Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


PARABLE by RALPH WARD DOUBERLY

First Line: FLOWERS ARE SUCH TENDER THINGS
Last Line: AND SHOULDERS DOWN THE CROWDED STREET.
Subject(s): EVIL; VIRTUE;

Flowers are such tender things
That once cut down they grow no more;
But weeds, though cut ten times a day,
Usurp the garden as before.

Virtue has such feeble health
The least exposure strikes it dead
While evil, defying heat or chill
Is always robust and well-fed.

Love must move in quiet ways,
Stealing along on padded feet,
But hate, swashbuckler, clanks his sword
And shoulders down the crowded street.



Home: PoetryExplorer.net