Thursday, April 2, 2009

Poetry; Paul Laurence Dunbar;

One of my favourite poets; Paul Laurence Dunbar; 1872-1906;



AS a quiet little seedling lay within its darksome bed,

to itself it fell a-talking, and this is what it said:


"I am not so very robust, but I'll do the best I can;"

And the seedling from that moment its work of life began.


So it pushed a little leaflet up into the light of day,

To examine the surroundings and show the rest the way.


The leaflet liked the prospect, so it called its brother, Stem;
Then two other leaflets heard it, and quickly followed them.


To be sure, the haste and hurry made the seedling sweat and pant;
But almost before it knew it, it found itself a plant.

The sunshine poured upon it and the clouds they gave a shower;
And the little plant kept growing, till it found itself a flower.

Little folks, be like the seedling, always do the best you can;
Every child must share life's labor just as well as every man.

And the sun and showers will help you through the lonesome, struggling hours,
Till you raise to light and beauty virtue's fair, unfading flowers.
Photos Flowers TS.




8 comments:

  1. This is so nice, great write!
    Thanks for sharing. It’s a lovely poem.
    From Now and Then.
    Mary Elizabeth.

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  2. Thank you Mary Elizabeth, Yes I think he is a great poet. I love his down to earth poetry. He had a wonderful way to put his feelings in to words.

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  3. How cool to have a poem about plants growing.

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  4. Thank you for the poem with the illustrations, it was beautiful. I wish my grandchildren to read and illustrate with a little dance. Maybe I can inspire them :)

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  5. Diane, I think so too! Have a nice weekend.

    Elisabeth, Thank you. I think it would make a nice dance. If they do let me know.

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  6. Wie schön! Bestimmt war er ein Gärtner, gäll.
    Liebe Grüsse und guten Start in die Kar- und Osterwoche
    Elfe
    P.S. So einen Johanniskrautstock habe ich auch in meinem kleinen Gartenteil hinter dem Haus.

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  7. Thank you for posting this. I didn't know this poet.

    PS The stamens on the St. John's Wort are amazing!

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  8. One of our 5 public high schools (grades 9-12) is named for him.

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