The robin laughed in the orange-tree:
“Ho, windy North, a fig for thee:
While breasts are red and wings are bold
And green trees wave us globes of gold,
Time’s scythe shall reap but bliss for me
— Sunlight, song, and the orange-tree.
Burn, golden globes in leafy sky,
My orange-planets: crimson I
Will shine and shoot among the spheres
(Blithe meteor that no mortal fears)
And thrid the heavenly orange-tree
With orbits bright of minstrelsy.
If that I hate wild winter’s spite —
The gibbet trees, the world in white,
The sky but gray wind over a grave —
Why should I ache, the season’s slave?
I’ll sing from the top of the orange-tree
`Gramercy, winter’s tyranny.’
I’ll south with the sun, and keep my clime;
My wing is king of the summer-time;
My breast to the sun his torch shall hold;
And I’ll call down through the green and gold
`Time, take thy scythe, reap bliss for me,
Bestir thee under the orange-tree.'”
(Sidney Lanier)
More Poetry from Sidney Lanier:
Sidney Lanier Poems based on Topics: Time, World, Nature, Gold, Tyranny & Despotism, Winter, Slavery- Acknowledgment. (Sidney Lanier Poems)
- Laus Mariae (Sidney Lanier Poems)
- Rose-Morals (Sidney Lanier Poems)
- The Power Of Prayer (Sidney Lanier Poems)
- An Evening Song. (Sidney Lanier Poems)
- Marsh Hymns (Sidney Lanier Poems)
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Based on Topics: World Poems, Time Poems, Nature Poems, Gold Poems, Winter Poems, Slavery Poems, Tyranny & Despotism PoemsBased on Keywords: scythe, fig, minstrelsy, globes, orbits, meteor, gibbet, bestir, thrid, summer-time, gramercy
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