FAIR was the flower which proffers now its fruit; The bud began to swell 'neath Spring's soft dew, And tenderly the winds of summer blew To foster it; and great strong suns were mute, As through its veins warm life began to shoot, And it put on each day some beauty new. And all the fairer, as I think, it grew, Because the streams were tears about its root. But now our fruit hangs well within our reach, And this indeed is time for gathering. It hath the bloom of summer-tinted peach, Each charm it hath that any man could sing; Yet we, who taste it, whisper each to each, "Not sweet, but very bitter, is this thing!" | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...DOUGLAS, DOUGLAS, TENDER AND TRUE by DINAH MARIA MULOCK CRAIK CHRISMUS IS A-COMIN' by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR SONNET: 31 by EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY CABOOSE THOUGHTS by CARL SANDBURG SKYFARER by ANNA EMILIA BAGSTAD TO THE COUNTESS OF ANGLESEY UPON THE DEATH OF HER HUSBAND by THOMAS CAREW THE CONCEALMENT by ABRAHAM COWLEY |