IF thou didst slip 'neath the encircling wave And found sure death in coral groves below, Dost think the sea o'er thy unresting head Would check one moment of its ebb or flow? If thou didst lie 'neath the entombing earth, Drawn down ere thy allotted sands had run, Dost think one flower upspringing from the clay Would pause and droop, refuse to meet the sun? If thou wert dead and didst enshrouded lie, Wept by one heart that hung by thee forlorn, Dost think at cold or hunger's claiming call This heart would stay beside thy grave to mourn? How small a thing thou art in Nature's plan To her proved useless, out all careless tossed, Nor would she let one flower or heartstring break In grief for thee—who hadst a whole world lost. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...NIGHTS WITHOUT SLEEP by SARA TEASDALE DENIAL [OR, DENIALL] by GEORGE HERBERT A SHROPSHIRE LAD: 47. THE CARPENTER'S SON by ALFRED EDWARD HOUSMAN EPITAPHS OF THE WAR, 1914-18: CONVOY ESCORT by RUDYARD KIPLING THE ROSE AND THE GAUNTLET by JOHN STERLING (1806-1844) ANTIQUE JEWELER by FREDERICK HENRY HERBERT ADLER CHOEPHOROI: INVOCATION OF AGAMEMNON'S GHOST by AESCHYLUS THE MORAL FABLES: THE FOX, THE WOLF, AND THE CADGER by AESOP |