Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE SHAMROCK, by MAURICE FRANCIS EGAN Poet's Biography First Line: When april rains make flowers bloom Last Line: I feel its tears upon my hand. Subject(s): St. Patrick's Day | ||||||||
WHEN April rains make flowers bloom And Johnny-jump-ups come to light, And clouds of color and perfume Float from the orchards pink and white, I see my shamrock in the rain, An emerald spray with raindrops set, Like jewels on Spring's coronet, So fair, and yet it breathes of pain. The shamrock on an older shore Sprang from a rich and sacred soil Where saint and hero lived of yore, And where their sons in sorrow toil; And here, transplanted, it to me Seems weeping for the soil it left: The diamonds that all others see Are tears drawn from its heart bereft. When April rain makes flowers grow, And sparkles on their tiny buds That in June nights will over-blow And fill the world with scented floods, The lonely shamrock in our land -- So fine among the clover leaves -- For the old springtimes often grieves, -- I feel its tears upon my hand. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...COLUMBUS THE WORLD-GIVER by MAURICE FRANCIS EGAN HE MADE US FREE by MAURICE FRANCIS EGAN MAURICE DE GUERIN by MAURICE FRANCIS EGAN A SONG OF COURAGE by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON RECOLLECTIONS OF LOVE by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE THE SKELETON OF THE FUTURE; AT LENIN'S TOMB by CHRISTOPHER MURRAY GRIEVE A SONG TO MITHRAS by RUDYARD KIPLING MEDITATIONS OF A HINDU [OR, HINDOO] PRINCE [AND SKEPTIC] by ALFRED COMYNS LYALL VIRGILS GNAT by EDMUND SPENSER LIVE BLINDLY; SONNET by TRUMBULL STICKNEY |
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