Classic and Contemporary Poetry
PAIN, by GRACE DENIO LITCHFIELD Poet's Biography First Line: I am a mystery that walks the earth Last Line: Thou feelest that I am! Subject(s): Blood; Death; Despair; Pain; Dead, The; Suffering; Misery | ||||||||
I AM a Mystery that walks the earth Since man began to be. Sorrow and sin stood sponsors at my birth, And terror christened me. More pitiless than Death, who gathereth His victims day by day, I doom man daily to desire Death, And still forbear to slay. More merciless than Time, I leave man youth, And suck life's sweetness out. More cruel than despair, I show man truth, And leave him strength to doubt. I bind the freest in my subtle band. I blanch the boldest cheek. I hold the hearts of poets in my hand, And wring them ere they speak. I walk in darkness over souls that bleed. I shape each as I go To something different. I sow the seed Whence grapes or thistles grow. No two that dream me, dream the self-same face. No two name me alike. A horror without form I fill all space. Across all time I strike. Look how man cringes to mine unseen rod! Kings own my sovereignty. Though seers but prove me as they prove a God, Yet none denieth me. I come! I come! Life's monster Mystery, I come, to bless or damn. Kneel, kneel, vain soul! Helpless, acknowledge me! Thou feelest that I am! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...PARTHENOPHIL AND PARTHENOPHE: MADRIGAL 14 by BARNABE BARNES SONNETS IN SHADOWS: 1 by ARLO BATES IN PRAISE OF PAIN by HEATHER MCHUGH THE SYMPATIZERS by JOSEPHINE MILES LEEK STREET by LAURE-ANNE BOSSELAAR A BIRTHDAY SONG by GRACE DENIO LITCHFIELD |
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