The vase is broken and it lies in bits -- A shattered dream of beauty at my feet; The Potter's careful work -- the glazier's task All gone for naught. About the room there flits Pale dust from crumbling petals of a rose That blossom'd in its clasp. Not hers to ask The why of living or if death be sweet -- Hers but to blossom for a day and leave A fragrance clinging round a broken vase -- This, ev'n tragedy cannot erase; An echo yet for some lost happiness -- A golden mem'ry for the soul's reprieve. O dream, that one man formed from senseless clay! Beauty lives on forever, and its loveliness Recks not the blossom space of one short day. Up from the ruins rises sweet perfume -- Sweeter than flowers in their radiant bloom -- More poignant than the last, long bitterness Of candles burning in a darkened room. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...CONTRA MORTEM: THE MOUNTAIN FASTNESS by HAYDEN CARRUTH GREEN MOUNTAIN IDYL by HAYDEN CARRUTH FOR ST. BARTHOLOMEW'S EVE by MALCOLM COWLEY THE LEAVES OF THE TREE HIDE THE SUN by DAVID IGNATOW THE GOLDEN WEDDING OF STERLING AND SARAH LANIER by SIDNEY LANIER CHARLOTTE CORDAY (REVOLUTIONARY TRIBUNAL, JULY 17, 1793) by EDGAR LEE MASTERS |