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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
A WOMAN'S WISH, by MARY ASHLEY TOWNSEND First Line: Would I were lying in a field of clover Last Line: And the assurance they have all they need! Alternate Author Name(s): Xariffa Subject(s): Rest | |||
Would I were lying in a field of clover, Of clover cool and soft, and soft and sweet, With dusky clouds on deep skies hanging over, And scented silence at my head and feet. Just for one hour to slip the leash of Worry, In eager haste, from Thought's impatient neck, And watch it coursing, in its heedless hurry Disdaining Wisdom's call or Duty's beck! Ah! it were sweet, where clover clumps are meeting And daisies hiding, so to hide and rest; No sound except my own heart's steady beating, Rocking itself to sleep within my breast;-- Just to lie there, filled with the deeper breathing That comes of listening to a wild bird's song! Our souls require at times this full unsheathing,-- All swords will rust if scabbard-kept too long: And I am tired, -- so tired of rigid duty, So tired of all my tired hands find to do! I yearn, I faint, for some of life's free beauty, Its loose beads with no straight string running through. Aye, laugh, if laugh you will, at my crude speech But women sometimes die of such a greed,-- Die for the small joys held beyond their reach, And the assurance they have all they need! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...DE LITTLE PICKANINNY'S GONE TO SLEEP by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON MOTHER NIGHT by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON BOY'S SLEEP by NAOMI SHIHAB NYE HOW FAR IS IT TO THE LAND WE LEFT? by NAOMI SHIHAB NYE IT'S NOT COLD HERE by ELEANOR WILNER SUPPLICATION by JOSEPH SEAMON COTTER JR. HASTE NOT! REST NOT! by JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE A GEORGIA VOLUNTEER by MARY ASHLEY TOWNSEND |
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