Poem: “The Reaper and the Flowers” by Henry Wadsworth Longfello

Download PDF

American Literature – American Poetry – Henry Wadsworth Longfello = Poems by Henry Wadsworth Longfello
< < < A Psalm of Life
The Light of Stars > > >

The Reaper and the Flowers

There is a Reaper, whose name is Death,
And, with his sickle keen,
He reaps the bearded grain at a breath,
And the flowers that grow between.

“Shall I have naught that is fair?” saith he;
“Have naught but the bearded grain?
Though the breath of these flowers is sweet to me,
I will give them all back again.”

He gazed at the flowers with tearful eyes,
He kissed their drooping leaves;
It was for the Lord of Paradise
He bound them in his sheaves.

“My Lord has need of these flowerets gay,”
The Reaper said, and smiled;
“Dear tokens of the earth are they,
Where he was once a child.

“They shall all bloom in fields of light,
Transplanted by my care,
And saints, upon their garments white,
These sacred blossoms wear.”

And the mother gave, in tears and pain,
The flowers she most did love;
She knew she should find them all again
In the fields of light above.

O, not in cruelty, not in wrath,
The Reaper came that day;
’T was an angel visited the green earth,
And took the flowers away.

< < < A Psalm of Life
The Light of Stars > > >

American Literature – American Poetry – Henry Wadsworth Longfello – Poems by Henry Wadsworth Longfello

If you liked this article, subscribe , put likes, write comments!

Share on social networks

Visit us on Facebook or Twitter

Check out Our Latest Posts

The Reaper and the Flowers

Leave a comment Cancel reply