Of all disquiets sorrow is most serene. Its intervals of soft humility Are lenient; they intrude on our obscene Debasements and our fury like a plea For wisdom -- guilt is always shared. The fears Fall, if for just an hour, all away, And the old, essential person reappears. Sorrow can shape us better than dismay. You have forgiven me, old friends and lovers, I think you have forgiven me at last, As you put by the banished fugitive. And if I'm sorry who was once aghast For all the hurts I've done you, I forgive, I too, the self this sorrow still recovers. Used with the permission of Copper Canyon Press, P.O. Box 271, Port Townsend, WA 98368-0271, www.cc.press.org | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE DONKEY by GILBERT KEITH CHESTERTON THE FIGHTING RACE [FEBRUARY 16, 1898] by JOSEPH IGNATIUS CONSTANTINE CLARKE COLOGNE; EPIGRAM by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE THE RESPECTABLE BURGHER, ON 'THE HIGHER CRITICISM' by THOMAS HARDY SCHOOL AND SCHOOLFELLOWS; FLOREAT ETONA by WINTHROP MACKWORTH PRAED WHISPERS OF HEAVENLY DEATH by WALT WHITMAN |