Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, IN VINCULIS; SONNETS WRITTEN IN AN IRISH PRISON: THE COURT OF PENANCE, by WILFRID SCAWEN BLUNT


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

IN VINCULIS; SONNETS WRITTEN IN AN IRISH PRISON: THE COURT OF PENANCE, by             Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Behold the court of penance. Four gaunt walls
Last Line: And the free firmament thy handiwork.
Subject(s): Penance; Prisons & Prisoners; Convicts


Behold the Court of Penance. Four gaunt walls
Shutting out all things but the upper heaven.
Stone flags for floor, where daily from their stalls
The human cattle in a circle driven
Tread down their pathway to a mire uneven,
Pale-faced, sad-eyed, and mute as funerals.
Woe to the wretch whose weakness unforgiven
Falters a moment in the track or falls!

Yet is there consolation. Overhead
The pigeons build and the loud jackdaws talk,
And once in the wind's eye, like a ship moored,
A sea-gull flew and I was comforted.
Even here the heavens declare thy glory, Lord,
And the free firmament thy handiwork.





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