There is an old and very cruel god We will endure; We will try not to wince When he crushes and rends us. If indeed it is for your sakes, If we perish or moan in torture, Or stagger under sordid burdens That you may live— Then we can endure. If our wasted blood Makes bright the page Of poets yet to be; If this our tortured life Saved from destruction's nails Gold words of a Greek long dead; Then we can endure, Then hope, Then watch the sun rise Without utter bitterness. But, O thou old and very cruel god, Take if thou canst, This bitter cup from us. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...EPISTLE TO JOHN LAPRAIK, AN OLD SCOTTISH BARD by ROBERT BURNS THE LAST MAN by THOMAS CAMPBELL MILTON; SONNET by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW WHEN LET BY RAIN by EDWARD TAYLOR AFTER THE NIGHT by NOUREDDIN ADDIS LAIS' MIRROR by DECIMUS MAGNUS AUSONIUS THE WANDERER: 5. IN HOLLAND: AUTUMN by EDWARD ROBERT BULWER-LYTTON |