There is an old and very cruel god We will endure; We will try not to wince When he crushes and rends us. If indeed it is for your sakes, If we perish or moan in torture, Or stagger under sordid burdens That you may live— Then we can endure. If our wasted blood Makes bright the page Of poets yet to be; If this our tortured life Saved from destruction's nails Gold words of a Greek long dead; Then we can endure, Then hope, Then watch the sun rise Without utter bitterness. But, O thou old and very cruel god, Take if thou canst, This bitter cup from us. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...WE CAN'T WRITE OURSELVES INTO ETERNAL LIFE by DAVID IGNATOW TRIFLE by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON SURFACES AND MASKS; 2 by CLARENCE MAJOR FROM THE AGES WITH A SMILE by EDGAR LEE MASTERS OCTAVES: 15 by EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON ELEGY: THE GHOST WHOSE LIPS WERE WARM; FOR GEOFFREY GORER by EDITH SITWELL |