'WOULD it were anything but merely voice!' The No King cried who after that was King, Because he had not heard of anything That balanced with a word is more than noise; Yet Old Romance being kind, let him prevail Somewhere or somehow that I have forgot, Though he'd but cannon -- Whereas we that had thought To have lit upon as clean and sweet a tale Have been defeated by that pledge you gave In momentary anger long ago; And I that have not your faith, how shall I know That in the blinding light beyond the grave We'll find so good a thing as that we have lost? The hourly kindness, the day's common speech, The habitual content of each with each When neither soul nor body has been crossed. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE COUNTESS CATHLEEN IN PARADISE by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS THE DEPARTURE OF THE SWALLOW by WILLIAM HOWITT EPIGRAM: 45. ON MY FIRST SON by BEN JONSON THE BONNIE BLUE FLAG by ANNIE CHAMBERS KETCHUM MARSYAS by CHARLES GEORGE DOUGLAS ROBERTS THE FLIGHT OF THE GEESE by CHARLES GEORGE DOUGLAS ROBERTS PORTRAIT OF A LADY by WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS TO THE VERS LIBRIST WHO USES ONLY THE MINOR KEY by FRANKLIN PIERCE ADAMS |