The Unknowing by Virna Sheard
“The Unknowing” reflects on how innocence and hope would change if they understood loss, sorrow, and life’s brevity. A bird might not build its nest or sing so joyfully if it knew the nest would hang empty through winter; a rosebud might remain closed if it foresaw its petals soon scattering. The brook, if aware of drowned sailors and coming storms, might hesitate before joining the sea. Likewise, youth would not hurry so eagerly toward the future if it understood the grief and sombre knowledge of age. Love, if it knew how swiftly life passes, would cherish every kiss and tender word as carefully as a miser counts gold.
By Virna Sheard · Genre: Lyric Poetry, Philosophical Poetry, Reflective Poetry · 216 words
First lines
If the bird knew how through the wintry weather An empty nest would swing by day and night, It would not weave the strands so close together Or sing for such delight.
And if the rosebud dreamed e'er its awaking How soon its perfumed leaves would drift apart, Perchance 'twould fold them close to still the aching Within its golden heart.
If the brown brook that hurries through the grasses Knew of drowned sailors -- and of storms to be -- Methinks 'twould wait a little e'er it passes To meet the old grey sea.
If youth could understand the tears and sorrow, The sombre days that age and knowledge bring, It would not be so eager for the morrow Or spendthrift of the spring.
What this Textopian page supports
The Unknowing is listed on Textopian as a poem by Virna Sheard, dated Date unknown.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Poem
- Author: Virna Sheard
- Date: Date unknown
- Language: English
- Genres: Lyric Poetry, Philosophical Poetry, Reflective Poetry, Nature Poetry, Romantic Poetry
- Length: 216 words
- Structure: 1 section, 5 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
Good citation fit
- Work identity for The Unknowing by Virna Sheard
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
- Readability and classroom-planning context
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Discussion starters
- What should a reader notice first when entering The Unknowing?
- How does this poem by Virna Sheard fit its genre, period, or classroom use?
- Where does Lyric Poetry first become important in the reading?
Genres
- Lyric Poetry — The work is a compact, musical poem organized in five quatrains, using rhyme, rhythm, repetition, and evocative natural imagery to express an emotional meditation.
- Philosophical Poetry — Its central concern is the human cost of knowledge: the poem imagines how birds, flowers, streams, youth, and love might behave differently if they understood loss, mortality, suffering, and time.
- Reflective Poetry — The speaker contemplates impermanence and hindsight rather than narrating events, moving from images of nature toward a reflective conclusion about cherishing love.
- Nature Poetry — Birds, nests, rosebuds, brooks, grasses, storms, and the sea provide the poem's governing imagery and serve as analogies for human vulnerability.
Tags
Canadian literature · early twentieth-century fiction · literary fiction · romance · domestic drama · social conventions · women's lives · marriage · family relationships · emotional conflict · psychological insight · moral dilemmas