THE glory of a cloud—without its wane; The stillness of the earth—but not its gloom; The loveliness of life—without its pain; The peace—but not the hunger of the tomb! Ye Pyramids of God! around whose bases The sea foams noteless in his narrow cup; And the unseen movements of the earth send up A murmur which your lulling snow effaces Like the deer's footsteps. Thrones imperishable! About whose adamantine steps the breath Of dying generations vanisheth, Less cognizable than clouds; and dynasties, Less glorious and more feeble than the array Of your frail glaciers, unregarded rise, Totter and vanish. In the uncounted day, When earth shall tremble as the trump unwraps Their sheets of slumber from the crumbling dead, And the quick, thirsty fire of judgment laps The loud sea from the hollow of his bed— Shall not your God spare @3you,@1 to whom He gave No share nor shadow of man's crime, or fate; Nothing to render, nor to expiate; Untainted by his life—untrusted with his grave? | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A PORTRAIT OF MY ROOF by JAMES GALVIN SELF-ANALYSIS by DAVID IGNATOW SUMMER SHIRT SALE by CARL SANDBURG A VALENTINE TO SHERWOOD ANDERSON by GERTRUDE STEIN THE SHAPE OF THE CORONER by WALLACE STEVENS GOOD-BYE DOROTHY GAYLE: ST. CLOUD, MINNESOTA by KAREN SWENSON |