Thoreau's Flute



We sighing said, "Our Pan is dead;
His pipe hangs mute beside the river
Around it wistful sunbeams quiver,
But Music's airy voice is fled.
Spring mourns as for untimely frost;
The bluebird chants a requiem;
The willow-blossom waits for him;
The Genius of the wood is lost."

Then from the flute, untouched by hands,
There came a low, harmonious breath:
"For such as he there is no death;
His life the eternal life commands;
Above man's aims his nature rose.
The wisdom of a just content
Made one small spot a continent
And turned to poetry life's prose.

"Haunting the hills, the stream, the wild,
Swallow and aster, lake and pine,
To him grew human or divine,
Fit mates for this large-hearted child.
Such homage Nature ne'er forgets,
And yearly on the coverlid
'Neath which her darling lieth hid
Will write his name in violets.

"To him no vain regrets belong
Whose soul, that finer instrument,
Gave to the world no poor lament,
But wood-notes ever sweet and strong.
O lonely friend! he still will be
A potent presence, though unseen,
Steadfast, sagacious, and serene;
Seek not for him -- he is with thee."

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 29, 2023

1:00 min read
65

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABBACXXC DEEDFGHF IJJIXAXX KHGKLMML
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,112
Words 199
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 8, 8

Louisa May Alcott

Louisa May Alcott was an American novelist best known as author of the novel Little Women and its sequels Little Men and Jo's Boys. more…

All Louisa May Alcott poems | Louisa May Alcott Books

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    "Thoreau's Flute" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/26080/thoreau's-flute>.

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