Edna St. Vincent Millay

As to some lovely temple, tenantless

Long since, that once was sweet with shivering brass,

Knowing well its altars ruined and the grass

Grown up between the stones, yet from excess

Of grief hard driven, or great loneliness,

The worshipper returns, and those who pass

Marvel him crying on a name that was, –

So is it now with me in my distress.

Your body was a temple to Delight;

Cold are its ashes whence the breath is fled,

Yet here one time your spirit was wont to move;

Here might I hope to find you day or night,

And here I come to look for you, my love,

Even now, foolishly, knowing you are dead.

 

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Rainy Day Ruminations

If thou of fortune be bereft, and in thy store there be but lefttwo loaves, sell one, and with thedole, buy hyacinths to feed thy soul3

It’s been a rainy couple of days lately, and I couldn’t help thinking of one of my favorite poems to get me through it.

If thou of fortune be bereft,
and in thy store there be but left
two loaves, sell one, and with the
dole, buy hyacinths to feed thy soul.

John Greenleaf Whittier