Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE COMFORT OF THE WOODS, by AMOS RUSSEL WELLS Poet's Biography First Line: I understand my comrades of the woods Last Line: The peaceful benediction of the trees. Subject(s): Forests; Woods | ||||||||
I understand my comrades of the woods, And they know me completely. Not an oak But is my brother, strong, reserved, sincere. Along the happy, peaceful forest ways That wind so intimately through the trees I hold a calm communion with my friends, The pines and gentle birches. Day by day Insensibly the bond is closer drawn With beckonings of branches, waftitures Of subtle fragrance, melodies of birds, Flickers of sunlight on the level leaves, A thousand sweet enchantments pure and good. This air dissolves my fretfulness and fears; They fall into the green depths of the dell, The cheery brooklet carries them away, The bushes brush them off. I enter here With furrowed brow and heavy-burdened heart; But little unseen hands are softly pressed Upon the frowns, and little unseen hands Tug at the burdens till they all are gone. Ah, what am I that these my woodland friends Should minister to me so graciously? Do they not know my follies and my sin? Yet with a mother's blind, forgiving love They cleanse the foulnesses they will not see. Nor do they only wait for me to come, Withdrawn, expectant; but amid the din Of cities, and upon the crowded streets, I feel the brick and mortar fade away, And find the woods around me once again, Tall, shadowy, protecting. Once again I hear the woodland murmurs like a hymn, And on my troubled spirit lies once more The peaceful benediction of the trees. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE PRINCESS WAKES IN THE WOOD by RANDALL JARRELL CHAMBER MUSIC: 20 by JAMES JOYCE ADVICE TO A FOREST by MAXWELL BODENHEIM A SOUTH CAROLINA FOREST by AMY LOWELL JOY IN THE WOODS by CLAUDE MCKAY IN BLACKWATER WOODS by MARY OLIVER THE PLACE I WANT TO GET BACK TO by MARY OLIVER A BATTLE SONG (WRITTEN IN THE WORLD WAR) by AMOS RUSSEL WELLS |
|