 | The Autumn Garden |  |
58
A Parallel
To R. R.
O'er many a wish frustrated, purpose foiled,
Still dost thou weep, discouraged Soul of Man?
Be comforted, since even Nature can
Too rarely triumph fully where she toiled;
Still dost thou weep, discouraged Soul of Man?
Be comforted, since even Nature can
Too rarely triumph fully where she toiled;
Behold the tree, the flower, the cloud despoiled
Of beauty, which was virtue in her plan;
A thousand times her purposes out-ran
Their issues, maimed and crippled, bent and soiled.
Of beauty, which was virtue in her plan;
A thousand times her purposes out-ran
Their issues, maimed and crippled, bent and soiled.
If many evenings close in faintest gray
Before one glorious sunset crowns the day,
If, for one oak, a myriad acorns rot,
Before one glorious sunset crowns the day,
If, for one oak, a myriad acorns rot,
If Nature fails a thousand times ere one
Clear master-stroke of beauty fronts the sun,
Man's frequent frailty may deject him not.
Clear master-stroke of beauty fronts the sun,
Man's frequent frailty may deject him not.
| The Autumn Garden | |