Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, VERBA DE VERBO VITAE, by ARMEL O'CONNOR


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

VERBA DE VERBO VITAE, by                    
First Line: How vain, the world's artillery of words
Last Line: And bless a poet's singleness of heart.
Subject(s): Language; Words; Vocabulary


How vain, the world's artillery of words,
Careless and cruel, proudly unashamed! . . .
I must be careful. I must ponder, feel,
Must agonize -- until the very words,
Simple, direct, and starkly sorrowful,
Are given me. Yea, they must bring me, force me
To my knees -- arrest the flow of blood
Until the heart beat haltingly, and life
Make manifest only a matchless pain.
They must express the chill of desolation,
The darkness from the absence of perfection.

Thunder, O timeless words of condemnation,
Urged by the sinless ire of mountain prophets,
To scourge to life drear valleys of dead souls.
Mine be long Latin words of exaltation,
Glorious with Hebrew strength by love transfigured,
Brave as are banners, cool as pavilions are,
Liturgical, serene and ceremonious,
Ambassadors of infinite forgiveness. . . .

Come to me, tender words of Thy compassion --
Great stooping words unfaltering from Heaven,
All benison, like leaves that are for healing.
Then, Perfect Word -- One Life, One Light, One Love --
Accept these ardent multiplicities;
Bid them reveal the undivided Truth;
Give them that deep tranquility of order
Which is alone uninterrupted peace. . . .
And bless a poet's singleness of heart.





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