Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE PROSPECT, by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING



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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE PROSPECT, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Methinks we do as fretful children do
Last Line: The sunset consummation-lights of death.
Subject(s): Death; Immortality; Dead, The


Methinks we do as fretful children do,
Leaning their faces on the window-pane
To sigh the glass dim with their own breath's stain,
And shut the sky and landscape from their view;
And, thus, alas! since God the maker drew
A mystic separation 'twixt those twain, --
The life beyond us and our souls in pain, --
We miss the prospect which we are called unto
By grief we are fools to use. Be still and strong,
O man, my brother! hold thy sobbing breath,
And keep thy soul's large windows pure from wrong;
That so, as life's appointment issueth,
Thy vision may be clear to watch along
The sunset consummation-lights of death.




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