Classic and Contemporary Poetry
WHAT OF BEAUTY, by OLIVE CHRISTENSEN First Line: What of beauty is there here? Last Line: It would be best to die here. Subject(s): Beauty; South Dakota | ||||||||
What of beauty is there here? Wet earth covered with dank, rotten thistles; Damp, heavy earth and one drouth-resisting pine tree To sentinel this resting place of earthly bodies -- One pine tree pointing to the limitless blue. Is this our haven then, when we are through? It seems not fitting; What could I Who have so long loved song and warmth and laughter Find here as an end? How could I "Rest in Peace"? And yet Right here I have sought beauty, Found it in the limpid blue Of skies there seemed no earthly ending to; In quiet snows drifting deep and wet; In spring air, pure and cool -- I fairly breathed in The beauty here. I have lived here, And loved it all Through blizzards, and crisp, cold nights; Through growing spring, and sear, brown autumn; Through infrequent, drenching rains; Through glorious silver days of frost on trees; Through hail and grasshoppers And dust storms, too. I think It would be best to die here. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...PIONEERS OF SOUTH DAKOTA by CHARLOTTE LOUISE BERTLESEN HOMETOWN by CHARLES BADGER CLARK JR. THE DESERT LAND by MARGARET DELANEY WHEN I WAS A COWBOY by ARTHUR A. FLAKOLL WESTERN HOKKU by MARGARET SLACK FUHRMAN THE BAD LANDS by JESSIE M. GILMORE BUTTES IN SOUTH DAKOTA BADLANDS by HELEN KNIGHT GOODING YOUR MART AND MINE by MABEL A. HANSON GOLDEN AUGUST IN DAKOTA by ADELINE M. JENNEY CHURCHILL'S GRAVE by GEORGE GORDON BYRON |
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