YES, you have it; I can see. Beautiful? ... Dear, look at me! Look and let my shame confess Triumph after weariness. Beautiful? Ah, yes. Lift it where the beams are bright; Hold it where the western light, Shining in above my bed, Throws a glory on your head. Now it is all said. All there was for me to say From the first until to-day. Long denied and long deferred, Now I say it in one word-- Now; and you have heard. Life would have its way with us, And I've called it glorious: For I know the glory now And I read it on your brow. You have shown me how. I can feel your cheeks all wet, But your eyes will not forget: In the frown you cannot hide I can read where faith and pride Are not satisfied. But the word was, two should live: Two should suffer--and forgive: By the steep and weary way, For the glory of the clay, Two should have their day. We have toiled and we have wept For the gift the gods have kept: Clashing and unreconciled When we might as well have smiled, We have played the child. But the clashing is all past, And the gift is yours at last. Lift it--hold it high again!... Did I doubt you now and then? Well, we are not men. Never mind; we know the way,-- And I do not need to stay. Let us have it well confessed; You to triumph, I to rest. That will be the best. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...HOMAGE TO SEXTUS PROPERTIUS: 8 by EZRA POUND THE DESOLATE FIELD by WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS BIANCA AMONG THE NIGHTINGALES by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING COUNT THAT DAY LOST by MARY ANN EVANS |