Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, ETERNITY, by JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

ETERNITY, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: O what a weary while it is to stand
Last Line: Or any crumb of gloom to feed upon?
Alternate Author Name(s): Johnson Of Boone, Benj. F.
Subject(s): Angels; Future Life; God; Retribution; Eternity; After Life


O what a weary while it is to stand,
Telling the countless ages o'er and o'er,
Till all the finger-tips held out before
Our dazzled eyes by heaven's starry hand
Drop one by one, yet at some dread command
Are held again, and counted evermore!
How feverish the music seems to pour
Along the throbbing veins of anthems grand!
And how the cherubim sing on and on -
The seraphim and angels - still enraptured - far withdrawn
In hovering armies tranced in endless flight!
. . . God's mercy! is there never dusk or dawn,
Or any crumb of gloom to feed upon?










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