The cry of man's anguish went up unto God, "Lord, take away pain! The shadow that darkens the world Thou hast made; The close-coiling chain That strangles the heart; the burden that weighs on the wings that would soar— Lord, take away pain from the world Thou hast made, That it love Thee the more!" Then answered the Lord to the cry of His world: "Shall I take away pain, And with it the power of the soul to endure, Made strong by the strain? Shall I take away pity, that knits heart to heart, And sacrifice high? Will ye lose all your heroes that lift from the fire White brows to the sky? Shall I take away love, that redeems with a price, And smiles at its loss? Can ye spare from your lives that would climb unto mine The Christ on his cross?" | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE WELL OF ST. KEYNE by ROBERT SOUTHEY THE MORAL FABLES: THE SHEEP AND THE DOG by AESOP FEBRUARY THAW by KENNETH SLADE ALLING THE UNSCARRED FIGHTER REMEMBERS FRANCE by KENNETH SLADE ALLING THE JEWISH MARTYRS by W. V. B. ITALY by WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT PSYCHOLOPHON by FRANK GELETT BURGESS LINES FROM A NOTEBOOK - FEBRUARY 1807 (2) by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE |