|
|
|
|
Classic and Contemporary Poetry
RETIREMENT, by RICHARD CHENEVIX TRENCH Poet's Biography First Line: A wretched thing it were, to have our heart Last Line: A fencèd garden, and a fountain sealed. Variant Title(s): The Heart's Sacredness;sonnet | |||
A wretched thing it were, to have our heart Like a thronged highway or a populous street, Where every idle thought has leave to meet, Pause, or pass on as in an open mart; Or like some road-side pool, which no nice art Has guarded that the cattle may not beat And foul it with a multitude of feet, Till of the heavens it can give back no part. But keep thou thine a holy solitude, For He who would walk there, would walk alone; He who would drink there, must be first endued With single right to call that stream his own; Keep thou thine heart, close fastened, unrevealed, A fencèd garden, and a fountain sealed. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...HARMOSAN by RICHARD CHENEVIX TRENCH ONE SHORT HOUR by RICHARD CHENEVIX TRENCH A LEGEND OF TOLEDO by RICHARD CHENEVIX TRENCH AFTER THE BATTLE by RICHARD CHENEVIX TRENCH ALMA by RICHARD CHENEVIX TRENCH O! WONDROUS DEATH by RICHARD CHENEVIX TRENCH SADNESS BORN OF BEAUTY by RICHARD CHENEVIX TRENCH THE BANISHED KINGS by RICHARD CHENEVIX TRENCH THE BARMECIDES by RICHARD CHENEVIX TRENCH THE CHRIST by RICHARD CHENEVIX TRENCH THE LENT JEWELS; A JEWISH APOLOGUE by RICHARD CHENEVIX TRENCH |
| |