Classic Poetry I

Not By Bread Alone

If thou of fortune be berefit,

And thou dost find but two loaves left

To thee - sell one, and with the dole

Buy hyacinths to feed thy soul.

But not alone does beauty bide

Where bloom and tint and fragrance hide;

The minstrel's melody may feed

Perhaps a more insistant need.

But even beauty howe'er bent

To ear and eye, fails to content;

Only the heart, with love afire,

Can satisfy the soul's desire.

~ James Terry White ~

The Final Lesson

I have sought beauty through the dust of strife,

I have sought meaning for the ancient ache,

And music in the grinding wheels of life;

Long have I sought, and little found as yet

Beyond this truth: that Love alone can make

Earth beautiful and life without regret!

~Arthur Stringer~

Putting In The Seed

Robert Frost so loved rural New England that he asked to be buried there. In this poem,

the fertile earth in spring fills him with a sense of God's unending love and care for creation.

You come to fetch me from my work tonight

When supper's on the table, and we'll see

If I can leave off burying the white

Soft petals fallen from the apple tree

(Soft petals, yes, but not so barren quite,

Mingles with these, smooth bean and wrinkled pea;)

And go along with you ere you lose sight

Of what you came for and become like me,

Slave to a springtime passion for the earth.

How Love burns through the Putting in the Seed

On through the watching for that early birth

When, just as the soil tarnishes with weed

The sturdy seedling with arched body comes

Shouldering its way and shedding the earth crumbs.

~ Robert Frost ~

The midi playing on this page, entitled "The Colors Of Fall" is being used with