Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, PRODIGAL SON, by SADIE FULLER SEAGRAVE


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

PRODIGAL SON, by                    
First Line: I had gone clothed in tatters all my days
Last Line: Shall break the brittle hardness of your mouth.
Subject(s): Repentance; Penitence


I had gone clothed in tatters all my days,
Had I but known how galling are the ways
The duteous take, to hold the spirit down --
The lifted brow, the averted eye, the frown.
Can you not see the evil shapes that try
To rout my high intent, lest I should die
Repentant still? Can you not see the ledge
On which I walk, its thin and crumbling edge?
Do you not know the fatted calf, the wine,
Are bitter aloes, and each loving sign
My father gives is but a whip outflung
That stirs remorse? ... I have held my tongue
Too long. Henceforth, my words, like hail in drouth,
Shall break the brittle hardness of your mouth.





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