CLEAR water on smooth rock Could give no foothold for a single flower, Or slenderest shaft of grain: The stone must crumble under storm and rain, The forests crash beneath the whirlwind's power, And broken boughs from many a tempest-shock, And fallen leaves of many a wintry hour, Must mingle in the mould, Before the harvest whitens on the plain, Bearing an hundred-fold. Patience, O weary heart! Let all thy sparkling hours depart, And all thy hopes be withered with the frost, And every effort tempest-tost -- So, when all life's green leaves Are fallen, and mouldered underneath the sod, Thou shalt go not too lightly to thy God, But heavy with full sheaves. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...APPROACH OF WINTER by WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS THE VANTAGE POINT by ROBERT FROST THE DAYS GONE BY by JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY VETERAN SIRENS by EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON THE HAYLOFT by ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON |