“There is such power”

From “Sonnets in Shadow” THERE is such power even in smallest things To bring the dear past back; a flower’s tint, A snatch of some old song, the fleeting glint Of sunbeams on the wave—each vivid brings The lost days up, as from the idle strings Of wind-harp sad a breeze evokes the hint Of antique tunes. A glove which keeps imprint Of a loved hand the heart with torture wrings By memory of a clasp meant more than speech; A face seen in the crowd with curve of cheek Or sweep of eyelash our woe’s core can reach. How strong is love to yearn, and yet how weak To strive with fate: the lesson all things teach, As of the past in myriad ways they speak.

Collection:

English

Arlo Bates

Sub Title:

Poems of Sentiment: III. Memory

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