A
Thing Of Beauty
A thing of beauty is a joy for ever:
It's loveliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness; but still will keep
A bower quiet for us, and a sleep
Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.
Therefore, on every morrow, are we wreathing
A flowery band to bind us to the earth,
Spite of despondence, of the inhuman dearth
Of noble natures, of the gloomy days,
Of all the unhealthy and o'er-darkened ways
Made for our searching: yes, in spite of all,
Some shape of beauty moves away the pall
From our dark spirits. Such the sun, the moon,
Trees old and young, sprouting a shady boon
For simple sheep; and such are daffodils
With the green world they live in; and clear rills;
That for themselves a cooling convert make
'Gainst the hot season; the mid-forest brake,
Rich with a sparkling of fair musk-rose blooms:
And such too is the grandeur of the dooms
We have imagined for the mighty dead;
All lovely tales that we have heard or read:
An endless fountain of immortal drink,
Pouring unto us from the heaven's brink.
Nor do we merely feel these essences
For one short hour; no, even as the trees
That whisper round a temple's self, so does the moon,
The passion poesy, glories infinite,
Haunt us till they become a cheering light
Unto our souls, and bound to us so fast,
That, whether there be shine, or gloom o'ercast,
They always must be with us, or we die.
--John Keats
The
Whirlpool
He was
caught in the whirl of the pool of dismay,
By a thoughtless remark he had said;
He had injured a friend in a nonchalant way,
And the love they cherished lay dead.
To his mirror he went, in its glass to confide,
And his face was both haggard and pale,
And he asked of the glass, "Should I swallow the pride,
That is pinning me down like a nail?
Should I go to my friend with remorse on my face,
A remorse that I honestly feel?
Should I beg him this whirlpool of shame to erase,
In a soul-stirring voice of appeal?"
"As your heart so dictates," said a voice from the glass,
"I advise you to follow its path,
And remember 'twill pay you to keep off the grass,
That is bordered with ill words and wrath."
So he went to his friend, and he asked most sincere,
To be taken again to his heart
And the whirlpool of friendship once more does endear,
These friends who had drifted apart.
If there's someone you know, whom you treated that way,
And you heart is both heavy and blue,
Seek and find him again without further delay,
Don't wait until he comes to you.
You'll find that the whirlpool of love will replace,
Every misunderstanding and strife,
It will give you the courage to meet face to face,
The changeable Whirlpool of Life.
--Author Unknown
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