The Sower and his Seed. William Edward Hartpole Lecky (1838-1903). Poems of Sentiment: IV. Thought: Poetry: Books. Bliss Carman, et al., eds. 1904. The World's Best Poetry. VI. Fancy

Bliss Carman, et al., eds. The World’s Best Poetry.
Volume VI. Fancy. 1904.

Poems of Sentiment: IV. Thought: Poetry: Books

The Sower and his Seed

William Edward Hartpole Lecky (1838–1903)


HE planted an oak in his father’s park
And a thought in the minds of men,
And he bade farewell to his native shore,
Which he never will see again.
Oh merrily stream the tourist throng	5
To the glow of the Southern sky;
A vision of pleasure beckons them on,
But he went there to die.

The oak will grow and its boughs will spread,
And many rejoice in its shade,	10
But none will visit the distant grave,
Where a stranger youth is laid;
And the thought will live when the oak has died,
And quicken the minds of men,
But the name of the thinker has vanished away,	15
And will never be heard again.