Название: Poems Teachers Ask For
Автор: Various
Издательство: Bookwire
Жанр: Языкознание
isbn: 4057664184511
isbn:
The Two Glasses
There sat two glasses filled to the brim |
On a rich man's table, rim to rim, |
One was ruddy and red as blood, |
And one was clear as the crystal flood. |
Said the Glass of Wine to his paler brother: |
"Let us tell tales of the past to each other; |
I can tell of banquet and revel and mirth, |
Where I was king, for I ruled in might; |
For the proudest and grandest souls of earth |
Fell under my touch, as though struck with blight. |
From the heads of kings I have torn the crown; |
From the heights of fame I have hurled men down. |
I have blasted many an honored name; |
I have taken virtue and given shame; |
I have tempted youth with a sip, a taste, |
That has made his future a barren waste. |
Far greater than any king am I, |
Or than any army beneath the sky. |
I have made the arm of the driver fail, |
And sent the train from the iron rail. |
I have made good ships go down at sea. |
And the shrieks of the lost were sweet to me. |
Fame, strength, wealth, genius before me fall; |
And my might and power are over all! |
Ho, ho, pale brother," said the Wine, |
"Can you boast of deeds as great as mine?" |
Said the Water Glass: "I cannot boast |
Of a king dethroned, or a murdered host; |
But I can tell of hearts that were sad, |
By my crystal drops made bright and glad; |
Of thirsts I have quenched and brows I have laved, |
Of hands I have cooled, and souls I have saved. |
I have leaped through the valley, dashed down the mountain, |
Slipped from the sunshine, and dripped from the fountain, |
I have burst my cloud-fetters, and dropped from the sky, |
And everywhere gladdened the prospect and eye; |
I have eased the hot forehead of fever and pain, |
I have made the parched meadows grow fertile with grain. |
I can tell of the powerful wheel of the mill, |
That ground out the flour, and turned at my will. |
I can tell of manhood debased by you |
That I have uplifted and crowned anew; |
I cheer, I help, I strengthen and aid, |
I gladden the heart of man and maid; |
I set the wine-chained captive free, |
And all are better for knowing me." |
These are the tales they told each other, |
The Glass of Wine, and its paler brother, |
As they sat together, filled to the brim, |
On a rich man's table, rim to rim. |
Ella Wheeler Wilcox. |
Abraham Lincoln
(Written after Lincoln's death by Tom Taylor, famous cartoonist of the London "Punch.")
You lay a wreath on murdered Lincoln's
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