What matters where the great God flings Down on earth's floor thy thinking clay, If thou canst rise and live to-day The life of emperors and kings! So take thy soul and keep it sane; And, treading firm the green earth-sod, Look upward from that place to God, That He shall see thy soul again. There undejected, there unhurled Asunder--sick with mortal change; Self-held from star to star to range, Or one with all the working world. O King of kings and emperors, Though vagabond of night and morn-- Some dusty quarry-fellow born To walk beside a tattered horse. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A QUOI BON DIRE by CHARLOTTE MEW CALVARY by EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON THE PASSOVER IN THE HOLY FAMILY (FOR A DRAWING) by DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI FIRST-DAY THOUGHTS by JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER THE PRELUDE: BOOK 1. CHILDHOOD AND SCHOOL-TIME by WILLIAM WORDSWORTH |