 | [Poems by Larcom in] The ladies' wreath and Parlor Annual |  |
EXPOSTULATION.
Why do we sigh in June,
“The roses will not stay;
The summer winds too soon
Will bear their bloom away.”
Why let the thought of death
Creep, worm-like, through the flower?
Far better in its breath
Embalm the passing hour.
“The roses will not stay;
The summer winds too soon
Will bear their bloom away.”
Why let the thought of death
Creep, worm-like, through the flower?
Far better in its breath
Embalm the passing hour.
Why chide the sultry days
That bring us mist and heat?
Why groan, when dusty ways
Do chafe our aching feet?
The orchards ripen fast
Beneath the dogday rain,
And August beams at last
To gold will turn the grain.
That bring us mist and heat?
Why groan, when dusty ways
Do chafe our aching feet?
The orchards ripen fast
Beneath the dogday rain,
And August beams at last
To gold will turn the grain.
Why, thinking of the dead,
Should earth seem drear as night?
What gardener, sowing seed,
Would mourn it, out of sight?
Why, looking onward, see
Our years o'ergrown with ills?
Faith conquers destiny;
It is despair that kills.
Should earth seem drear as night?
What gardener, sowing seed,
Would mourn it, out of sight?
Why, looking onward, see
Our years o'ergrown with ills?
Faith conquers destiny;
It is despair that kills.
Why weakly dread to live?
Why darkly fear to die?
Each hour to truth we give,
Writes our eternity.
If love inspire our song,
And duty strike the tune,
Life cannot be too long;
Death cannot come too soon.
Why darkly fear to die?
Each hour to truth we give,
Writes our eternity.
If love inspire our song,
And duty strike the tune,
Life cannot be too long;
Death cannot come too soon.
| [Poems by Larcom in] The ladies' wreath and Parlor Annual | |