Poet: Nixon Waterman
A rose to the living is more
Than sumptuous wreaths to the dead;
In filling love's infinite store,
A rose to the living is more,
If graciously given before
The hungering spirit is fled, -
A rose to the living is more
Than sumptuous wreaths to the dead.
More Poems About Life
Poet: Nixon Waterman
If you could go back to the forks of the road,
Back the long miles you have carried the load;
Back to the place where you had to decide
By this way or that through your life to abide;
Back of the grieving and back of the care,
Back to the place where the future was fair, -
If you were this day that decision to make,
O brother in sorrow! which road would you take?
Then suppose that again to the forks you went back,
After you'd trodden the other long track;
After you'd found that its promises fair
Were all a delusion that led to a snare, -
That the road you first travelled with sighs and unrest,
Though dreary and rough, was most graciously blest,
With balm for each bruise and a charm for each ache, -
O brother in sorrow! which road would you take?
The poem, Which Road, encourages us to reflect on the choices we make in life and the paths we take. The poem imagines a scenario where one could go back to the moment of decision, back to the crossroads where they had to choose a direction. It prompts the reader to consider which path they would choose if given the chance to decide again, knowing what they know now.
More Poems of Encouragement
Poet: Nixon Waterman
With every tick of the clock, my dear,
The days go singing by.
And the skies are blue and our hearts are true,
And there's love in your laughing eye.
And never you care if the silver hair
Steals into each golden lock,
For your heart must know you dearer grow
With every tick of the clock.
With every tick of the clock, my dear.
We drift from the shores of youth.
And we swifter glide on the broader tide
Of the grander sea of truth.
The flight of time but smoothes to rhyme
Life's every grief and shock.
And we nearer grow in love's glad glow
With every tick of the clock.
More Poems About Time
Poet: Nixon Waterman
When the days are chill and the winds are shrill
And the snow-wreaths crown the earth.
Then the kind fates lend a book and a friend
And a seat by the glowing hearth.
And the hoarse, deep shout of the storm without,
And the Frost's breath keen and thin,
Add cheer and grace to the firelit face
Of the friend and the book within.
When the wild-bird calls, then away with walls
For the fields and the open sky!
For the land and sea are a home for me.
And the big world, broad and high.
Then I find my books in the running brooks.
And my friends by the wave-washed shores.
Where we glean and grow in the glint and glow
Of the boundless out-of-doors.
"The Year's Delights" by Nixon Waterman celebrates the joys found in different seasons and settings. In the poem, the speaker describes finding comfort and companionship during the cold winter months by sitting by a warm hearth with a good book and a friend. Despite the harshness of the weather outside, the coziness of the indoor setting is enhanced by the contrast with the wintry conditions. Nature itself becomes a source of inspiration and companionship, as they find books in running brooks and friends by wave-washed shores.
More Nature Poems
Poet: Nixon Waterman
Oh, come, my lore, and walk with me
Through the orchard's leafy ways.
And hear the song of bird and bee
We heard in other days.
When all the world was good and kind
When hearts were warm and true
And the narrowest path our feet could find
Was wide enough for two.
Once more we'll keep a loving tryst
Beneath the bending boughs.
Where first your trembling lips were kissed,
And first we breathed our vows.
There where with beating heart you came
To greet me at the bars,
And, waiting, I would speak your name.
And spell it in the stars.
Time sprinkles frost upon our heads,
But love's eternal youth
Dwells in each happy breast and sheds
The beauty born of truth.
And heart to heart and lip to lip
We'll breathe our vows divine,
Till in the last long sleep you slip
Your loving hand in mine.
More Poems About Life and Love
Poet: Nixon Waterman
If you've ever been a rover
Through the fields of fragrant clover.
Where life is all a simple round of bliss.
When at eve the sun is sinking
Or the stars are faintly blinking,
You can call to mind a picture such as this:
Hark ! the cows are homeward roaming
Through the pasture's dewy gloaming,
I can hear them gently lowing through the dells,
While from out the bosky dingle
Come the softly tangled jingle
And the oft-repeated echo of the bells.
Strange how Memory will fling her
Arms about some scenes we bring her,
And the fleeting years but make them fonder grow;
Though I wander far and sadly
From that dear old home, how gladly
I recall the cherished scenes of long ago.
Hark ! the cows are homeward roaming
Through the pasture's dewy gloaming,
I can hear them gently lowing through the dells,
While from out the bosky dingle
Come the softly tangled jingle
And the oft-repeated echo of the bells.
"Memories" by Nixon Waterman reminisces about the nostalgic beauty of past experiences, particularly those associated with nature and rural life. The poet reflects on moments spent roaming through fields of fragrant clover, where life felt blissfully simple and serene.
Waterman explores the enduring nature of memory, noting how the passage of time only serves to deepen the fondness for these remembered moments. Despite wandering far from the familiar scenes of their past, Waterman finds joy in reliving those memories, which remain vivid and dear.
More Poems About Memories
Poet: Nixon Waterman
Feel all out of kilter, do you?
Nothing goes to suit you quite?
Skies seem sort of dark and clouded.
Though the day is fair and bright?
Eyes affected, fail to notice
Beauty spread on every hand?
Hearing so impaired you've missing
Songs of promise, sweet and grand?
No! your case is not uncommon -
Tis a popular distress:
Though 'tis not at all contagious.
Thousands have it more or less.
But it yields to simple treatment.
And is easy quite to cure;
If you follow my directions.
Quick recovery is sure.
Take a bit of cheerful thinking
Add a portion of content.
And with both let glad endeavor.
Mixed with earnestness, be blent:
These, with care and skill compounded
Will produce a magic oil
That is bound to cure, if taken
With a lot of honest toil.
If your heart is dull and heavy;
If your hope is pale with doubt:
Try this wondrous Oil of Promise.
For 'twill drive the evil out.
Who will mix it? Not the druggist
From the bottles on his shelf;
The ingredients required
You must find within yourself.
More Poems About Happiness
Poet: Nixon Waterman
Half-way between the dark and dawn,
Ere day had come or night had gone;
Somewhere between the bliss of dreams and dread of waking wearily,
Still half unconscious that I heard.
There came the far, faint voice of bird.
The welcome daybreak greeting of a robin singing cheerily.
The song seemed like a ribbon slight
Drawn 'tween the realms of day and night,
And as I listened to the notes my heart went beating merrily;
Would that the world on waking from
Its dreams to toil might ever come.
Joyed by the daybreak welcome of a robin singing cheerily.
The poem, A Robin's Song At Daybreak, describes the experience of hearing a robin's joyful melody during the transition from night to day, symbolizing hope, joy, and renewal. It encourages finding happiness and inspiration in nature's small wonders and celebrates the beauty of nature's melodies.
More Poems About Birds
Poet: Nixon Waterman
Just a few tears sprinkled in with our laughter,
Just a few clouds in the blue of the sky;
Showers make brighter the shine that comes after.
Smiles are the sweeter that follow a sigh.
Just a few griefs in the midst of our gladness.
Only for toil there could never be rest.
Songs we love most hold a shadow of sadness,
Joys that are touched with a sorrow are best.
Just a few graves in a land of the living,
Just a few moans in the midst of our mirth.
Just a few wrongs and the bliss of forgiving
Bring the heart glimpses of heaven on earth.
More Heaven Poems
Poet: Nixon Waterman
Does any one know what's in your heart and mine,
The sorrow and song,
The demon of sin and the angel divine,
The right and the wrong;
The dread of the darkness, the love of day.
The ebb and the flow
Of hope and of doubt forever and aye -
Does any one know?
Does any one hearken to music of bells,
And the sigh of the sea,
And the whisper of woodlands that murmurs and swells
For you and for me;
The sound of fond voices that ever respond.
In tones soft and low,
To the prayer we are breathing into the beyond.
Does any one know?
More You Decide
Poet: Nixon Waterman
Oh, the olden, golden days,
Oh, the pebbled path that strays
Where the yellow willow quivers by the river's winding ways;
Oh, the lazy, hazy stream
Where the lilies drowse and dream.
Their sunny hearts of honey in their burnished bowls of cream.
Oh, the youthful, truthful times,
When the world was wrapped in rhymes,
And hills and dells were silver bells that rang their rarest chime;
Oh, still they thrill me when
I thwart the thoughts of men,
And, just a boy, amid the joy of living, live again.
More Poems On Aging
More Poems by Nixon Waterman