Huge elm, with rifted trunk all notched and scarred, Like to a warrior's destiny! I love To stretch me often on thy shadowed sward, And hear the laugh of summer leaves above; Or on thy buttressed roots to sit, and lean In careless attitude, and there reflect On times, and deeds, and darings that have been -- Old castaways, now swallowed in neglect; While thou art towering in thy strength of heart, Stirring the soul to vain imaginings, In which life's sordid being hath no part. The wind of that eternal ditty sings Humming of future things, that burn the mind To leave some fragment of itself behind. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...DOMESDAY BOOK: THE CONVENT by EDGAR LEE MASTERS THE FOUR BROTHERS by CARL SANDBURG THE ANGELUS; HEARD AT THE MISSION DOLORES IN SAN FRANCISCO, 1868 by FRANCIS BRET HARTE EIGHT O'CLOCK by ALFRED EDWARD HOUSMAN THE SMACK IN SCHOOL by WILLIAM PITT PALMER TO THE UNKNOWN EROS: BOOK 1: 12. MAGNA EST VERITAS by COVENTRY KERSEY DIGHTON PATMORE |