Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

OCTAVES: 19 by EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON

Poet Analysis

First Line: WE LACK THE COURAGE TO BE WHERE WE ARE
Last Line: ON ANVILS, IN THE GLEAMING OF GOD'S FORGE.
Subject(s): RELIGION; THEOLOGY;
Nor jewelled phrase nor mere mellifluous rhyme
Reverberates aright, or ever shall,
One cadence of that infinite plain-song
Which is itself all music. Stronger notes
Than any that have ever touched the world
Must ring to tell it -- ring like hammer-blows,
Right-echoed of a chime primordial,
On anvils, in the gleaming of God's forge.




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