Classic and Contemporary Poetry
RECOMPENSE, by LAURA D. JEFFERSON First Line: You ask me what this day my hands have wrought Last Line: "and what in life surpasses sympathy?" Subject(s): Mothers | ||||||||
You ask me what this day my hands have wrought -- Some lovely work of art, a picture rare, A poem, song, or words of lofty thought -- I sigh, well knowing I can show nothing fair. Then I recall the look within the eyes Of my small son when to my arms he fled With aching heart for comfort in his grief, Because his cherished pet he had found dead! You ask me what I've given the world today -- What problems grave I've solved; what light discerned For those whose need is great; how much I know Of great philosophers or sages learned; And I stand silent, ignorant, abashed; Yet something in my breast sings out to me, -- "You've offered solace, shared another's loss, And what in life surpasses Sympathy?" | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...MY MOTHER'S HANDS by ANDREW HUDGINS CONTINENT'S END by ROBINSON JEFFERS IN THE 25TH YEAR OF MY MOTHER'S DEATH by JUDY JORDAN THE PAIDLIN' WEAN by ALEXANDER ANDERSON BLASTING FROM HEAVEN by PHILIP LEVINE |
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