![Hold Back the Dawn [DVD] Charles Boyer; Olivia de Havilland; Paulette Goddard](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41AkExBJQsL._SL75_.jpg)
Tuesday
May272014
My cowardice I keep
Tuesday, May 27, 2014 at 04:44AM 
=0=0=0=
M a d e i n t h e S h a d e
Beaufort National Cemetery
Beaufort, South Carolina
=0=0=0=
When I am dead, this be my will
And codicil:
To earth I do bequeathe and give
My fugitive
Obstreperous flesh, for flower and wheat
Blithely to eat.
My fugitive
Obstreperous flesh, for flower and wheat
Blithely to eat.
My bones enduring tracery,
I leave to be
Exhibit labelled -- categoric --
"Man: prehistoric."
Having no need of it, past death,
I give my breath
To air, that is the bird's abode
And the sun's road.
I leave to be
Exhibit labelled -- categoric --
"Man: prehistoric."
Having no need of it, past death,
I give my breath
To air, that is the bird's abode
And the sun's road.
The world -- her Maytime trees that loom
White hills of bloom, --
Her bluebirds like winged iris shaken
Where buds awaken, --
Her cloud-deep skies, or daisy thicket
Shading the cricket, --
I leave to any who, like me,
Has eyes to see.
White hills of bloom, --
Her bluebirds like winged iris shaken
Where buds awaken, --
Her cloud-deep skies, or daisy thicket
Shading the cricket, --
I leave to any who, like me,
Has eyes to see.
I give -- if it persists -- my song
To bless and throng
The swift twelve winds of the world that fly
Through all the sky,
Blown -- a winged thistleseed of sound --
Toward its own ground.
To bless and throng
The swift twelve winds of the world that fly
Through all the sky,
Blown -- a winged thistleseed of sound --
Toward its own ground.
I yield that love that tortured me
With ecstasy
To any strong enough to bear
Joy of despair.
With ecstasy
To any strong enough to bear
Joy of despair.
As for my joy itself, I deed it
To all who need it --
Hitch-hikers, seedy and too grey ...
Or dogs astray
At whom the careless hand has thrown
The careful stone.
To all who need it --
Hitch-hikers, seedy and too grey ...
Or dogs astray
At whom the careless hand has thrown
The careful stone.
Sadness, that made my young heart grave,
I give to save
All of earth's callous ones who go
Unhelped by woe;
My loneliness to everyone
Who seeks the sun.
I give to save
All of earth's callous ones who go
Unhelped by woe;
My loneliness to everyone
Who seeks the sun.
To my lord, Don Quixote, hurled
Against the world
By his own nobleness, to be
Men's mockery,
I will my madness -- to increase
His tragic peace.
Against the world
By his own nobleness, to be
Men's mockery,
I will my madness -- to increase
His tragic peace.
My cowardice I keep: of such
Men have too much.
Men have too much.
To scholars for inheritance,
My ignorance!
Pure darkness, eager for truth's white
Amazing light.
My ignorance!
Pure darkness, eager for truth's white
Amazing light.
I deed my laughter to the wise,
To clear their eyes;
And any surplus to a cow --
For she knows how
To moo and put a poker face
On the world's grace,
Making by genial occult powers
Cream out of flowers.
To clear their eyes;
And any surplus to a cow --
For she knows how
To moo and put a poker face
On the world's grace,
Making by genial occult powers
Cream out of flowers.
I give my anger and my hate
To wake, though late,
Albino gentle souls that dwell
Meekly in hell;
I will my lazy calm to bless
Their restlessness
Who take nine stitches to save one
Best left undone.
To wake, though late,
Albino gentle souls that dwell
Meekly in hell;
I will my lazy calm to bless
Their restlessness
Who take nine stitches to save one
Best left undone.
I leave my strength to aid the rose
Against the snows;
My patience to the snows that keep
Earth safe asleep.
Against the snows;
My patience to the snows that keep
Earth safe asleep.
I give the Dawn for those to take
Who are awake.
Who are awake.
Last, I leave Death whatever he
Can hold of me.
Can hold of me.
= E. Merrill Root =
=0=0=0=
Happy Tuesday
Reader Comments (2)
Amazing!!!...picture of Beaufort National Cemetery is gorgeous, BUT I love EMR with everything more I see of his work. This just blew me away! Thank you my friend for ferreting him out and putting him in my face. Wonderful start to the day. <3
G.
@G ... this is the poem I discovered back in the '90s but lost track of for so many years. I found a copy of it a few days ago when searching for something else. That's how I find most things: in the course of looking for another thing. This poem spoke to me! I knew you'd love it too.