Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Two Poems by Harriet Monroe

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The Fortunate One

Beside her ashen hearth she sate her down,
Whence he she loved had fled;
His children plucking at her somber gown,
And calling for the dead.

One came to her clad in the robes of May,
And said sweet words of cheer,
Bidding her bear her burden in God’s way,
And feel her loved one near.

And she who spake thus would have given, thrice blest,
Long lives of happy years
To clasp his children to a mother’s breast,
And weep his widow’s tears.

A Farewell

Good-by: nay, do not grieve that it is over—
The perfect hour;
That the winged joy, sweet honey-loving rover,
Flits from the flower.

Grieve not; it is the law. Love will be flying—
Yea, love and all.
Glad was the living; blessed be the dying!
Let the leaves fall.

“The Fortunate One” first published in Century Magazine, Volume 47, Issue 5 (March, 1894). “A Farewell” first published in century Magazine, Volume 57, Issue 4 (February 1899)

About the Author:

Harriet Monroe (23 December 1860 – 26 September 1936) was an American editor, scholar, literary critic and poet. She was the founding publisher and long-time editor of Poetry magazine.

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