Classic and Contemporary Poetry
POVERTY, by HENRY DAVID THOREAU Poem Explanation Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: If I am poor it is that I am proud Last Line: He would not need to hide beneath a fold. Subject(s): God; Poverty | ||||||||
If I am poor it is that I am proud, If God has made me naked and a boor He did not think it fit his work to shroud. The poor man comes from heaven direct to earth As stars drop down the sky and tropic beams. The rich receives in our gross air his birth, As from low suns are slanted golden gleams. Men are by birth equal in this that given Themselves and their condition they are even. The less of inward essence is to leaven The more of outward circumstance is given. Yon sun is naked bare of satellite Unless our earths and moons that office hold, Though his perpetual day feareth no night And his perennial summer dreads no cold. Where are his gilded rays but in our sky? His solid disk doth float far from us still, The orb which through the central way doth fly Shall naked seem though proudly circumstanced. Ill leave my mineral wealth hoarded in earth? Buried in seas in mines and ocean caves More safely kept than is the merchant's worth, Which every storm committeth to the waves. Man kind may delve but cannot my wealth spend, If I no partial store appropriate no armed ships into the Indies send To rob me of my orient estate The rich man's clothes keep out the genial sun But scarce defend him from the piercing cold If he did not his heavenly garment shun He would not need to hide beneath a fold. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE WEALTH OF THE DESTITUTE by DENISE LEVERTOV EMPTY PITCHFORKS by THOMAS LUX FUNERAL SERVICE by EVE MERRIAM A SMALL COUNTRY by CLARIBEL ALEGRIA DOCUMENTAL by CLARIBEL ALEGRIA NOTES ON POVERTY by HAYDEN CARRUTH SONG OF TWO CROWS by HAYDEN CARRUTH PENCIL STUB JOURNALS: CHOICES by JOHN CIARDI AT LAST WE KILLED THE ROACHES by LUCILLE CLIFTON |
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