Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


EVENING ORCHARD by JOHN FREEMAN

First Line: ALL THE BEAUTY OF THE WORLD
Last Line: AND EDEN'S IS THE ORCHARD THRUSH.
Subject(s): NATURE; ORCHARDS;

ALL the beauty of the world
Fading white,
All Spring's beauty, Summer's sweet,
Wanton heat,
Wantoning 'neath the narrow bosom
Of starry-flowered
Apple tree in late May blossom.

All the sweetness of the world
Wanton white,
Paling cheek and fading heat,
Wasting hue,
Stars the tree's thin breast with flower
Like white stars
Shaken from sky-arching bower.

All the beauty, all the sweetness
Staying white:
The ruddy gone, the brief pink gone,
And bridal light
Shining yet while grasses flush
With evening's gold,
And Eden's is the orchard thrush.



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