Compensation

Compensation written by William Henry Davies

From "My Garden", 1933

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When these sweet spirits, my most faithful friends,
No longer fill my reservoirs of song,
And pass me by as one whose work is finished,
To help new poets who are young and strong -
Then, like a man that's blind, whose ears acquire
A double strength, to follow every sound,
So shall I triumph in another's voice,
And hear more clear, since my own tongue is bound.
Who are these spirits, that have not yet failed
To fill my reservoirs of light and song?
Helped by their love, all scratches, cuts and wounds
Close up like water, when the times go wrong.

This work is in the public domain in countries where the copyright term is the author's life plus 70 years or less.