Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, SONNETS: 1. TO THE SEA, by ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

SONNETS: 1. TO THE SEA, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Thy god permits thee, but with dreadful hand
Last Line: From us yet hidden and our blinded race.
Alternate Author Name(s): Stevenson, Robert Lewis Balfour
Subject(s): God; Sea; Travel; Ocean; Journeys; Trips


THY God permits thee, but with dreadful hand
Canst churn great boulders into little sand,
On fruitless tasks to waste thy summer ease,
In tide washed seaweeds find a childish joy.
Or -- harnessing the unruly force of sea
To lick smooth stone into a fretted toy --
From thy great page, turn forth knick-knacks to please
A Lilliputian fancy -- yea produce
Such nice laborious fritters as could these
Old chinamen whose life, by slow degrees,
Frayed four and twenty peachstones into lace.
Hence know that in our smallest work God sees
Some service to himself, or some good use,
From us yet hidden and our blinded race.





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