OH friend, whose genial spirit, by the gift Of a most bounteous nature, flings a shower Of magic light along life's shadowed hour; As when day's sovereign lord, behind the rift Of summer's brooding cloud, but looks, to lift Incumbent heaviness from earth and sky, With the bright beam of his exulting eye; Think not the spirit's course, whose silent drift Flows on more calmly than the sparkling stream, Is sad though thoughtful, or must, therefore, seem From secret care to need some healing shrift; Thine be, forever fresh and never coy, The soul's bright mood; yet not less cheerful deem The steadfast lustre of a sober joy. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE FRUIT GARDEN PATH by AMY LOWELL FRAGMENT ON DEATH by FRANCOIS VILLON RESPECTABILITY by ROBERT BROWNING OLNEY HYMNS: 49. JOY AND PEACE IN BELIEVING by WILLIAM COWPER VIRGILS GNAT by EDMUND SPENSER A MOTHER'S PICTURE by EDMUND CLARENCE STEDMAN POCAHONTAS [JANUARY 5, 1608] by WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY |