Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, IN THE REFECTORY, by SAMUEL VALENTINE COLE


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

IN THE REFECTORY, by                    
First Line: Mark you the painting? To this ancient ball
Last Line: T is we, not they, who are the shadows here.


MARK you the painting? To this ancient hall,
Where we, the brothers of Saint Dominic, tread
With reverent step, and break our daily bread,
I came a novice, and can yet recall
How Christ and his Apostles on the wall,
Who break bread also, only seemed, instead,
As shadowy presences, although they shed
Perpetual benediction on us all.
But now, beholding how we come and go,
And are forgotten, while, year after year,
The ever-blessed Master and that row
Of silent faces, with no change to fear,
Remain as first I saw them, well I know
'T is we, not they, who are the shadows here.





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net