Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, JOY CAME FROM HEAVEN, by CHARLES TENNYSON TURNER


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

JOY CAME FROM HEAVEN, by             Poet's Biography
First Line: Joy came from heaven, for men were mad with pain
Last Line: Shifting untenably from smile to sneer.


Joy came from heaven, for men were mad with pain,
And sought a mansion on this earth below;
He could not settle on the wrinkled brow,
Close-gather'd to repel him; and, again,
Upon the cheek he sought repose in vain;
He found that pillow all too chill and cold,
Where sorrow's streams might float him from his hold,
Caught sleeping in their channel. Th' eye would fain
Receive the stranger on her slippery sphere,
Where life had purer effluence than elsewhere,
But where no barrier might forbid the tear
To sweep it, when it listed. So not there
He staid, nor could the lips his couch prepare,
Shifting untenably from smile to sneer.





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