Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

COMPENSATION (2) by RALPH WALDO EMERSON

Poet Analysis

First Line: WHY SHOULD I KEEP HOLIDAY
Last Line: AND NOW THEIR HOUR IS COME.
Why should I keep holiday
When other men have none?
Why but because, when these are gay,
I sit and mourn alone?

And why, when mirth unseals all tongues,
Should mine alone be dumb?
Ah! late I spoke to silent throngs,
And now their hour is come.



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