The Ring of Amethyst

Chapter 36: TO FRANK S. R——. WITH A VIOLIN.

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About This Book

A collection of lyric poems that moves between intimate reflections on love, longing, and domestic feeling and wider meditations on faith, doubt, memory, and artistic purpose. Short, varied pieces contrast joy and pain, sometimes adopting persona or dedicatory addresses and sometimes using nature and classical imagery to frame emotional states. The overall tone balances tender sincerity with contemplative restraint, turning commonplace moments and moral concerns into compact, image-driven meditations on the inner life.

TO FRANK S. R——.
WITH A VIOLIN.

The stately trees that in the forest grow

Are not all destined for the same high thing;

Some burn to useless cinders in the glow

Of the hearth-fire; while some are meant to sing

For centuries the never-dying song

Once caught from wandering breeze or lingering bird

So clearly and so surely, that the strong

Firm wood was quickly seized by one who heard,

To fashion his dear violin;—even so

Our human souls are fashioned; some will fade

Away to useless ashes, others grow

Immortal through the sweetness they have made.