I need the courage of the desert-palm For growing tall like it, near burning ground, And keeping sap and life where sands abound; For every traveler be a Gilead's balm: And I, with courage, would withstand each qualm Alone -- oasis-like, be ever found With shade and fruit and waters' cooling sound: Give quiet like the Arab's low salaam -- Unwithering, though the sun in hot embrace Contrasts the deadly chill of desert-night, Protesting ice that forms within my veins When desert-prowler thoughts may slink and chase Me into bony lairs, with poison spite, And I lose the courage that the palm maintains. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...LITTLE BROWN BABY by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR THE USE OF FLOWERS by MARY HOWITT THE MOCKING-BIRD by JOHN GARDINER CALKINS BRAINARD DIXIT, ET IN MENSAM by CHARLES WILLIAM SHIRLEY BROOKS LEOLINE by EDWARD ROBERT BULWER-LYTTON HILLS OF HOME by WITTER BYNNER THE CANTERBURY TALES: THE PARDONER'S TALE by GEOFFREY CHAUCER |