They joy to shed themselves abroad;
And tree and flower and grass and sod
Thrill and leap and live and sing
With silent voices in the Spring.

Hence I not fear to yield my breath,
Since all is still unchanged by death;
Since in some pleasant valley I may be,
Clod beside clod, or tree by tree,
Long ages hence, with her I love this hour;
And feel a lively joy to share
With her the sun and rain and air,
To taste her quiet neighbourhood
As the dumb things of field and wood,
The clod, the tree, the starry flower,
Alone of all things have the power.





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net