quote · Legacy record
How often does the chopper of some stone, While toiling at his task of heave and shock, Find in the heart-space of a severed rock The impress of some fern that once had grown, Full of aspiring life and color-tone, Deep in the forest where the shadows flock, Till, caught within the adamantine block, It lay for ages hidden and unknown! So many a beauteous thought blooms in the mind But unexpressed, droops down into the soul And lies unuttered in the silence there Until some opener of the soul shall find The fern-like fossilled dream, complete and whole, And marvel at its beauty past compare.
How often does the chopper of some stone, While toiling at his task of heave and shock, Find in the heart-space of a severed rock The impress of some fern that once had grown, Full of aspiring life and color-tone, Deep in the forest where the shadows flock, Till, caught within the adamantine block, It lay for ages hidden and unknown! So many a beauteous thought blooms in the mind But unexpressed, droops down into the soul And lies unuttered in the silence there Until some opener of the soul shall find The fern-like fossilled dream, complete and whole, And marvel at its beauty past compare.
In print by 1911 AD · modern
Recorded in a printed collection by this date; the original date of these words is still unknown.
Meaning not yet available
An individual explanation has not yet been added. We do not substitute a generic description for an interpretation of these particular words.
Begin with source-checked readings and explanations ↗Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Alfred L. Donaldson
Attribution: attributed - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- In print by 1911 AD · modern
In print by 1911: recorded in The Optimist’s Good Morning (1911). Collection publication is an upper bound for this wording, not its earliest origin, composition date or the author's lifetime.
An author lifetime, approximate period or collection date is not necessarily the date when these words were first written or spoken. - Recorded source
- The Optimist’s Good Morning (1911) (1911 AD)
Complete signed selection 279; printed byline: Alfred L. Donaldson; Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1911; printed copyright 1907
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.