WHO gave thee such a ruby flaming heart And such a pure cold spirit? Side by side I know these must eternally abide In intimate war, and each to each impart Life from its pain, in every joy a dart To wound with grief or death the self allied. Red life within the spirit crucified, The eyes eternal pity thee: thou art Fated with deathless powers at war to be, Not less the martyr of the world than he Whose thorn-crowned brow usurps the due of tears We would pay to thee, ever ruddy life, Whose passionate peace is still to be at strife, O'erthrown but in the unconflicting spheres. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI: 4. THE MOON'S ORCHESTRA by JOHN GOULD FLETCHER WRITTEN IN KEATS' 'ENDYMION' by THOMAS HOOD JOHN UNDERHILL by JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER ANOTHER FRANCIS OF ASSISI by FREDERICK HENRY HERBERT ADLER THE MORAL FABLES: THE MOUSE AND THE PADDOCK by AESOP THE SCHOOLROOM OF POETS by WILLIAM ROSE BENET SUBH-I-KAZIB by LOUISA SARAH BEVINGTON |