He wears the pride of mighty throngs With humbled lowliness; He knows the strength of giant wrongs, The woes of vast distress. He sees the towering bulk of trade O'ertop the church's spire, And all the passions, unafraid, Feed high their living fire. Beneath the torch of Liberty He sees the millions come, Of all the sad world's misery The dread, pathetic sum. He knows the stupor of the crowd, The myriad-headed thrall, And many a time his soul is bowed With hopelessness of all. Yet there, where centred evils dwell, He holds his faith in man, Defies the leaguered powers of hell, And does the thing he can. A pygmy laden with a world, He staggers on apace, And back the coward jibe is hurled Full in the coward's face. He is but one, but one he is With all a hero's might, And feels a cosmic power is his To fight a cosmic fight. Beset by giants, by the boast Of hell's battalions vast, This pygmy struggling with a host Will crush them all at last. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...HOW VIOLETS CAME BLUE by ROBERT HERRICK THE NAME OF JESUS by JOHN NEWTON TO HIS HEART, BIDDING IT HAVE NO FEAR by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS THE DOVE by ABUL HASAN OF SEVILLE TO WILLIAM WORDSWORTH; ON THE PUBLICATION OF HIS POEM, 'PETER BELL' by BERNARD BARTON CLIO, NINE ECLOGUES IN HONOUR OF NINE VIRTUES: DEDICATION TO R. WENMAN by WILLIAM BASSE |