Public-domain source text

Thorn and Rose

by Henry van Dyke Jr.

From Standard Ebooks · standardebooks/henry-van-dyke-jr_poetry

Far richer than a thornless rose Whose branch with beauty never glows, Is that which every June adorns With perfect bloom among its thorns.

Merely to live without a pain Is little gladness, little gain, Ah, welcome joy tho’ mixt with grief⁠— The thorn-set flower that crowns the leaf.

June 20, 1914.

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This is a source transcription from Standard Ebooks, published in Past Poetry’s public-domain archive without line-by-line editorial notes. Public-domain source edition. Availability can vary by territory.

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