Fair tree! for thy delightful shade 'Tis just that some return be made; Sure, some return is due from me To thy cool shadows and to thee. When thou to birds dost shelter give, Thou music dost from them receive; If travelers beneath thee stay, Till storms have worn themselves away, That time in praising thee they spend, And thy protecting power commend; The shepherd here, from scorching freed, Tunes to thy dancing leaves his reed; Whilst his loved nymph in thanks bestows Her flowery chaplets on thy boughs. Shall I then only silent be, And no return be made by me? No: let this wish upon thee wait, And still to flourish be thy fate; To future ages mayst thou stand, Untouched by the rash workman's hand, Till that large stock of sap is spent Which gives thy summer's ornament; Till the fierce winds that vainly strive To shock thy greatness whilst alive, Shall on thy lifeless hour attend, Prevent the axe, and grace thy end: Their scattered strength together call, And to the clouds proclaim thy fall, Who then their evening dews may spare, When thou no longer art their care, But shalt, like ancient heroes, burn, And some bright hearth be made thy urn. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...OCTAVES: 15 by EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON NURSING HOME: THE CANARY by KAREN SWENSON UPON THE LOSS OF HIS MISTRESSES by ROBERT HERRICK TWICE by CHRISTINA GEORGINA ROSSETTI THE HOUSE OF LIFE: 54. LOVE'S FATALITY by DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI TO ONE WHO ASKS by MARY REYNOLDS ALDIS A SONG OF APPLE-BLOOM by GORDON BOTTOMLEY |