Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


THE GIFT OF TONGUES by JOHN HENRY NEWMAN

Poet Analysis

First Line: ONCE CAST WITH MEN OF LANGUAGE STRANGE
Last Line: AND THEN FLITS BACK TO HEAVEN?
Subject(s): LANGUAGE; WORDS; VOCABULARY;

ONCE cast with men of language strange
And foreign-moulded creed,
I mark'd their random converse change,
And sacred themes succeed.

Oh, how I coveted the gift
To thread their mingled throng
Of sounds, then high my witness lift
But weakness chain'd my tongue.

Lord! has our dearth of faith and prayer
Lost us this power once given
Or is it sent at seasons rare
And then flits back to heaven?



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