-- "Is the child dead?" -- And they said, "He is dead." IN face of a great sorrow like to death How do we wrestle night and day with tears; How do we fast and pray; how small appears The outside world, while, hanging on some breath Of fragile hope, the chamber where we lie Includes all space. -- But if sudden at last The blow falls; or by incredulity Fond led, we -- never having one thought cast Towards years where "the child" was not -- see it die, And with it all our future, all our past, -- We just look round us with a dull surprise: For lesser pangs we had filled earth with cries Of wild and angry grief that would be heard: -- But when the heart is broken -- not a word. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A BIT OF SKY by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON NOTHING TO WEAR' by WILLIAM ALLEN BUTLER IN APIA BAY by CHARLES GEORGE DOUGLAS ROBERTS SPRING QUIET by CHRISTINA GEORGINA ROSSETTI FROLIC by GEORGE WILLIAM RUSSELL |