Of each sad word which is more sorrowful, "Sorrow" or "Disappointment"? I have heard Subtle inflections, baffling subtlest rule, Of each sad word. Sorrow can mourn: and lo a mourning bird! Sings sweetly to sweet echoes of its dule, While silent disappointment broods unstirred. Yet both nurse hope, where Penitence keeps school Who makes fools wise and saints of them that erred: Wise men shape stepping stone, or curb, or tool, Of each sad word. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...YOUTH AND AGE by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE ON THE DEATH OF JOSEPH RODMAN DRAKE by FITZ-GREENE HALLECK I, TOO by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES PRAYER FOR THIS HOUSE by LOUIS UNTERMEYER THE BIRTHDAY CROWN by WILLIAM ALEXANDER (1824-1911) |