Alas, Kind Element!

Leonie AdamsLeonie Adams

1 min read · 12.4K reads

Then I was sealed, and like the wintering tree
I stood me locked upon a summer core;
Living, had died a death, and asked no more.
And I lived then, but as enduringly,
And my heart beat, but only as to be.
Ill weathers well, hail, gust and cold I bore,
I held my life as hid, at root, in store:
Thus I lived then, till this air breathed on me.
Till this kind air breathed kindness everywhere,
There where my times had left me I would stay.
Then I was staunch, I knew nor yes nor no;
But now the wishful leaves have thronged the air.
My every leaf leans forth upon the day;
Alas, kind element! which comes to go.
Leonie Adams
About the poet

Leonie Adams

1899-1988/AmericanLeonie Adams was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1899. The fifth of six children. She was brought up in a strict home. She was not allowed to ride the subway until she was 18, and then only while her father accompanied her. Leonie graduated f…

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