Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

RHYTHM by WITTER BYNNER

Poet Analysis

First Line: A NATURE THAT TAKES AND NEVER GIVES
Last Line: THE SOONER TO BECOME A GROVE.
Subject(s): NATURE;
A nature that takes and never gives
Really dies before it lives;
A nature that gives and never takes
Dreams a while before it wakes.

Therefore let the dreamer rouse
And learn a lesson from the cows
That eat their fill the livelong day,
The better to give their milk away.

Therefore let the corpse be quick:
It's rhythm, not arithmetic.
A poplar drops its treasure-trove,
The sooner to become a grove.



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