Beneath its ruddy burden proudly bending, The happy bough sank lower day by day, Till with a crash it broke -- ah, luckless ending! -- And on the ground a rotting ruin lay. Not thus the tree of life, with rich surprises Of heavy fruitage larger year by year: Upright and firm its greening tower rises, And bears its weightier burdens without fear. For see! the fruit is winged! and light and fairer The teeming tree exalts a statelier head; For burdens nobly borne but lift the bearer, And only empty lives fall ever dead. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...BUT NOW by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON POSTHUMOUS by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON FRAGMENT by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON IN THE JEWISH SYNAGOGUE AT NEWPORT by EMMA LAZARUS A GUY I KNOW ON 47TH AND COTTAGE by CLARENCE MAJOR |