Destroyers and Other Verses/Elan Vital

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ELAN VITAL.

All things that live and grow are full of hope.The slender primrose on the woodland slope,Tangled and overgrown,Unfolds its crumpled florets one by oneTo seek the sun;The snow-bound crocus thrusts an amber coneThrough frozen earth; even the fallen elmFringes with tender green its ancient bole.But Death extracts a tollFrom Beauty, Courage, Innocent Desire,And tempests overwhelmThe fruit-tree blossom, trampled in the mire,Sweet harbinger of unfulfilled delight.
When terror keeps the watches of the nightAnd childhood's faith is gone,And passion spent,We stagger to our feet and stumble onIn pain, in sorrow and bewildermentImpelled to hope by man's instinctive soul.
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