Three by Tabb VI

Poems by Father John Banister Tabb.

Grief-Song

New grief, new tears;
   Brief the reign of sorrow;
Clouds that gather with the night
   Scatter on the morrow.

Old grief, old tears;
   Come and gone together;
Not a fleck upon the sky
   Telling whence or whither.

Old grief, new tears;
   Deep to deep is calling:
Life is but a passing cloud
   Whence the rain is falling.

(1894)

Fountain-Heads

Alike from depths of joy and sorrow start
   The rain-drops of the heart;
Alike from sweet and briny waves arise
   The tear-drops of the skies.
And back to earth salt tears and freshening rain
   Alike must flow again.

(Dec. 1893)

Influences

Each separate life is fed
From many a fountain-head;
   Tides that we never know
   Into our being flow,
And rays of the remotest star
Converge to make us what we are.

(Dec. 1908)

The Poetry of Father Tabb (1928) pp. 110, 111, 117.
ed. Francis A. Litz, Ph.D.

See also Three by Tabb V: Quatrains by Father John Banister Tabb.

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Sun. 09/12/04 07:32:20 AM
Categorized as Literary & Sunday Poetry Series.