Poems (Kennedy)/Lagniappe
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LAGNIAPPE[1]
THE common, needful gifts are ours by right
Of human law—air, food and roof and fire;
But what of all the many thousand wants
That fill the measure of our heart's desire?
Of human law—air, food and roof and fire;
But what of all the many thousand wants
That fill the measure of our heart's desire?
What of our power to read in far-flung stars
The epic of creation's dawn and rise,
Or catch the radiant resurrection truth
A purple crocus opens to our eyes?
The epic of creation's dawn and rise,
Or catch the radiant resurrection truth
A purple crocus opens to our eyes?
What of the sunlight on a field of wheat—
The signal of the cloud-ships far above?
The lure of Hope that paints the shadows gold—
What of that wonder-bloom, the Rose of Love!
The signal of the cloud-ships far above?
The lure of Hope that paints the shadows gold—
What of that wonder-bloom, the Rose of Love!
These are the largess that we take of fate,
Take royally, as we were thrice crowned kings,
Nor stop to ask—the glimpse of higher goals,
The dreams that send our hearts on upward wings!
Take royally, as we were thrice crowned kings,
Nor stop to ask—the glimpse of higher goals,
The dreams that send our hearts on upward wings!
- ↑ Creole expression for a gratuity.