Nature
There never yet was flower fair in vain
From Earlier Poems
There never yet was flower fair in vain,
Let classic poets rhyme it as they will;
The seasons toil that it may blow again,
And summer's heart doth feel its every ill;
Nor is a true soul ever born for naught;
Wherever any such hath lived and died,
There hath been something for true freedom wrought,
Some bulwark levelled on the evil side:
Toil on, then, Greatness! thou art in the right,
However narrow souls may call thee wrong;
Be as thou wouldst be in thine own clear sight,
And so thou shalt be in the world's erelong;
For worldlings cannot, struggle as they may,
From man's great soul one great thought hide away.
Cite this poem
MLA
Lowell, James Russell. “There never yet was flower fair in vain.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/lowell/158/.
Chicago
Lowell, James Russell. “There never yet was flower fair in vain.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/lowell/158/.
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