Classic and Contemporary Poetry
TO MY FATHER, by CHARLES V. H. ROBERTS First Line: I kneel, my father, here beside thy grave Last Line: Where thou my father with the angels art. Subject(s): Angels; Death; Fathers; Graves; Heaven; Veterans Day; Dead, The; Tombs; Tombstones; Paradise | ||||||||
I kneel, my father, here beside thy grave Of tender careless myrtle, grown In the setting suns of five and twenty years Now past forevermore, from this sad earth; My mind still full of thee, therefore still noble. Could words express the story I've to tell thee Of this my life, or what I've left to live? Shut not thy soul against thy son's appeal, When all this world to-day cries out so loud; But as thou art my godlike father still, And wouldst have me come to a life as thine Listen with tender fondness on my sorrows: Then from those eyes that I did worship so, Let fall some tears of pity and of love, Wounded a little, by the sufferings I relate Of unregarded oaths and trusts so broken In lies, hypocrisies, and frailties Of womanhoodits rotting weeds and broken boughs, Though sacraments and faithfulness were pledged; The blind progression and reverse result On this vile earth of war,the petty jangling For everlasting fames and shameless prides. Life, ask life'tis wretchedness and poverty To breathe e'en for a few years longer here! Thou who wert so faithful, generous, valiant, Just look upon me with thine eyes of mercy, Although they ache with gazing here from Heaven And tell me, tell me, in surety the truth! There are no days accursed as these apart, Where thou my father with the angels art. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE END OF LIFE by PHILIP JAMES BAILEY SEVEN TWILIGHTS: 6 by CONRAD AIKEN THE BOOK OF THE DEAD MAN (#19): 2. MORE ABOUT THE DEAD MAN AND WINTER by MARVIN BELL THE WORLDS IN THIS WORLD by LAURE-ANNE BOSSELAAR A SKELETON FOR MR. PAUL IN PARADISE; AFTER ALLAN GUISINGER by NORMAN DUBIE BEAUTY & RESTRAINT by DANIEL HALPERN HOW IT WILL HAPPEN, WHEN by DORIANNE LAUX IF THIS IS PARADISE by DORIANNE LAUX A PROPOSAL by CHARLES V. H. ROBERTS |
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