Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, IRONY, by THEODOSIA (PICKERING) GARRISON


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

IRONY, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: You gave me my work to do, you brought and set it before me
Last Line: Why did you seal my lips and crush the song in my throat?
Alternate Author Name(s): Faulks, Frederick J., Mrs.
Subject(s): Heaven; Irony; Laughter; Paradise


YOU gave me my work to do, you brought and set it before me;
I laughed with the laughter of one, seeing, who understands;
I bent to the task elate, zeal like a mantle o'er me --
Why did you break my wrists and shatter the strength of my hands?

You gave me a song to sing, and mine the joy of the bringing
Strands of Heaven, and sea and earth strung to the perfect note.
Finished, glorious, whole, I raised my head for its singing --
Why did you seal my lips and crush the song in my throat?

The work I was fain to do -- it rusts in the drift of the sands;
The song I was fain to sing is waste for the winds to float.
Why did you break my wrists and shatter the strength of my hands?
Why did you seal my lips and crush the song in my throat?





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