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Poems (Tree)/To My Father

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For works with similar titles, see To My Father.
4562413Poems — To My FatherIris Tree
TO MY FATHER
I CANNOT think that you have gone away,You loved the earth—and life lit up your eyes,And flickered in your smile that would surmiseDeath as a song, a poem, or a play.You were reborn afresh with every day,And baffled fortune in some new disguise.Ah! can it perish when the body dies,Such youth, such love, such passion to be gay?
We shall not see you come to us and leaveA conqueror—nor catch on fairy wingSome slender fancy—nor new wonders weaveUpon the loom of your imagining.The world is wearier, grown dark to grieveHer child that was a pilgrim and a king.
1917