Poems (Hardy)/To the wild pennyroyal
TO THE WILD PENNYROYAL
ROYAL little herb and wise!
Other plants flaunt out in gold,
Crimson tints or scarlet dyes,
All to catch men's careless eyes;
Humbly thou dost dream and plot
Still to live thyself forgot;
Choosest out a dwelling-spot
Underneath the forest-trees,
By the field's edge or the brook;
Up and down thine instincts look,
Gather forth their essences
From the maple and the oak,
From the briar-rose and the fern,
Spicewood bush and purple scoke,
Elm and ash and clean-limbed beech;
Whatsoever these can teach
Thou hast art enough to learn
While thy little torch doth burn.
Other plants flaunt out in gold,
Crimson tints or scarlet dyes,
All to catch men's careless eyes;
Humbly thou dost dream and plot
Still to live thyself forgot;
Choosest out a dwelling-spot
Underneath the forest-trees,
By the field's edge or the brook;
Up and down thine instincts look,
Gather forth their essences
From the maple and the oak,
From the briar-rose and the fern,
Spicewood bush and purple scoke,
Elm and ash and clean-limbed beech;
Whatsoever these can teach
Thou hast art enough to learn
While thy little torch doth burn.
There thou dwellest, gathering in
Wisdom through thy fairy leaf;
All thy stems and roots begin
Patience' tranquil web to spin.
Thou forgiveness dost contrive
For the foot that brings thee grief,—
Nay, dost give to every thief
All thy industry can win.
Charity beyond compare
Surely proves thee more than fair.
Aimlessly, one woodland day
When 't was joy to be alive,
Turning from a foot-worn way,
But half-aware, my wandering feet
Trespassed on thy borders sweet;
Wafted upward and around
Came thy protest almost gay,
Almost praising what did wound.
But, prophetic, didst thou see
Out of what thou wast to me
Flowers of thought and feeling bloom
In these distant fields and days?
Prescient cunning, making room
Through my comfort for self-praise!
Cold suspicion—let it go!
Little didst thou care or know
That a moment's flash could hold
Summer glory, autumn gold,
Wealth of springs and winters old.
Wisdom through thy fairy leaf;
All thy stems and roots begin
Patience' tranquil web to spin.
Thou forgiveness dost contrive
For the foot that brings thee grief,—
Nay, dost give to every thief
All thy industry can win.
Charity beyond compare
Surely proves thee more than fair.
Aimlessly, one woodland day
When 't was joy to be alive,
Turning from a foot-worn way,
But half-aware, my wandering feet
Trespassed on thy borders sweet;
Wafted upward and around
Came thy protest almost gay,
Almost praising what did wound.
But, prophetic, didst thou see
Out of what thou wast to me
Flowers of thought and feeling bloom
In these distant fields and days?
Prescient cunning, making room
Through my comfort for self-praise!
Cold suspicion—let it go!
Little didst thou care or know
That a moment's flash could hold
Summer glory, autumn gold,
Wealth of springs and winters old.
Comfort thee, thou little weed;
Thoughts of thee are dear indeed.
When a woodland wind blows down
From the hills beyond the town,
When a salt breeze from the sea
Brings its message in to me,
Grateful pleasure takes the gift
As the moment's golden drift;
Looks beyond the narrow street
To the fields and pastures sweet,
To the green waves of the bay
As a part of one more day;
But when Memory's hand unwinds
Distaffs dyed and spun and reeled—
(Whereof something each one finds
Labeled for the solitude
In the which his soul has set
Time, deliberate to forget!)—
Ah, when, Memory's doors unsealed,
All life's hidden things revealed,
Forgotten griefs, remembered good,
All remembered good that grows
In the halls of her repose,—
She to please my heart doth bring
Scent of this familiar field,
Breath of that beloved wood
Where thou growest close and sweet
As of old about my feet;
There, around in regnant groups
Stand the oak-trees and the elms,
And beneath them come the troops
Liberal Nature hastes to bring
When with giving she o'erwhelms
All the gardens of the wood
With the riches of the spring;
Then my heart owes this to thee,
That beside the Western Sea
Thou canst make youth's paradise
In perennial beauty rise;
Set the domes of beech-tree tents
Under gloom of Tamalpais;
Make red fields of clover glow
On the windy slopes below;
Mingle with the salt sea scents
Subtle breath of woodland bower,
Linden bloom and wayside flower.
Ah, the story is the same
That from ancient Scripture came:
Them of low estate He gives
Places which the great have sought;
Through the lowliest thing that lives
Miracles of love are wrought.
Thoughts of thee are dear indeed.
When a woodland wind blows down
From the hills beyond the town,
When a salt breeze from the sea
Brings its message in to me,
Grateful pleasure takes the gift
As the moment's golden drift;
Looks beyond the narrow street
To the fields and pastures sweet,
To the green waves of the bay
As a part of one more day;
But when Memory's hand unwinds
Distaffs dyed and spun and reeled—
(Whereof something each one finds
Labeled for the solitude
In the which his soul has set
Time, deliberate to forget!)—
Ah, when, Memory's doors unsealed,
All life's hidden things revealed,
Forgotten griefs, remembered good,
All remembered good that grows
In the halls of her repose,—
She to please my heart doth bring
Scent of this familiar field,
Breath of that beloved wood
Where thou growest close and sweet
As of old about my feet;
There, around in regnant groups
Stand the oak-trees and the elms,
And beneath them come the troops
Liberal Nature hastes to bring
When with giving she o'erwhelms
All the gardens of the wood
With the riches of the spring;
Then my heart owes this to thee,
That beside the Western Sea
Thou canst make youth's paradise
In perennial beauty rise;
Set the domes of beech-tree tents
Under gloom of Tamalpais;
Make red fields of clover glow
On the windy slopes below;
Mingle with the salt sea scents
Subtle breath of woodland bower,
Linden bloom and wayside flower.
Ah, the story is the same
That from ancient Scripture came:
Them of low estate He gives
Places which the great have sought;
Through the lowliest thing that lives
Miracles of love are wrought.