Hope was but a timid friend -- She sat without my grated den Watching how my fate would tend Even as selfish-hearted men. She was cruel in her fear. Through the bars, one dreary day, I looked out to see her there And she turned her face away! Like a false guard false watch keeping Still in strife she whispered peace; She would sing while I was weeping, If I listened, she would cease. False she was, and unrelenting. When my last joys strewed the ground Even Sorrow saw repenting Those sad relics scattered round; Hope - whose whisper would have given Balm to all that frenzied pain -- Stretched her wings and soared to heaven; Went - and ne'er returned again! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...MARIANNA ALCOFORANDO by SARA TEASDALE A TOAST TO OUR NATIVE LAND by ROBERT BRIDGES (1858-1941) A DIALOGUE BETWEEN THE SOUL AND BODY by ANDREW MARVELL ROLL-CALL by NATHANIEL GRAHAM SHEPHERD FASHION; A DIALOGUE by JAMES HAY BEATTIE KING EDWARD THE THIRD by WILLIAM BLAKE |