Soldier and Priest in one, thou couldst not brook Aught that was false,—Truth's champion wast thou; And like some knight of old did'st take thy vow Her cause to vindicate: the holy look, The faultless form, mere bondage to a book Thou couldst not bide. We, thinking of thee now, Against the background of the years, see how That work of thine of prophet-cast partook. On sea or land, in mine or mart, men read What's writ in language of the human heart; From Doubt's dim maze thou wandering feet dost lead, And on life's upward way afresh they start— We knew thee not: thy days were full of pain, But lives like thine can claim their own domain. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...WILLOW POEM by WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS SELF-INTERROGATION by EMILY JANE BRONTE CARILLON by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW SONG, FR. MEASURE FOR MEASURE by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE IN THE VALLEY OF CAUTERETZ by ALFRED TENNYSON TO THE MEN OF KENT by WILLIAM WORDSWORTH AT TWO-AND-TWENTY by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH |