|
|
|
Classic and Contemporary Poetry
O FOR A SOUL, by WILFRID SCAWEN BLUNT Poet's Biography
First Line: O for a soul surrendered of all guile!
Last Line: My heart would rise still, a tumultuous sea.
Subject(s): Soul
First Line: O for a soul surrendered of all guile!
Last Line: My heart would rise still, a tumultuous sea.
Subject(s): Soul
O FOR a soul surrendered of all guile!
A plain white soul with nothing on it writ,
No creed of mockery to make men smile,
No boast of wisdom travestied as wit;
Only a clean soul where the infinite
Calm of the heavens, as on some tropic isle,
Should have looked down and on the face of it,
Inscribed in sunlight, "Nothing here was vile."
—Thus to my life I argue it to-day,
Thus chide my heart its too long vanity,
Its lawless strength, its insolence of play,
Its ancient rage of storm-tossed chivalry.
And yet, God wot, should Love's wind breathe my way,
My heart would rise still, a tumultuous Sea.
Discover our poem explanations - click here!
Other Poems of Interest...
THE ANIMAL INSIDE THE ANIMAL by JOSEPHINE JACOBSEN
THE CRUEL FALCON by ROBINSON JEFFERS
THE WHOLE SOUL by PHILIP LEVINE
I KNOW MY SOUL by CLAUDE MCKAY
HONORING THE SAND; IN MEMORY OF JOSEPH CAMPBELL by ROBERT BLY
THE CHINESE PEAKS; FOR DONALD HALL by ROBERT BLY
THE LIFE OF TOWNS: TOWN OF THE EXHUMATION by ANNE CARSON