 | Poems by Frederick Goddard Tuckerman |  |
184
[XIV. Not proud of station; nor in worldly pelf]
Not proud of station; nor in worldly pelfImmoderately rich, nor rudely gay;
Gentle he was, and generous in a way,
And with a wise direction ruled himself.
Large Nature spread his table every day;
And so he lived,—to all the blasts that woo,
Responsible, as yon long locust spray
That waves and washes in the windy blue.
Nor wanted he a power to reach and reap
From hardest things a consequence and use
And yet this friend of mine, in one small hour
Fell from himself, and was content to weep
For eyes love-dark, red lips, and cheeks in hues
Not red, but rose-dim, like the jacinth-flower!
| Poems by Frederick Goddard Tuckerman | |