IF she unclosed her lips and made her moan She would not be so weary with her woe -- A burden shared is lightened: even so The weight is heavier that we bear alone, And anguish, pent within, turns hearts to stone. The fellowship of sorrow to forego -- To suffer and be silent -- is to know The blackest blossom from the black root grown. And yet great joys and greatest woes are dumb: Small is the sum that reckoning can compute -- The shallows babble, but the depths are mute -- The great mid-sea our measure may not plumb: King Love, King Pain, King Death, in silence come; And, meeting them, we silently salute. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...EARTH'S ANSWER, FR. SONGS OF EXPERIENCE by WILLIAM BLAKE THE GOLDEN NET by WILLIAM BLAKE ECHO by WALTER JOHN DE LA MARE WHEN I BUY PICTURES by MARIANNE MOORE SONG, WRITTEN AT SEA, IN THE FIRST DUTCH WAR, 1665 ... by CHARLES SACKVILLE (1637-1706) SONNET: 20 by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE |