Rosary Beads

by Herman Melville

Herman Melville

The Accepted Time

Adore the Roses; nor delay
Until the rose-fane fall,
Or ever their censers cease to sway:
" To-day! " the rose-priests call.

Without Price

Have the Roses. Needs no pelf
The blooms to buy,
Nor any rose-bed to thyself
Thy skill to try:
But live up to the Rose's light,
Thy meat shall turn to roses red,
Thy bread to roses white.

Grain by Grain

Grain by grain the Desert drifts
Against the Garden-Land:
Hedge well thy Roses, head the stealth
Of ever-creeping Land.





Last updated January 14, 2019