Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE SEEKING OF THE CONTENT, by DORA SIGERSON SHORTER Poem Explanation Poet's Biography First Line: Sweet content, at the rich man's gate Last Line: "than thee for his bride, content?" Alternate Author Name(s): Sigerson, Dora; Shorter, Mrs. Clement Subject(s): Contentment | ||||||||
SWEET Content, at the rich man's gate, Called, "Wilt thou let me in?" "No! thou art poor and thou art not great, Hast nothing thy way to win. Here love is little and mighty is power; Fate may change in a wayward hour, A monarch's heart may grow weary of thought. What if his gold-bringing bees be caught, Or wake to the fact of their sting? He has all to lose, if nothing to gain, And his throne doth lean for support in the main On the different minds that have crowned him king In their summer of thinking: so, sorrow And winter may come with the morrow." Sweet Content, at the poor man's door, Called, "May I enter here?" "No! we bees of the golden store Are smothered with cold and fear. We rise ere the sun to delve and moil, We give our eyes with the midnight oil, Till the sight burns dim, till the wick's no more, To buy our masters a coach-and-four, To spatter us with the mire. If nothing to lose, we have all to win, To a heart's despair sin scarce seems sin When hope dies out, maybe crime steals in, And patience may sometime grow sick and tire. The wearied bee may die on the wing, OrGod has given to each his sting." Sweet Content, at Death's black gates, Called, "Wilt thou take me in?" "Enter into the home of peace, Close my gates on good and sin. Shut on the poor man's rags my door, Shut on the rich man's coach-and-four. Nothing had man when life gave him breath, Nothing he takes past the gates of death Of the world's unequal paying, Save only the joys he fought self to resign, Only the sorrows, he did not repine, The sins that he stooped for, or passed, and Divine Is the justice that judges the weighing. What better reward for a tired life spent, Than thee for his bride, Content?" | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...PARTHENOPHE: SONNET 66 by BARNABE BARNES I UNCOIL MYSELF AND LIE STRAIGHT OUT by DAVID IGNATOW WITHOUT RECRIMINATION by DAVID IGNATOW EVENTIDE by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL by DORIANNE LAUX TO TWO UNKNOWN LADIES by AMY LOWELL THE WIND ON THE HILLS by DORA SIGERSON SHORTER |
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