Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE PRAISE OF DUST, by GILBERT KEITH CHESTERTON Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: What of vile dust?' the preacher said?' Last Line: "of dust and nothing more." Alternate Author Name(s): Chesterton, G. K. Subject(s): Dust | ||||||||
"WHAT of vile dust?" the preacher said. Methought the whole world woke, The dead stone lived beneath my foot, And my whole body spoke. "You that play tyrant to the dust, And stamp its wrinkled face, This patient star that flings you not Far into homeless space, "Come down out of your dusty shrine The living dust to see, The flowers that at your sermon's end Stand blazing silently, "Rich white and blood-red blossom; stones, Lichens like fire encrust; A gleam of blue, a glare of gold, The vision of the dust. "Pass them all by; till, as you come Where, at a city's edge, Under a tree -- I know it well -- Under a lattice ledge, "The sunshine falls on one brown head You, too, O cold of clay, Eater of stones, may haply hear The trumpets of that day "When God to all his paladins By his own splendour swore To make a fairer face than heaven, Of dust and nothing more." | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A PECK OF GOLD by ROBERT FROST DUST IN THE EYES by ROBERT FROST IN THE DUST by ALICIA SUSKIN OSTRIKER AN OLD BURYING GROUND by ELFRIDA DE RENNE BARROW A BALLADE OF SUICIDE by GILBERT KEITH CHESTERTON |
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