"GREAT father Alighieri, if from the skies This thy disciple prostrate thou dost see Before thy gravestone, shaken with deep sighs, O turn thou not in wrathfulness from me! O of thy kindness, favouring pure desires, Illuminate me with a ray of thine; Must who to pristine, deathless fame aspires Take arms 'gainst envy and each fell design?" "I did so, son, to my great sorrow, for Thereby the names of men too vile to tread Under my feet are heard for evermore. If thou dost trust in me, why droop thy head? Go thunder, triumph, and if thou shouldst chance To meet with such, pass by nor deign a glance." | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...GEIST'S GRAVE by MATTHEW ARNOLD RELIEVING GUARD by FRANCIS BRET HARTE A WHITE ROSE by JOHN BOYLE O'REILLY VALENTINES TO MY MOTHER: 1884 by CHRISTINA GEORGINA ROSSETTI VERSES TO AN INFANT by BERNARD BARTON PUSSY WILLOWS by ELIZABETH BRADY WHOM EARTH HAS TAUGHT: PROSPICENCE by MARGARET PERKINS BRIGGS |