The earth was never worthy Of its ardent, flaming souls, Whose burning zeal for an ideal Set new and shining goals, For nations to achieve, Beyond the ken of pygmy men To image or conceive— Those god-like seers who pierced the years And saw through mists of blood and tears The race's upward climb. Rewards? In life it gave them gibes and sneers. Then, marble mausoleums In later shamed years. Ah, earth was never worthy Of its martyr-souls and seers, Who have swept it ever upward Through the cycles of the years. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE CHILD ALONE: 1. THE UNSEEN PLAYMATE by ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON TO SWEET MEAT, SOUR SAUCE; AN IMITATION OF THEOCRITUS OR ANACREON by PHILIP AYRES VELLEN THE TREE by WILLIAM BARNES |