Classic and Contemporary Poetry
FRATERNITY, by ANNE REEVE ALDRICH Poet's Biography First Line: I ask not how thy suffering came Last Line: "the solemn ""yea, I understand!" Subject(s): Grief; Sorrow; Sadness | ||||||||
I ASK not how thy suffering came, Or if by sin, or if by shame, Or if by Fate's capricious rulings: To my large pity all's the same. Come close and lean against a heart Eaten by pain and stung by smart; It is enough if thou hast suffered, -- Brother or sister then thou art. We will not speak of what we know, Rehearse the pang, nor count the throe, Nor ask what agony admitted Thee to the Brotherhood of Woe. But in our anguish-darkened land Let us draw close, and clasp the hand; Our whispered password holds assuagement, -- The solemn "Yea, I understand!" | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SONOMA FIRE by JANE HIRSHFIELD AS THE SPARKS FLY UPWARDS by JOHN HOLLANDER WHAT GREAT GRIEF HAS MADE THE EMPRESS MUTE by JUNE JORDAN CHAMBER MUSIC: 19 by JAMES JOYCE DIRGE AT THE END OF THE WOODS by LEONIE ADAMS A CROWNED POET by ANNE REEVE ALDRICH |
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