WHEN the primeval Father, Changeless and holy, Sows in His bounty, With free hand and tranquil, From the rolling clouds, Joy-diffusing lightnings O'er the wide earth, Then the last hem of His garment I kiss with childlike awe and devotion— My heart is filled with His homage. For never against the immortals May a mortal Measure himself. If heavenward he soar And touch with his forehead The stars in their courses, His feet, insecure, Shall find no abiding; Clouds and tempest Shall sport with his weakness. With limbs firm and sinewy, Let him stand without tremor Upon the green earth enduring; Content to resemble the oak or the ivy. How shall we distinguish The gods from men? Before them the billows, An infinite stream, Roll onward forever; Us a wave raises, Us a wave swallows, And we vanish. A little rounded link Encircles our life; Yet generations of mortals Weld themselves firmly To the unending chain Of human existence. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...OUT OF THE OLD HOUSE, NANCY by WILLIAM MCKENDREE CARLETON THE LATTER DAY by THOMAS HASTINGS KEARNY AT SEVEN PINES [MAY 31, 1862] by EDMUND CLARENCE STEDMAN CEREMONIAL ODE; INTENDED FOR A UNIVERSITY by LASCELLES ABERCROMBIE SONNETS OF MANHOOD: 29. CHRIST AND ENGLAND by GEORGE BARLOW (1847-1913) |