Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE THINKER AND THE POET, by RICHARD MONCKTON MILNES


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE THINKER AND THE POET, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Sunshine often falls refulgent
Last Line: Like the sun through autumn leaves.
Alternate Author Name(s): Houghton, 1st Baron; Houghton, Lord
Subject(s): Middle East; Poetry & Poets; Near East; Levant


SUNSHINE often falls refulgent
After all the corn is in;
Often Allah grants indulgent
Pleasure that may guard from sin:
Hence your wives may number four;
Though he best consults his reason,
Best secures his house from treason,
Who takes one and wants no more.

Nor less well the man once gifted
With one high and holy Thought,
Will not let his mind be shifted,
But adores it, as he ought;
Well for him whose spirit's youth
Rests as a contented lover,
Nor can other charms discover
Than in his absorbing Truth!

But the heaven-enfranchised Poet
Must have no exclusive home,
He must feel, and freely show it, --
Phantasy is made to roam:
He must give his passions range,
He must serve no single duty,
But from Beauty pass to Beauty,
Constant to a constant change.

With all races, of all ages,
He must people his Hareem;
He must search the tents of sages,
He must scour the vales of dream:
Ever adding to his store,
From new cities, from new nations,
He must rise to new creations,
And, unsated, ask for more.

In the manifold, the various,
He delights, as Nature's child, --
Grasps at joys the most precarious,
Rides on hopes, however wild!
Though his heart at times perceives
One enduring Love hereafter,
Glimmering through his tears and laughter,
Like the sun through autumn leaves.





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