"Sonnet 92 [Behold that Tree, in Autumn’s dim decay]" by Anna Seward

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend January 20, 2018   Sonnet 92 [Behold that Tree, in Autumn's dim decay]   Anna Seward

Behold that Tree, in Autumn's dim decay,    Stript by the frequent, chill, and eddying Wind;    Where yet some yellow, lonely leaves we find    Lingering and trembling on the naked spray, Twenty, perchance, for millions whirl'd away!    Emblem, alas! too just, of Humankind!    Vain Man expects longevity, design'd    For few indeed; and their protracted day What is it worth that Wisdom does not scorn?    The blasts of Sickness, Care, and Grief appal,    That laid the Friends in dust, whose natal morn Rose near their own;—and solemn is the call;—    Yet, like those weak, deserted leaves forlorn,    Shivering they cling to life, and fear to fall!            This poem is in the public domain. About This Poem   "Sonnet 92" was published in Original Sonnets on Various Subjects; and Odes Paraphrased from Horace (G. Sael, 1799).   Anna Seward was born in 1747 in Derbyshire, England. Her poetry collections include Original Sonnets on Various Subjects; and Odes Paraphrased from Horace (G. Sael, 1799) and Elegy on Captain Cook. To Which Is Added, an Ode to the Sun (J. Dodsley, 1780). She died in 1809.   Photo credit: National Portrait Gallery, London. Poetry by Seward   Monody on Major Andre: and Elegy on Captain Cook. Also Mr. Pratt's Sympathy. A poem (University of California Libraries, 1817) "More Stones" by Andrea Cohen "Every Infant's Blood" by Graham Duncan "Enough" by Ellen Bass January Guest Editor: Kaveh Akbar   Thanks to Kaveh Akbar, author of Calling a Wolf a Wolf (Alice James Books, 2017), who curated Poem-a-Day this month. Read more about Akbar and our other guest editors for the year. Help Support Poem-a-Day   If you value Poem-a-Day, please consider a monthly donation or one-time gift to help make it possible. Poem-a-Day is the only digital series publishing new, previously unpublished work by today's poets each weekday morning. The free series, which also features a curated selection of classic poems on weekends, reaches 450,000+ readers daily. Thank you! Thanks for being a part of the Academy of American Poets community. To learn about other programs, including National Poetry Month, Poem in Your Pocket Day, the annual Poets Forum, and more, visit Poets.org.   You are receiving this e-mail because you elected to subscribe to our mailing list. If you would like to unsubscribe, please click here.   © Academy of American Poets 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038