Classic and Contemporary Poetry
A CURSE FOR A NATION: THE CURSE, by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Because ye have broken your own chain Last Line: This is the curse. Write. Subject(s): Curses; Writing & Writers | ||||||||
I BECAUSE ye have broken your own chain With the strain Of brave men climbing a Nation's height, Yet thence bear down with brand and thong On souls of others, -- for this wrong This is the curse. Write. Because yourselves are standing straight In the state Of Freedom's foremost acolyte, Yet keep calm footing all the time On writhing bond-slaves, -- for this crime This is the curse. Write. Because ye prosper in God's name, With a claim To honor in the old world's sight, Yet do the fiend's work perfectly In strangling martyrs, -- for this lie This is the curse. Write. II Ye shall watch while kings conspire Round the people's smouldering fire, And, warm for your part, Shall never dare -- O shame! To utter the thought into flame Which burns at your heart. This is the curse. Write. Ye shall watch while nations strive With the bloodhounds, die or survive, Drop faint from their jaws, Or throttle them backward to death; And only under your breath Shall favor the cause. This is the curse. Write. Ye shall watch while strong men draw The nets of feudal law To strangle the weak; And, counting the sin for a sin, Your soul shall be sadder within Than the word ye shall speak. This is the curse. Write. When good men are praying erect That Christ may avenge his elect And deliver the earth, The prayer in your ears, said low, Shall sound like the tramp of a foe That's driving you forth. This is the curse. Write. When wise men give you their praise, They shall pause in the heat of the phrase, As if carried too far. When ye boast your own charters kept true, Ye shall blush; for the thing which ye do Derides what ye are. This is the curse. Write. When fools cast taunts at your gate, Your scorn ye shall somewhat abate As ye look o'er the wall; For your conscience, tradition, and name Explode with a deadlier blame Than the worst of them all. This is the curse. Write. Go, wherever ill deeds shall be done, Go, plant your flag in the sun Beside the ill-doers! And recoil from clenching the curse Of God's witnessing Universe With a curse of yours. THIS is the curse. Write. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE CELL, SELECTION by LYN HEJINIAN OXOTA: A SHORT RUSSIAN NOVEL: CHAPTER 126: THE DOUBTING MAN by LYN HEJINIAN WAKING THE MORNING DREAMLESS AFTER LONG SLEEP by JANE HIRSHFIELD COMPULSIVE QUALIFICATIONS by RICHARD HOWARD DEUTSCH DURCH FREUD by RANDALL JARRELL LET THEM ALONE by ROBINSON JEFFERS ON BUILDING WITH STONE by ROBINSON JEFFERS A CHILD'S THOUGHT OF GOD by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING |
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