Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE SPIRITUAL BODY, by PHOEBE CARY Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: I have a heavenly home Last Line: Upon my naked and unsheltered soul! Subject(s): Death; Grief; Religion; Soul; Dead, The; Sorrow; Sadness; Theology | ||||||||
I HAVE a heavenly home, To which my soul may come, And where forever safe it may abide; Firmly and sure it stands, That house not made with hands, And garnished as a chamber for a bride! 'T is such as angels use, Such as good men would choose; It hath all fair and pleasant things in sight: Its walls as white and fine As polished ivory shine, And through its windows comes celestial light. 'T is builded fair and good, In the similitude Of the most royal palace of a king; And sorrow may not come Into that heavenly home, Nor pain, nor death, nor any evil thing. Near it that stream doth pass Whose waters, clear as glass, Make glad the city of our God with song; Whose banks are fair as those Whereon stray milk-white does, Feeding among the lilies all day long. And friends who once were here Abide in dwellings near; They went up thither on a heavenly road; While I, though warned to go, Yet linger here below, Clinging to a most miserable abode. The evil blasts drive in Through chinks, which time and sin Have battered in my wretched house of clay; Yet in so vile a place, Poor, unadorned with grace I choose to live, or rather choose to stay. And here I make my moan About the days now gone, About the souls passed on to their reward; The souls that now have come Into a better home, And sit in heavenly places with their Lord. 'T is strange that I should cling To this despised thing, To this poor dwelling crumbling round my head; Making myself content In a low tenement After my joys and friends alike are fled! Yet I shall not, I know, Be ready hence to go, And dwell in my good palace, fair and whole, Till unrelenting Death Blows with his icy breath Upon my naked and unsheltered soul! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...MYSTIC BOUNCE by TERRANCE HAYES MATHEMATICS CONSIDERED AS A VICE by ANTHONY HECHT UNHOLY SONNET 11 by MARK JARMAN SHINE, PERISHING REPUBLIC by ROBINSON JEFFERS THE COMING OF THE PLAGUE by WELDON KEES A LITHUANIAN ELEGY by ROBERT KELLY A LEGEND OF THE NORTHLAND by PHOEBE CARY |
|