Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, STRANGE ARE THE WAYS OF MEN, by ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

STRANGE ARE THE WAYS OF MEN, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
Last Line: The noble road to fame!
Alternate Author Name(s): Stevenson, Robert Lewis Balfour
Subject(s): Mankind; God; Fame


Strange are the ways of men,
And strange the ways of God!
We tread the mazy paths
That all our fathers trod.

We tread them undismayed,
And undismayed behold
The portents of the sky,
The things that were of old.

The fiery stars pursue
Their course in heav'n on high;
And round the 'leaguered town,
Crest-tossing heroes cry.

Crest-tossing heroes cry;
And martial fifes declare
How small, to mortal minds,
Is merely mortal care.

And to the clang of steel
And cry of piercing flute
Upon the azure peaks
A God shall plant his foot:

A God in arms shall stand,
And seeing wide and far
The green and golden earth,
The killing tide of war,

He, with uplifted arm,
Shall to the skies proclaim
The gleeful fate of man,
The noble road to fame!





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