Petals

Life is a stream
On which we strew
Petal by petal the flower of our heart;
The end lost in dream,
They float past our view,
We only watch their glad, early start.

Freighted with hope,
Crimsoned with joy,
We scatter the leaves of our opening rose;
Their widening scope,
Their distant employ,
We never shall know. And the stream as it flows
Sweeps them away,
Each one is gone
Ever beyond into infinite ways.
We alone stay
While years hurry on,
The flower fared forth, though its fragrance still stays.

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Volsebnik's picture

This short lyrical poem contains very strong imagery that calls the reader to visualize the rose and smell its "fragrance".
The happy tone at the beginning becomes forlorn as the poem goes along into the final verse. Lowell is here drawing comparison between sadness over the flower and the disappointment over lost dreams that were once so vivid.
The last short line at the end of the poem "its fragrance still stays" is beautiful and powerful.

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