AFFLICTION one day, as she harked to the roar Of the stormy and struggling billow, Drew a beautiful form on the sands of the shore, With the branch of a weeping-willow. Jupiter, struck with the noble plan, As he roamed on the verge of the ocean, Breathed on the figure, and calling it Man, Endued it with life and motion. A creature so glorious in mind and in frame, So stamped with each parent's impression, Among them a point of contention became, Each claiming the right of possession. He is mine, said Affliction; I gave him his birth, I alone am his cause of creation; The materials were furnished by me, answered Earth; I gave him, said Jove, animation. The gods, all assembled in solemn divan, After hearing each claimant's petition, Pronounced a definitive verdict on Man, And thus settled his fate's disposition: "Let Affliction possess her own child, till the woes Of life cease to harass and goad it; After death give his body to Earth, whence it rose, And his spirit to Jove who bestowed it." | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THEN LAUGH by BERTHA ADAMS BACKUS EPISTLE TO WILLIAM SIMPSON OF OCHILTREE by ROBERT BURNS FIRST FIG by EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY TO THE SHAH (2) by AWHAD AD-DIN 'ALI IBN VAHID MUHAMMAD KHAVARANI LOOKING DOWNWARDS by LOUISA SARAH BEVINGTON |