Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, GAUGE OF THE GREAT (TO MADAME CURIE), by D. SANIAL GILL


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

GAUGE OF THE GREAT (TO MADAME CURIE), by                    
First Line: It hardly matters who has done this thing
Last Line: Yet shrank from the encirclement of applause.
Subject(s): Curie, Marie (1867-1934)


"It hardly matters who has done this thing,
But greatly it matters that it has been done --
That this light toward the common weal is won
Through a deeply-loving soul's adventuring.
It counts but little that the brave bells ring
In honor of this daughter or that son;
But it signifies that the healing art has spun
Lightward, -- that widely restored lives may sing!
So why praise whom it has been given to find
Herself? She is paid in full. There would be cause --
Had she not met life's challenge so -- for blame!"
Thus protested to the tumult that is fame
The Radiant Heart that solved for all mankind,
Yet shrank from the encirclement of applause.





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