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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

FOR FIVE LONG YEARS, by                    
First Line: The ax lay at your roots in deadly hush
Last Line: A mystery which awes, transcends the mind of man.
Subject(s): Absence; Death, Return From; Separation; Isolation


The ax lay at your roots in deadly hush
For five long years.
For five long years
You failed to bloom, each passing spring, O lilac bush.

How could I know the struggle in your soul,
Those five long years?
Those five long years,
In cold or mellow sod,
Submissive to your God
You grew in silence mindful of your destined goal.

Your purple bloom now shames my wicked plan,
Those five long years.
Those five long years
Your lovely tints, your sweet perfume
Rose from a dark and earthly tomb—
A mystery which awes, transcends the mind of man.





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