LET Burns and old Chaucer unite The praise of the Daisy to sing -- Let Wordsworth of Celandine write, And crown her the Queen of the Spring; The Hyacinth's classical fame Let Milton embalm in his verse; Be mine the glad task to proclaim The Charms of untrumpeted Furze! Of all other bloom when bereft, And Sol wears his wintery screen, Thy sunshining blossoms are left To light up the common and green. O why should they envy the peer His perfume of spices and myrrhs, When the poorest their senses may cheer With incense diffused from the Furze? It is bristled with thorns, I confess; But so is the much-flattered Rose: Is the Sweetbriar lauded the less Because amid prickles it grows? 'Twere to cut off an epigram's point, Or disfurnish a knight of his spurs, If we foolishly wished to disjoint Its arms from the lance-bearing Furze. Ye dabblers in mines, who would clutch The wealth which their bowels enfold; See! Nature, with Midas-like touch, Here turns a whole common to gold; No niggard is she to the poor, But distributes whatever is hers, And the wayfaring beggar is sure Of a tribute of gold from the Furze. Ye worldlings! learn hence to divide Your wealth with the children of want, Nor scorn, in your fortune and pride, To be taught by the commonest plant. If the wisest new wisdom may draw From things humble, as reason avers, We too may receive Heaven's law, And beneficence learn from the Furze! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...TO A WATERFOWL by WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT ROBERT BRUCE'S ADDRESS TO HIS ARMY BEFORE BANNOCKBURN by ROBERT BURNS A SHROPSHIRE LAD: 50 by ALFRED EDWARD HOUSMAN A SPIRITUAL AND WELL-ORDERED MIND by HENRY ALFORD LINES TO MR. WYNCH ON HIS FORTH-FIFTH BIRTHDAY by ANNA LETITIA BARBAULD |