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Yet for them the lilac renewed its leaf,
And the aged elm, though touched with fire;
And the dry pump flung up an awkward arm;
And the fence post carried a strand of wire.
And the aged elm, though touched with fire;
And the dry pump flung up an awkward arm;
And the fence post carried a strand of wire.
For them there was really nothing sad.
But though they rejoiced in the nest they kept,
One had to be versed in country things
Not to believe the phœbes wept.
But though they rejoiced in the nest they kept,
One had to be versed in country things
Not to believe the phœbes wept.
Harper's MagazineRobert Frost
A STAR IN A STONE-BOAT
Never tell me that not one star of all
That slip from heaven at night and softly fall
Has been picked up with stones to build a wall.
That slip from heaven at night and softly fall
Has been picked up with stones to build a wall.
Some laborer found one faded and stone cold,
And saving that its weight suggested gold,
And tugged it from his first too certain hold,
And saving that its weight suggested gold,
And tugged it from his first too certain hold,
He noticed nothing in it to remark.
He was not used to handling stars thrown dark
And lifeless from an interrupted arc.
He was not used to handling stars thrown dark
And lifeless from an interrupted arc.
He did not recognize in that smooth coal
The one thing palpable besides the soul
To penetrate the air in which we roll.
The one thing palpable besides the soul
To penetrate the air in which we roll.
"He did not see how like a flying thing
It brooded ant-eggs, and had one large wing,
One not so large for flying in a ring,
It brooded ant-eggs, and had one large wing,
One not so large for flying in a ring,
And a long Bird of Paradise's tail,
(Though these when not in use to fly and trail
It drew back in its body like a snail);
(Though these when not in use to fly and trail
It drew back in its body like a snail);
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