'Tis so much joy ! 'Tis so much joy ! If I should fail, what poverty ! And yet, as poor as I Have ventured upon a throw ; Have gained! Yes ! Hesitated so This side the victory! Life is but life, and death but deat! Bliss is but bliss and breath but breath! And if, indeed, I fail, At least to know the worst is sweet. Defeat means nothing but defeat, No drearier can prevail! And if I gain, - oh, gun at sea, Oh, bells that in the steeples be, At first repeat it slow ! For heaven is a different thing Conjectured, and waked sudden in, And might o'erwhelm me so! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...LA PALOMA IN LONDON by CLAUDE MCKAY THE ROLLING ENGLISH ROAD by GILBERT KEITH CHESTERTON ON AN OLD MUFF by FREDERICK LOCKER-LAMPSON GROWN-UP by EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY UPON HIS PICTURE by THOMAS RANDOLPH |