WHEN Love arose in heart and deed To wake the world to greater joy, 'What can she give me now?' said Greed, Who thought to win some costly toy. He rose, he ran, he stoop'd, he clutch'd; And soon the Flowers, that Love let fall, In Greed's hot grasp were fray'd and smutch'd, And Greed said, 'Flowers! Can this be all?' He flung them down and went his way, He cared no jot for thyme or rose; But boys and girls came out to play, And some took these and some took those -- Red, blue, and white, and green and gold; And at their touch the dew return'd, And all the bloom a thousandfold -- So red, so ripe, the roses burn'd! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...TO DISRAELI ON CONSERVATISM by MARIANNE MOORE AUSPEX by JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL ON THE NEW FORCES OF CONSCIENCE UNDER THE LONG PARLIAMENT by JOHN MILTON GOOD-BYE by WILFRID SCAWEN BLUNT MAXIMS FOR THE OLD HOUSE: THE CHAMBER by ANNA HEMPSTEAD BRANCH MASQUE AT THE MARRIAGE OF THE EARL OF SOMERSET: MASQUERS SECOND DANCE by THOMAS CAMPION EPILOGUE TO A PLAY BEFORE THE KING AND QUEEN ... AT WHITEHALL by THOMAS CAREW |