IF all the gentlest-hearted friends I know Concentred in one heart their gentleness, That still grew gentler till its pulse was less For life than pity, -- I should yet be slow To bring my own heart nakedly below The palm of such a friend, that he should press Motive, condition, means, appliances, My false ideal joy and fickle woe, Out full to light and knowledge; I should fear Some plait between the brows, some rougher chime In the free voice. O angels, let your flood Of bitter scorn dash on me! do ye hear What I say who bear calmly all the time This everlasting face to face with GOD? | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...DAYS TOO SHORT by WILLIAM HENRY DAVIES CURIOSITY by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR THE DOUBLE-HEADED SNAKE OF NEWBURY by JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER PROMETHEUS BOUND: THE OVERTHROW OF ZEUS by AESCHYLUS PSALM 9, SELECTION by OLD TESTAMENT BIBLE THE FOUR ZOAS: NIGHTS THE FIFTH AND SIXTH by WILLIAM BLAKE |