Friday, February 24, 2012

Poetry Friday: Memory

Another forgotten poem by New Hampshire's Thomas Bailey Aldrich.

My mind lets go a thousand things,
Like dates of wars and deaths of kings,
And yet recalls the very hour--
'T was noon by yonder village tower,
And on the last blue noon in May--
The wind came briskly up this way,
Crisping the brook beside the road;
Then, pausing here, set down its load
Of pine-scents, and shook listlessly
Two petals from that wild-rose tree.

And really, which memory is more valuable?

Poetry Friday is being hosted this week at Check it Out!

8 comments:

Tara said...

So lovely...especially this image of the wind:

Then, pausing here, set down its load
Of pine-scents, and shook listlessly
Two petals from that wild-rose tree.

I love the delicacy of that.

Diane Mayr said...

Which memory? The scent memory! Scent memory can give you chills.

GatheringBooks said...

"The wind came briskly up this way,
Crisping the brook beside the road;"

-- now only a poet can write those things. I agree with Tara, there is such delicate movement in the lines here. :) Thanks for sharing

Books4Learning said...

beautiful imagery

Linda B said...

Myra took my words. I love the idea of wind crisping the brook. Thank you for the beautiful poem.

Tabatha said...

I agree with the others -- great poem, Sally!

I'm Jet . . . said...

Very excellent choice, Sally.

Ruth said...

This is wonderful! Thanks for sharing it.