Poem for pleasure

1. POEM
1; AComplaint
here is a change—and I ampoor;
Your love hath been, norlong ago,
A fountainat my fond heart's door,
Whose only business was to flow;
And flow it did; nottaking heed
Of its own bounty, or my need.
What happy moments did I count!
Blest was I thenall bliss above!
Now, for that consecrated fount
Of murmuring, sparkling,living love,
What haveI? shallI dare totell?
A comfortless andhidden well.
A well of love—it may bedeep—
I trust it is,—and never dry:
What matter? if thewaters sleep
In silence andobscurity.
—Such change, andattheverydoor
Of my fond heart, hathmademe poor.
2; APoet! He HathPut his Heart to SchoOL
A poet!—He hathputhis heart toschool,
Nor dares tomoveunpropped uponthestaff
Which arthath lodged within his hand—mustlaugh
By precept only,and shedtears by rule.
Thy Art be Nature; thelive currentquaff,
And let the groveller sip his stagnantpool,
In fear thatelse, whenCritics grave andcool
Have killedhim, Scorn shouldwritehis epitaph.
How does theMeadow-flower its bloom unfold?
Becausethe lovely littlefloweris free

2. Down to its root,and, inthatfreedom, bold;
And so the grandeur oftheForest-tree
Comes not bycasting in a formalmould,
But from its owndivinevitality.
3; A Slumber did my Spirit Seal
A slumber did my spiritseal;
I had no human fears:
She seemeda thing that couldnotfeel
The touch ofearthlyyears.
No motion has shenow, no force;
She neither hears norsees;
Rolled round inearth's diurnal course,
With rocks, and stones, and trees.
4; "Why art thou silent!Is thy lovea plant"
Why art thousilent! Is thy lovea plant
of such weak fibrethat thetreacherous air
Of absencewithers what was onceso fair?
Is there nodebt to pay,no boon togrant?
Yet have my thoughts for thee been vigilant—
Bound to thy servicewith unceasing care,
The mind’s least generous wish a mendicant
For nought but whatthy happiness could spare.
Speak— though this soft warm heart, oncefreeto hold
A thousand tender pleasures, thine andmine,
Be left more desolate, more dreary cold
Than a forsakenbird’s-nest filled withsnow
‘Mid its own bushofleafless eglantine—
Speak, that mytorturing doubts theirendmay know.
5; London, 1802
Milton! thoushouldstbe living at this hour:
England hath needofthee: sheis a fen

3. Of stagnant waters: altar,sword,and pen
Fireside, theheroicwealthofhall andbower,
Have forfeitedtheirancient English dower
Of inward happiness. Weareselfishmen;
Oh! raiseus up, return tous again;
And give us manners, virtue,freedom, power.
Thy soul was like a Star, anddweltapart:
Thou hadst a voicewhosesound was like the sea:
Pure as the naked heavens, majestic, free,
So didst thoutravel onlife's commonway,
In cheerfulgodliness; and yet thyheart
The lowliestduties on herselfdidlay.
6;
A Slumber did my Spirit Seal
A slumber did my spiritseal;
I had no human fears:
She seemeda thing that couldnotfeel
The touch ofearthlyyears.
No motion has shenow, no force;
She neither hears norsees;
Rolled round inearth's diurnal course,
With rocks, and stones, and trees.
7; Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September3, 1802
Earth has not anything to show more fair:
Dull wouldhe beofsoul who couldpass by
A sight so touching in its majesty:
This City now doth, like a garment, wear
The beauty of the morning; silent,bare,
Ships, towers, domes, theatres,and temples lie
Open unto thefields, andto thesky;

4. All bright andglittering inthesmokeless air.
Never did sun more beautifully steep
In his first splendour,valley,rock, or hill;
Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calmsodeep!
The river glideth athis own sweetwill:
Dear God! thevery houses seemasleep;
And all thatmighty heartis lying still! 8;
I Travelled among Unknown Men
I travelledamong unknown men,
In lands beyondthesea;
Nor, England!didI know tillthen
What loveI boreto thee.
'Tis past, that melancholydream!
Nor will I quitthy shore
A secondtime; for stillI seem
To love theemoreand more.
Among thy mountains didI feel
The joy of my desire;
And she I cherished turned her wheel
BesideanEnglishfire.
Thy mornings showed, thy nights concealed,
The bowers whereLucy played;
And thine too is the lastgreen field
That Lucy's eyes surveyed. 9; I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'ervales andhills,
When allat onceI sawa crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake,beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as thestars that shine

5. And twinkle onthemilky way,
They stretched innever-ending line
Along the margin ofa bay:
Ten thousandsaw I at a glance,
Tossing theirheads in sprightly dance.
The waves besidethem danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves ingles
A poet could notbutbe gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed—andgazed—butlittle thought
What wealth the showto mehad brought:
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacantor in pensivemood,
They flash upon thatinward eye
Which is the bliss ofsolitude; And then my heart with pleasurefills,
And dances with the daffodils.
10;
It is a Beauteous Evening,Calm andFreE
It is a beauteous evening,calmandfree,
The holy timeis quietas a Nun
Breathless with adoration; the broad sun
Is sinking downin its tranquility;
The gentleness ofheaven broods o'er the Sea;

6. Listen!themightyBeing is awake,
And doth with his eternalmotion make
A sound like thunder—everlastingly.
Dear child!dearGirl! that walkestwith mehere,
If thou appear untouchedby solemn thought,
Thy nature is notthereforeless divine:
Thou liestin Abraham's bosom alltheyear;
And worshipp'stattheTemple's inner shrine,
God being with theewhen weknowit not.
ROBERT FROST
1; Fire and Ice
Some say the worldwill end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted ofdesire
I hold withthosewhofavour fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough ofhate
To say that for destructionice

7. Is also great
And would suffice.
- Robert Frost
Dust of Snow
The way a crow
Shook down on me
The dust of snow
From a hemlock tree
Has given my heart
A change of mood
And saved somepart
Of a day I had rued.
- Robert Frost
Nothing Gold CanStay
Nature's firstgreen is gold,
Her hardest hue tohold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down today.
Nothing gold can stay.

8. - Robert Frost
Plowmen
A plow, they say,to plow the snow.
They cannot mean toplantit,no--
Unless inbitterness to mock
At having cultivated rock.
- Robert Frost
The Rose Family
The rose is a rose,
And was always a rose.
But the theorynow goes
That the apple's a rose,
And the pear is, andso's
The plum, I suppose.
The dear only know
What will nextprove a rose.
You, of course, area rose--
But were always a rose.
- Robert Frost
Fireflies intheGarden

9. Here comerealstars tofillthe upperskies,
And here on earth comeemulating flies,
That though they neverequal stars insize,
(And they were neverreally stars at heart)
Achieve at times a very star-likestart.
Only, of course,they can't sustain the part.
- Robert Frost
Devotion
The heart canthink ofno devotion
Greater thanbeing shoreto theocean--
Holding the curveofoneposition,
Counting an endless repetition.
- Robert Frost
Lodged
The rain to thewind said,
'You push andI'll pelt.'
They so smotethegarden bed
That the flowers actuallyknelt,
And lay lodged--thoughnotdead.
I know how theflowers felt.
- Robert Frost

10. A Minor Bird
I have wisheda birdwould fly away,
And not sing by my houseallday;
Have clapped my hands at him fromthedoor
When it seemed as ifI could bear nomore.
The fault must partly have been in me.
The bird was not toblamefor his key.
And of course theremustbe something wrong
In wanting to silenceany song.
- Robert Frost
Immigrants
No ship of allthat under sail orsteam
Have gathered peopleto us more andmore
But Pilgrim-manned theMayflowerin a dream
Has been her anxious convoy into shore.
- Robert Frost