5 Legacy Poems

1. Bequest
   Poet: Emily Dickinson
   
   You left me, sweet, two legacies, -
   A legacy of love
   A Heavenly Father would content,
   Had He the offer of;
   
   You left me boundaries of pain
   Capacious as the sea,
   Between eternity and time,
   Your consciousness and me.




2. My Legacy
   Poet: Lucy Maud Montgomery
   
   My friend has gone away from me
   From shadow into perfect light,
   But leaving a sweet legacy.
   
   My heart shall hold it long in fee­
   A grand ideal, calm and bright,
   A song of hope for ministry,
   
   A faith of unstained purity,
   A thought of beauty for delight­
   These did my friend bequeath to me;
   
   And, more than even these can be,
   The worthy pattern of a white,
   Unmarred life lived most graciously.
   
   Dear comrade, loyal thanks to thee
   Who now hath fared beyond my sight,
   My friend has gone away from me,
   But leaving a sweet legacy.




Train Of Life Poem



3. Living Legacy
   Poet: Catherine Pulsifer
   
   How you act, what you do today
   Is a living legacy on display
   Kind acts, kind words you speak
   Give us a peek.
   How you make others feel
   Is a legacy revealed.
   
   It is not material things,
   Short term money brings.
   But helping others will always be
   A true living legacy.
   If we look at your life today
   What type of legacy do you display?




Legacy Quotes



4. Legacy
   Poet: Douglas Malloch
   
   Each man must leave to earth a legacy;
   Embarking on the waves of mystery
   Must leave some footprint by the unknown sea.
   
   
   Read the full poem Legacy




5. My Legacy
   Poet: Helen Hunt
   
   They told me I was heir:
   I turned in haste,
   And ran to seek my treasure.
   And wondered, as I ran, how it was placed,
   If I should find a measure
   Of gold, or if the titles of fair lands
   And houses would be laid within my hands.
   
   I journeyed many roads; I knocked at gates;
   I spoke to each wayfarer
   I met, and said, "A heritage awaits
   Me. Art not thou the bearer
   Of news? some message sent to me whereby
   I learn which way my new possessions lie?"
   
   Some asked me in; naught lay beyond their door;
   Some smiled, and would not tarry,
   But said that men were just behind who bore
   More gold than I could carry;
   And so the morn the noon, the day, were spent,
   While empty-handed up and down I went.
   
   At last one cried, whose face I could not see,
   As through the mists he hasted:
   "Poor child, what evil ones have hindered thee
   Till this whole day is wasted?
   Hath no man told thee that thou art joint heir
   With one named Christ, who waits the goods to share?"
   
   The one named Christ I sought for many days,
   In many places vainly;
   I heard men name his name in many ways;
   I saw his temples plainly;
   But they who named him most gave me no sign
   To find him by, or prove the heirship mine.
   
   And when at last I stood before his face,
   I knew him by no token
   Save subtle air of joy which filled the place;
   Our greeting was not spoken;
   In solemn silence I received my share.
   Kneeling before my brother and "joint heir."
   
   My share! No deed of house or spreading lands,
   As I had dreamed; no measure
   Heaped up with gold; my elder brother's hands
   Had never held such treasure.
   Foxes have holes, and birds in nests are fed:
   My brother had not where to lay his head.
   
   My share! The right like him to know all pain
   Which hearts are made for knowing;
   The right to find in loss the surest gain;
   To reap my joy from sowing
   In bitter tears; the right with him to keep
   A watch by day and night with all who weep.
   
   My share! To-day men call it grief and death;
   I see the joy and life to-morrow;
   I thank my Father with my every breath,
   For this sweet legacy of sorrow;
   And through my tears I call to each "joint heir"
   With Christ, "Make haste to ask him for thy share."