Hollis
Cate
Some
readers may wonder what is a poem about Thoreau doing in this modern
anthology of Frost spirited poems. Clearly, Hollis Cate's poem
shares Frost's relish for mixing anecdotes and aphorisms, as RF did in
"Fire and Ice" or "Dedication". Frost, who
alluded to Thoreau from time to time, might have agreed that these
quatrains prove to be an appropriate delivery vehicle for Thoreau's famous
reply.
HENRY'S
FINAL RIPOSTES
Thoreau was breathing
his last,
His aunt standing nearby.
She wondered if her nephew
Was
fully prepared to die.
"Have you made peace with God?"
She asked with upturned eye.
Henry answered never wavering,
With just a hint of a sigh,
"But we have never quarreled."
Who could have said the same?
But she persisted even so,
Still
fanning that former flame.
"Are you ready for the next world?"
She asked, thinking the moment prime.
Thoreau answered with his usual aplomb,
"Let's
take one world at a time."
Hollis Cate
is Professor Emeritus of English from Georgia Southern University
in Statesboro, Georgia. He has published poetry in various
journals for many years.
In 2000 Mellen Poetry Press published a book of his poems entitled
"At the Beach and Elsewhere."
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