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Henry Wadsworth Longfellow - The Reaper and the Flowers

There is a Reaper, whose name is Death,
And, with his sickle keen,
He reaps the bearded grain at a breath,
And the flowers that grow between.

"Shall I have naught that is fair?" saith he;
"Have naught but the bearded grain?
Though the breath of these flowers is sweet to me,
I will give them all back again."

He gazed at the flowers with tearful eyes,
He kissed their drooping leaves;
It was for the Lord of Paradise
He bound them in his sheaves.

"My Lord has need of these flowerets gay,"
The Reaper said, and smiled;
"Dear tokens of the earth are they,
Where he was once a child.

"They shall all bloom in fields of light,
Transplanted by my care,
And saints, upon their garments white,
These sacred blossoms wear."

And the mother gave, in tears and pain,
The flowers she most did love;
She knew she should find them all again
In the fields of light above.

O, not in cruelty, not in wrath,
The Reaper came that day;
'T was an angel visited the green earth,
And took the flowers away.

Added: on December 3rd, 2005 at 9:35 AM | Viewed: 7252 times | Comments and analysis of The Reaper and the Flowers by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Comments (15)


The Reaper and the Flowers - Comments and Information

Poet: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Poem: 4. The Reaper and the Flowers
Volume: Voices of the Night
Poem of the Day: Jan 28 2003

Comment 15 of 15, added on April 13th, 2007 at 1:35 AM.

Yes, it truly is hard to accept the death of a loved one at first. But this poem is sooo beautiful i shared it with my friend who recently lost her baby and it helped her deal a lot. I love this poem.

Christy
Comment 14 of 15, added on April 9th, 2006 at 9:05 PM.

I'm not sure how anyone manages to see a "born-again" Christian inference in here... the implication is clearly towards children who die before their time. This seems to be more proof to me that religion exists as an explanation for that which appears particularly unpleasant or perplexing.

Is it that hard to accept that sometimes people die?

Jake from United States
Comment 13 of 15, added on December 3rd, 2005 at 9:35 AM.

I chose this poem for my English class and had to do an analysis on it. I've had to think a ton about this and I really think I have it. I think the flowers represent Born Again Christians and the sadness it is for God to literally kill them. But we see that it's His plan and ultimately His plan is perfect. I think the Reaper is an angel from God, the fields of light is heaven, and the "bearded grain" are non-believers and the people of this world who will ultimately die and are not promised eternal life. I think the mother is Chirst and the "tears and pain," is the suffering He did on the cross at calvary.

Eric from United States

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