What means this vain ideal of our Lord, With 'Orpheus' underwritten? Couldst thou see With eyes of faith the Incarnate Deity, That faith a nobler title would accord Than this, whereat no Christian fancy warms; Thou would'st not score the mythic harper's name Beneath the fallen head and outstretched arms, Nor seem to blink our dear Redeemer's claim To His own cognizance and proper fame; The sorrowing manhood of the King of kings, The double nature, and the death of shame, The tomb - the rising - are substantial things, Irrelevant to Orpheus. What hath made Thy wisdom match Messias with a shade? | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...HELEN OF TROY by SARA TEASDALE PRAYERS by HENRY CHARLES BEECHING A LECTURE UPON THE SHADOW by JOHN DONNE ELEGY: 11. THE BRACELET; UPON THE LOSS OF HIS MISTRESS'S CHAIN by JOHN DONNE LONDON, 1802 (2) by WILLIAM WORDSWORTH THE BOUNDARIES OF APPRECIATION by FRANKLIN PIERCE ADAMS FRAGMENTS INTENDED FOR DEATH'S JEST-BOOK: SAD AND CHEERFUL SONGS by THOMAS LOVELL BEDDOES |