LAURENCE RABY Laurence: Where the grave-deeps rot, where the grave-dews rust, They dug, crying, "Earth to earth" -- Crying, "Ashes to ashes and dust to dust" -- And what are my poor prayers worth? Upon whom shall I call, or in whom shall I trust, Though death were indeed new birth. And they bid me be glad for my baby's sake That she suffered sinless and young -- Would they have me be glad when my breasts still ache Where that small, soft, sweet mouth clung? I am glad that the heart will so surely break That has been so bitterly wrung. He was false, they tell me, and what if he were? I can only shudder and pray, Pouring out my soul in a passionate prayer For the soul that he cast away; Was there nothing that once was created fair In the potter's perishing clay? Is it well for the sinner that souls endure? For the sinless soul is it well? Does the pure child lisp to the angels pure? And where does the strong man dwell, If the sad assurance of priests be sure, Or the tale that our preachers tell? The unclean has follow'd the undefiled, And the ill MAY regain the good, And the man MAY be even as the little child! We are children lost in the wood -- Lord! lead us out of this tangled wild, Where the wise and the prudent have been beguil'd, And only the babes have stood. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...TO AN UNBORN PAUPER CHILD by THOMAS HARDY THE SEA-LIMITS by DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI THE MULBERRY GARDEN: CHILD AND MAIDEN by CHARLES SEDLEY A SONG OF LIFE by ABRAHAM IBN EZRA EMBLEMS OF LOVE: 36. GOLD THE PICKLOCK by PHILIP AYRES CHANCES OF REMEMBRANCE by EDMUND CHARLES BLUNDEN |