Defeat may serve as well as victory To shake the soul and let the glory out. When the great oak is straining in the wind, The boughs drink in new beauty, and the trunk Sends down a deeper root on the windward side. Only the soul that knows the mighty grief Can know the mighty rapture. Sorrows come To stretch our spaces in the heart for joy. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...BEN KARSHOOK'S WISDOM by ROBERT BROWNING THE CANTERBURY TALES: THE GENERAL PROLOGUE by GEOFFREY CHAUCER THE OLD MAN OF VERONA by CLAUDIAN THE TRUTH by WILLIAM HENRY DAVIES CANZONET: TO HIS COY LOVE by MICHAEL DRAYTON TROILUS AND CRESSIDA: SONG by JOHN DRYDEN THE QUILTING by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR |