Let her so much as lend pale scrutiny To some poor fault that words of his reveal, Offended silence calls for mutiny To oust the renegade without appeal, And beckons grief to starve its anarchy, Imprison it behind a stony seal, Lest such a spectre's frail humanity Infect the others with impassioned zeal: The executioner, gray penitence, Stooped with the death of each small whitened face, Is haunted by the ghostly impotence With which each sinner importunes his grace To influence the man not to behead The brothers of the word for what it said. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SEA POPPIES by HILDA DOOLITTLE THE LOVER'S MESSAGE; SONG by JOHN DRYDEN HENRY PURCELL by GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS ON LAYING THE CORNER-STONE OF THE BUNKER HILL MOMUMENT by JOHN PIERPONT SONG: 3 by ANNA LETITIA BARBAULD PORTRAIT IN THE HORIZONTAL by RUTH FITCH BARTLETT THE THINKER'S VISION by WILLIAM ROSE BENET |