poem

Today’s Poem: O Me! O Life! by Walt Whitman

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O Me! O Life!

Walt Whitman

O me! O life! of the questions of these recurring,
Of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities fill’d with the foolish,
Of myself forever reproaching myself, (for who more foolish than I,
and who more faithless?)
Of eyes that vainly crave the light, of the objects mean, of the
struggle ever renew’d,
Of the poor results of all, of the plodding and sordid crowds I see around me,
Of the empty and useless years of the rest, with the rest me intertwined,
The question, O me! so sad, recurring-What good amid these, O me,
O life?

Answer.
That you are here-that life exists and identity,
That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.

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Today’s Poem: The Tide Rises The Tide Falls by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

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The Tide Rises The Tide Falls

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The tide rises, the tide falls,
The twilight darkens, the curlew calls;
Along the sea-sands damp and brown
The traveler hastens toward the town,
And the tide rises, the tide falls.
Darkness settles on roofs and walls,
But the sea, the sea in darkness calls;
The little waves, with their soft, white hands
Efface the footprints in the sands,
And the tide rises, the tide falls.
The morning breaks; the steeds in their stalls
Stamp and neigh, as the hostler calls;
The day returns, but nevermore
Returns the traveler to the shore.
And the tide rises, the tide falls.

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Today’s Poem: And Thou Art One by Pat O’Cotter

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And Thou Art One

Pat O’Cotter

And Thou art One–One with th’ eternal hills,
And with the flaming stars, and with the moon,
Translucent, cold. The sentinel of noon
That clothes the sky in robes of light and fills
The earth with warmth, the flowering fields, the rills,
The waving trees, the south wind’s elfin rune,
Are One with Thee. All nature is in tune
With Thee, O Father, God–and if one wills
To humbly walk the fragrant, leaf-strewn path
And kneel in reverence ‘neath the vaulted sky,
Hearing the hymnals of the waving trees
And prayers of the soughing winds–what hath
He less of heaven in him than we, who cry,
“God in our creeds doth dwell and not in these?”

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Today’s Poem: Crosses and Troubles by William Ernest Henley

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Crosses and Troubles

William Ernest Henley

Crosses and troubles a-many have proved me.
One or two women (God bless them) have loved me.
I have worked and dreamed, and I’ve talked at will.
Of art and drink I have had my fill.
I’ve comforted here, and I succoured there.
I’ve faced my foes, and I backed my friends.
I’ve blundered, and sometimes made amends.
I’ve prayed for light, and I’ve known despair.
Now I look before, as I look behind,
Come storm, come shine, whatever befall,
With a grateful heart and a constant mind,
For the end I know is the best of all.

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Today’s Poem: A Song by James Avis Bartley

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A Song

James Avis Bartley

Amid the tempest, wild and dark,
  Upon Life’s troubled sea;
One only star illumes the scene,
  With heavenly brilliancy.

Oh! sweetly o’er the howling deeps,
  Its venturing beam shines out;
And bright, relieves my weeping eye,
  And calms my soul from doubt.

That star is pure Religion’s light.
  A pole star, calm but blest,
It guides my lost and trembling bark,
  To Heaven’s sweet port of rest.

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Today’s Poem: Fate by Francis Bret Harte

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Fate

Francis Bret Harte

“The sky is clouded, the rocks are bare,
The spray of the tempest is white in air;
The winds are out with the waves at play,
And I shall not tempt the sea to-day.

“The trail is narrow, the wood is dim,
The panther clings to the arching limb;
And the lion’s whelps are abroad at play,
And I shall not join in the chase to-day.”

But the ship sailed safely over the sea,
And the hunters came from the chase in glee;
And the town that was builded upon a rock
Was swallowed up in the earthquake shock.

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Today’s Poem: A Song of Hope by Felicia Dorothea Hemans

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A Song of Hope

Felicia Dorothea Hemans

Droop not, my Brother! I hear a glad strain—
We shall burst forth like streams from the winter-night’s chain;
A flag is unfurl’d, a bright star of the sea,
A ransom approaches, we yet shall be free!

Where the pines wave, where the light chamois leaps,
Where the lone eagle hath built on the steeps,
Where the snows glisten, the mountain rills foam,
Free as the falcon’s wing, yet shall we roam.

Where the hearth shines, where the kind looks are met,
Where the smiles mingle, our place shall be yet!
Crossing the desert, o’ersweeping the sea,
Brother, brave Brother! we yet shall be free!

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Today’s Poem: A Friend by Edgar Albert Guest

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A Friend

Edgar Albert Guest

A friend is one who stands to share
Your every touch of grief and care.
He comes by chance, but stays by choice;
Your praises he is quick to voice.

No grievous fault or passing whim
Can make an enemy of him.
And though your need be great or small,
His strength is yours throughout it all.

No matter where your path may turn
Your welfare is his chief concern.
No matter what your dream may be
He prays your triumph soon to see.

There is no wish your tongue can tell
But what it is your friend’s as well.
The life of him who has a friend
Is double-guarded to the end.

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Today’s Poem: Daybreak by John Donne

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Daybreak

John Donne

STAY, O sweet and do not rise!
The light that shines comes from thine eyes;
The day breaks not: it is my heart,
  Because that you and I must part.
  Stay! or else my joys will die
  And perish in their infancy.

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Today’s Poem: A Poison Tree by William Blake

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A Poison Tree

William Blake

I was angry with my friend:
I told my wrath, my wrath did end.
I was angry with my foe:
I told it not, my wrath did grow.

And I watered it in fears
Night and morning with my tears,
And I sunned it with smiles
And with soft deceitful wiles.

And it grew both day and night,
Till it bore an apple bright,
And my foe beheld it shine,
And he knew that it was mine, –

And into my garden stole
When the night had veiled the pole;
In the morning, glad, I see
My foe outstretched beneath the tree.

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