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 | Collected poems of Herman Melville |  |
300
ROSARY BEADS
1
THE ACCEPTED TIME
Adore the Roses; nor delayUntil the rose-fane fall,
Or ever their censers cease to sway:
“To-day!” the rose-priests call.
2
WITHOUT PRICE
Have the Roses. Needs no pelfThe blooms to buy,
Nor any rose-bed to thyself
Thy skill to try:
But live up to the Rose's light,
Thy meat shall turn to roses red,
Thy bread to roses white.
3
GRAIN BY GRAIN
Grain by grain the Desert driftsAgainst the Garden-Land:
Hedge well thy Roses, head the stealth
Of ever-creeping Land.
| Collected poems of Herman Melville | |