Thomas Bailey Aldrich ( 10 of 31 )
October turned by maple's leaves to gold;
The most are gone now; here and there one lingers;
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October turned by maple's leaves to gold;
The most are gone now; here and there one lingers;
Soon these will slip from the twig's weak hold,
Like coins between a dying miser's fingers.
When to soft Sleep we give ourselves away,
And in a dream as in a fairy bark
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When to soft Sleep we give ourselves away,
And in a dream as in a fairy bark
Drift on and on through the enchanted dark
To purple daybreak--little thought we pay
To that sweet bitter world we know by day.
What is lovely never dies,
But passes into other loveliness,
Star-dust, or sea-foam, flower or winged air.
What is lovely never dies,
But passes into other loveliness,
Star-dust, or sea-foam, flower or winged air.
But when the sun in all his state,
Illumed the eastern skies,
She passed through glory's morning read more
But when the sun in all his state,
Illumed the eastern skies,
She passed through glory's morning gate,
And walked in Paradise.
Day is a snow-white Dove of heaven
That from the East glad message brings.
Day is a snow-white Dove of heaven
That from the East glad message brings.
To keep the heart unwrinkled, to be hopeful, kindly, cheerful, reverent-- that is to triumph over old age.
To keep the heart unwrinkled, to be hopeful, kindly, cheerful, reverent-- that is to triumph over old age.
When the Sultan Shah-Zaman
Goes to the city Ispahan,
Even before he gets so far
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When the Sultan Shah-Zaman
Goes to the city Ispahan,
Even before he gets so far
As the place where the clustered palm-trees are,
At the last of the thirty palace-gates
The pet of the harem, Rose-in-Bloom,
Orders a feast in his favorite room--
Glittering square of colored ice,
Sweetened with syrup, tinctured with spice,
Creams, and cordials, and sugared dates,
Syrian apples, Othmanee quinces,
Limes and citrons and apricots,
And wines that are known to Eastern princes.
If my best wines mislike thy taste,
And my best service win thy frown,
Then tarry not, read more
If my best wines mislike thy taste,
And my best service win thy frown,
Then tarry not, I bid thee haste;
There's many another Inn in town.
When I behold what pleasure is Pursuit,
What life, what glorious eagerness it is,
Then mark how read more
When I behold what pleasure is Pursuit,
What life, what glorious eagerness it is,
Then mark how full Possession falls from this,
How fairer seems the blossom than the fruit,--
I am perplext, and often stricken mute.
Wondering which attained the higher bliss,
The wing'd insect, or the chrysalis
It thrust aside with unreluctant foot.
Night is a stealthy, evil Raven,
Wrapt to the eyes in his black wings.
Night is a stealthy, evil Raven,
Wrapt to the eyes in his black wings.
