poems for ryan

7/25/2019 Poems for Ryan

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Birches - Poem by Robert Frost

When I see birches bend to left and rightAcross the lines of straighter darker trees,I like to think some boy's been swinging them.But swinging doesn't bend them down to stay.

Ice-storms do that. Often you must have seen themoaded with ice a sunny winter morningAfter a rain. !hey click u"on themselvesAs the bree#e rises, and turn many-colouredAs the stir cracks and cra#es their enamel.$oon the sun's warmth makes them shed crystal shells$hattering and avalanching on the snow-crust$uch hea"s of broken glass to swee" away%ou'd think the inner dome of heaven had fallen.!hey are dragged to the withered bracken by the load,

And they seem not to break& though once they are bowed$o low for long, they never right themselves%ou may see their trunks arching in the woods%ears afterwards, trailing their leaves on the ground,ike girls on hands and knees that throw their hairBefore them over their heads to dry in the sun.But I was going to say when !ruth broke inWith all her matter-of-fact about the ice-storm,I should "refer to have some boy bend them

As he went out and in to fetch the cows-$ome boy too far from town to learn baseball,Whose only "lay was what he found himself,$ummer or winter, and could "lay alone.One by one he subdued his father's treesBy riding them down over and over again(ntil he took the stiffness out of them,

And not one but hung lim", not one was left

)or him to con*uer. +e learned all there was!o learn about not launching out too soon

And so not carrying the tree awaylear to the ground. +e always ke"t his "oise!o the to" branches, climbing carefullyWith the same "ains you use to fill a cu"(" to the brim, and even above the brim.!hen he flung outward, feet first, with a swish,icking his way down through the air to the ground.$o was I once myself a swinger of birches.

And so I dream of going back to be.It's when I'm weary of considerations,

And life is too much like a "athless wood

Where your face burns and tickles with the cobwebsBroken across it, and one eye is wee"ing)rom a twig's having lashed across it o"en.I'd like to get away from earth awhile

And then come back to it and begin over.ay no fate willfully misunderstand me

And half grant what I wish and snatch me away/ot to return. 0arth's the right "lace for loveI don't know where it's likely to go better.I'd like to go by climbing a birch tree


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And climb black branches u" a snow-white trunk!oward heaven, till the tree could bear no more,But di""ed its to" and set me down again.!hat would be good both going and coming back.One could do worse than be a swinger of birches.

Song Of Nature - Poem by Ralph Waldo Emerson

ine are the night and morning,!he "its of air, the gulf of s"ace,!he s"ortive sun, the gibbous moon,!he innumerable days.

I hid in the solar glory,I am dumb in the "ealing song,I rest on the "itch of the torrent,In slumber I am strong.

/o numbers have counted my tallies,

/o tribes my house can fill,I sit by the shining )ount of ife,And "our the deluge still&

And ever by delicate "owers1athering along the centuries)rom race on race the rarest flowers,y wreath shall nothing miss.

And many a thousand summersy a""les ri"ened well,

And light from meliorating starsWith firmer glory fell.

I wrote the "ast in charactersOf rock and fire the scroll,!he building in the coral sea,!he "lanting of the coal.

And thefts from satellites and ringsAnd broken stars I drew,And out of s"ent and aged thingsI formed the world anew&

What time the gods ke"t carnival,!ricked out in star and flower,

And in cram" elf and saurian forms

!hey swathed their too much "ower.

!ime and !hought were my surveyors,!hey laid their courses well,!hey boiled the sea, and baked the layersOr granite, marl, and shell.

But he, the man-child glorious,--Where tarries he the while2


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!he rainbow shines his harbinger,!he sunset gleams his smile.

y boreal lights lea" u"ward,)orthright my "lanets roll,

And still the man-child is not born,!he summit of the whole.

ust time and tide forever run2Will never my winds go slee" in the west2Will never my wheels which whirl the sun

And satellites have rest2

!oo much of donning and doffing,!oo slow the rainbow fades,I weary of my robe of snow,y leaves and my cascades&

I tire of globes and races,!oo long the game is "layed&

What without him is summer's "om",Or winter's fro#en shade2

I travail in "ain for him,y creatures travail and wait&+is couriers come by s*uadrons,+e comes not to the gate.

!wice I have moulded an image,And thrice outstretched my hand,ade one of day, and one of night,

And one of the salt sea-sand.

One in a 3udaean manger,And one by Avon stream,One over against the mouths of /ile,

And one in the Academe.

I moulded kings and saviours,And bards o'er kings to rule&--But fell the starry influence short,!he cu" was never full.

%et whirl the glowing wheels once more,And mi4 the bowl again&$eethe, fate5 the ancient elements,

+eat, cold, wet, dry, and "eace, and "ain.

et war and trade and creeds and songBlend, ri"en race on race,!he sunburnt world a man shall breedOf all the #ones, and countless days.

/o ray is dimmed, no atom worn,y oldest force is good as new,


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And the fresh rose on yonder thorn1ives back the bending heavens in dew.

Lycidas - Poem by ohn !ilton

In this onody the author bewails a learned )riend, unfortunately

drowned in his "assage from hester on the Irish $eas, 6789&and,by occasion, foretells the ruin of our corru"ted lergy, then intheir height.

%0! once more, O ye laurels, and once more,%e myrtles brown, with ivy never sere,I come to "luck your berries harsh and crude,

And with forced fingers rude$hatter your leaves before the mellowing year.Bitter constraint and sad occasion dearom"els me to disturb your season due&

)or ycidas is dead, dead ere his "rime,%oung ycidas, and hath not left his "eer.Who would not sing for ycidas2 he knew+imself to sing, and build the lofty rhyme.+e must not float u"on his watery bier(nwe"t, and welter to the "arching wind,Without the meed of some melodious tear.Begin, then, $isters of the sacred well!hat from beneath the seat of 3ove doth s"ring&Begin, and somewhat loudly swee" the string.+ence with denial vain and coy e4cuse$o may some gentle useWith lucky words favour my destined urn,

And as he "asses turn,And bid fair "eace be to my sable shroud5)or we were nursed u"on the self-same hill,)ed the same flock, by fountain, shade, and rill&!ogether both, ere the high lawns a""eared(nder the o"ening eyelids of the orn,We drove a-field, and both together heardWhat time the grey-fly winds her sultry horn,Battening our flocks with the fresh dews of night,Oft till the star that rose at evening bright!oward heaven's descent had slo"ed his westering wheel.eanwhile the rural ditties were not mute&!em"ered to the oaten flute,:ough $atyrs danced, and )auns with cloven heel

)rom the glad sound would not be absent long&And old ;amoetas loved to hear our song.But, oh5 the heavy change, now thou art gone,/ow thou art gone and never must return5!hee, $he"herd, thee the woods and desert caves,With wild thyme and the gadding vine o'ergrown,

And all their echoes, mourn.!he willows, and the ha#el co"ses green,$hall now no more be seen


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)anning their


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It was that fatal and "erfidious bark,Built in the ecli"se, and rigged with curses dark,!hat sunk so low that sacred head of thine./e4t, amus, reverend sire, went footing slow,+is mantle hairy, and his bonnet sedge,Inwrought with figures dim, and on the edgeike to that sanguine flower inscribed with woe.

Ah5 who hath reft,? *uoth he, :my dearest "ledge2?ast came, and last did go,!he @ilot of the 1alilean ake&!wo massy keys he bore of metals twain.=!he golden o"es, the iron shuts amain>.+e shook his mitred locks, and stern bes"ake--:+ow well could I have s"ared for thee, young swain,0now of such as, for their bellies' sake,ree", and intrude, and climb into the fold5Of other care they little reckoning make!han how to scramble at the shearers' feast,

And shove away the worthy bidden guest.Blind mouths5 that scarce themselves know how to hold

A shee"-hook, or have learnt aught else the least!hat to the faithful herdman's art belongs5What recks it them2 What need they2 !hey are s"ed

And, when they list, their lean and flashy songs1rate on their scrannel "i"es of wretched straw&!he hungry shee" look u", and are not fed,But, swoln with wind and the rank mist they draw,:ot inwardly, and foul contagion s"read&Besides what the grim wolf with "rivy "aw;aily devours a"ace, and nothing said.But that two-handed engine at the door$tands ready to smite once, and smite no more.?:eturn, Al"heus& the dread voice is "ast

!hat shrunk thy streams& return $icilian use,And call the vales, and bid them hither cast!heir bells and flowerets of a thousand hues.%e valleys low, where the mild whis"ers useOf shades, and wanton winds, and gushing brooks,On whose fresh la" the swart star s"arely looks,!hrow hither all your *uaint enamelled eyes,!hat on the green turf suck the honeyed showers,

And "ur"le all the ground with vernal flowers.Bring the rathe "rimrose that forsaken dies,!he tufted crow-toe, and "ale


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Whether beyond the stormy +ebrides,Where thou "erha"s under the whelming tideisit'st the bottom of the monstrous world&Or whether thou, to our moist vows denied,$lee"'st by the fable of Bellerus old,Where the great ision of the guarded mountooks toward /amancos and Bayona's hold.ook homeward, Angel, now, and melt with ruth

And, O ye dol"hins, waft the ha"less youth.Wee" no more, woeful she"herds, wee" no more,)or ycidas, your sorrow, is not dead,$unk though he be beneath the watery floor.$o sinks the day-star in the ocean bed,

And yet anon re"airs his droo"ing head,And tricks his beams, and with new-s"angled ore)lames in the forehead of the morning sky$o ycidas sunk low, but mounted high,!hrough the dear might of +im that walked the waves,Where, other groves and other streams along,With nectar "ure his oo#y locks he laves,

And hears the une4"ressive nu"tial song,In the blest kingdoms meek of

One of those heavenly days that cannot die&When, in the eagerness of boyish ho"e,

I left our cottage-threshold, sallying forth

With a huge wallet o'er my shoulders slung,

A nutting-crook in hand& and turned my ste"s

!ow'rd some far-distant wood, a )igure *uaint,

!ricked out in "roud disguise of cast-off weeds

Which for that service had been husbanded,
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/nutting/http://www.poemhunter.com/william-wordsworth/poems/http://www.poemhunter.com/william-wordsworth/poems/http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/nutting/


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By e4hortation of my frugal ;ame--

otley accoutrement, of "ower to smile

At thorns, and brakes, and brambles,--and, in truth,

ore ragged than need was5 O'er "athless rocks,

!hrough beds of matted fern, and tangled thickets,

)orcing my way, I came to one dear nook(nvisited, where not a broken bough

;roo"ed with its withered leaves, ungracious sign

Of devastation& but the ha#els rose

!all and erect, with tem"ting clusters hung,

A virgin scene5--A little while I stood,

Breathing with such su""ression of the heart

As

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