Not they who know the awful gibbet's anguish, Not they who, while sad years go by them, in The sunless cells of lonely prisons languish, Do suffer fullest penalty for sin. 'T is they who walk the highways unsuspected Yet with grim fear forever at their side, Who hug the corpse of some sin undetected, A corpse no grave or coffin-lid can hide -- 'T is they who are in their own chambers haunted By thoughts that like unbidden guests intrude, And sit down, uninvited and unwanted, And make a nightmare of the solitude. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...BARNEY'S INVITATION by PHILIP FRENEAU STEVENSON'S BIRTHDAY by KATHERINE WISE MILLER THE LOVE SONNETS OF PROTEUS: 41. FAREWELL TO JULIET (3) by WILFRID SCAWEN BLUNT VANITAS VANITATUM, OMNIA VANITAS by ANNE BRONTE THE BACKGROUND GROUP by RICHARD EUGENE BURTON TOWARDS DEMOCRACY: PART 4. SISTER HEART by EDWARD CARPENTER THE SWORD by SAMUEL VALENTINE COLE |