Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE IDOL SPEAKS, by ELIOT KAYS STONE



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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE IDOL SPEAKS, by                    
First Line: I, who have listened to man's groveling prayers
Last Line: And I have spoken who so long was dumb.
Subject(s): Idols; Prayer; Soul


I, who have listened to man's groveling prayers
These age-long years, shut in this incensed gloom,
And heard priests' wailings throbbing up the stairs,
Have wished man dust and all the earth his tomb.
For each is thinking of himself alone
As pompous prayers come tumbling from his lips --
No far horizons stretch from zone to zone,
Not one will reach beyond his finger-tips.
Is there no out-of-doors where man can breathe
A whiff of cleanness for his lungs . . . and soul?
Can sun and stars and mountain-heights bequeath
None of their calm, point out no lofty goal?
Man harries gods for one poor little crumb,
And I have spoken who so long was dumb.





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