LIFE'S sadly solemn mystery Hangs o'er me like a weight; The glorious longing to be free, The gloomy bars of fate. Alternately the good and ill, The light and dark, are strung; Fountains of love within my heart, And hate upon my tongue. Beneath my feet the unstable ground, Above my head the skies; Immortal longings in my soul, And death before my eyes. No purely pure, and perfect good, No high, unhindered power; A beauteous promise in the bud, And mildew on the flower. The glad, green brightness of the spring; The summer, soft and warm; The faded autumn's fluttering gold, The whirlwind and the storm. To find some sure interpreter My spirit vainly tries; I only know that God is love, And know that love is wise. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE GIFT TO SING by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON GENERAL WILLIAM BOOTH ENTERS INTO HEAVEN by NICHOLAS VACHEL LINDSAY IN MEMORIAM (EASTER 1915) by PHILIP EDWARD THOMAS THE STEAM-ENGINE: CANTO 10. THE RAILWAY BOOM, 1845 by T. BAKER POLYHYMNIA: FRAGMENTS by WILLIAM BASSE S. MARY MAGDALEN'S OINTMENT by JOSEPH BEAUMONT |