Thomas Wentworth Higginson

  • “The Snowing of the Pines”

    Softer than silence, stiller than still air
    Float down from high pine-boughs the slender leaves.
    The forest floor its annual boon receives
    That comes like snowfall, tireless, tranquil, fair.
    Gently they glide, gently they clothe the bare
    Old rocks with...

  • Such Stuff as Dreams Are Made of

    Now all the cloudy shapes that float and lie
    Within this magic globe we call the brain
    Fold quite away, condense, withdraw, refrain,
    And show it tenantless—an empty sky.
    Return, O parting visions, pass not by;
    Nor leave me vacant still, with strivings vain...

  • Since Cleopatra Died

    “since cleopatra died!” Long years are past,
    In Antony’s fancy, since the deed was done.
    Love counts its epochs, not from sun to sun,
    But by the heart-throb. Mercilessly fast
    Time has swept onward since she looked her last
    On life, a queen. For him the...

  • Decoration

    Mid the flower-wreathed tombs I stand
    Bearing lilies in my hand.
    Comrades! in what soldier-grave
    Sleeps the bravest of the brave?

    Is it he who sank to rest
    With his colors round his breast?
    Friendship makes his tomb a shrine;
    Garlands...

  • The Snowing of the Pines

    Softer than silence, stiller than still air
    Float down from high pine-boughs the slender leaves.
    The forest floor its annual boon receives
    That comes like snowfall, tireless, tranquil, fair.
    Gently they glide, gently they clothe the bare
    Old rocks with...

  • To Duty

    Light of dim mornings; shield from heat and cold;
    Balm for all ailments; substitute for praise;
    Comrade of those who plod in lonely ways
    (Ways that grow lonelier as the years wax old);
    Tonic for fears; check to the over-bold;
    Nurse, whose calm hand as...

  • Ode to a Butterfly

    Thou spark of life that wavest wings of gold,
    Thou songless wanderer mid the songful birds,
    With Nature’s secrets in thy tints unrolled
    Through gorgeous cipher, past the reach of words,
        Yet dear to every child
        In glad pursuit beguiled,
    ...