The Flower of Mending

Vachel Lindsay 1879 (Springfield) – 1931 (Springfield)



(To Eudora, after I had had certain dire adventures.)

When Dragon-fly would fix his wings,
When Snail would patch his house,
When moths have marred the overcoat
Of tender Mister Mouse,

The pretty creatures go with haste
To the sunlit blue-grass hills
Where the Flower of Mending yields the wax
And webs to help their ills.

The hour the coats are waxed and webbed
They fall into a dream,
And when they wake the ragged robes
Are joined without a seam.

My heart is but a dragon-fly,
My heart is but a mouse,
My heart is but a haughty snail
In a little stony house.

Your hand was honey-comb to heal,
Your voice a web to bind.
You were a Mending Flower to me
To cure my heart and mind.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

39 sec read
124

Quick analysis:

Scheme X XAXA XBXB XCXC XAXA XDXD
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 668
Words 133
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 1, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

Vachel Lindsay

Nicholas Vachel Lindsay was an American poet. more…

All Vachel Lindsay poems | Vachel Lindsay Books

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