Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, PUTTING OFF, THE ARMOR, by ALICE CARY


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

PUTTING OFF, THE ARMOR, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Why weep ye for the falling
Last Line: In the city of our god.
Subject(s): Heaven; Paradise


WHY weep ye for the falling
Of the transient twilight gloom?
I am weary of the journey,
And have come in sight of home.

I can see a white procession
Sweep melodiously along,
And I would not have your mourning
Drown the sweetness of their song.

The battle-strife is ended;
I have scaled the hindering wall,
And am putting off the armor
Of the soldier -- that is all!

Would you hide me from my pleasures?
Would you hold me from my rest?
From my serving and my waiting
I am called to be a guest!

Of its heavy, hurtful burdens
Now my spirit is released:
I am done with fasts and scourges,
And am bidden to the feast.

While you see the sun descending,
While you lose me in the night,
Lo, the heavenly morn is breaking,
And my soul is in the light.

I from faith to sight am rising
While in deeps of doubt you sink;
'T is the glory that divides us,
Not the darkness, as you think.

Then lift up your drooping eyelids,
And take heart of better cheer;
'T is the cloud of coming spirits
Makes the shadows that ye fear.

Oh, they come to bear me upward
To the mansion of the sky,
And to change as I am changing
Is to live, and not to die;

Is to leave the pain, the sickness,
And the smiting of the rod,
And to dwell among the angels,
In the City of our God.





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net