THEY will not stay, Yon withered shells that case the ripened fruit, To mar Earth's beauty, now their work is past -- Protectors missioned by the parent root No longer needed. Wild autumnal blast, Blow all away! They may not cling Too long round fast-maturing Faith, the forms That cradle her, now shrivelled to the death: What guardian pod outstays the stripping storms? Strong gale of cleansing Time, at every breath Bid some take wing! They should not haunt Our waxing hearts, the acts of long ago: Ills, pains, mistakes, each served its fostering end; The scenes are played out, let the drama go! Hence, kind Oblivion, bid thy whirlwind send Each spectre gaunt! They must not vex Our spiring souls, the empty dream or hope That gilt the Past; for each enshrined a germ Fast fructifying mid Diviner scope. Stern Fate, whose blow ends all at its due term, Strew these vain wrecks! They cannot cleave For long to Life's fair tree, these frames of ours; Spent as the spirit ripens, they decay: Yet Death, and all the desolating Powers, Sweep on! ye can but chase the husks to clay, The Fruit ye leave! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...CARGO MOVING TO GAZA (1988) by MARVIN BELL MOUNTAIN VALLEY by MALCOLM COWLEY POSTHUMOUS by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON SPRINGTIDE by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON THE AWAKENING by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON MANHATTAN, 1609 by EDWIN MARKHAM |