Classic and Contemporary Poetry
PAIN, by ELSIE ROBINSON First Line: Why must I be hurt? Last Line: Opportunity, a privilege, a challenge -- to the god that gropes within me. Subject(s): Pain; Suffering; Misery | ||||||||
Why must I be hurt? Suffering and despair, Cowardice and cruelty, Envy and injustice, All of these hurt. Grief and terror, Loneliness and betrayal And the agony of loss or death -- All these things hurt. Why? Why must life hurt? Why must those who love generously, Live honorably, feel deeply All that is good -- and beautiful Be so hurt, While selfish creatures Go unscathed? That is why -- Because they can feel. Hurt is the price to pay for feeling. Pain is not accident, Nor punishment, nor mockery By some savage god. Pain is part of growth. The more we grow The more we feel -- The more we feel -- the more we suffer, For if we are able to feel beauty, We must also feel the lack of it -- Those who glimpse heaven Are bound to sight hell. To have felt deeply is worth Anything it cost. To have felt Love and Honor, Courage and Ecstasy Is worth -- any price. And so -- since hurt is the price Of Larger living, I will not Hate pain, nor try to escape it. Instead I will try to meet it Bravely, bear it proudly: Not as a cross, or a misfortune, but an Opportunity, a privilege, a challenge -- to the God that gropes within me. | 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 MONUMENT TO LOVE by ELSIE ROBINSON |
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