Count each affliction, whether light or grave, God's messenger sent down to thee; do thou With courtesy receive him; rise and bow; And, ere his shadow pass thy threshold, crave Permission first his heavenly feet to lave; Then lay before him all thou hast: Allow No cloud of passion to usurp thy brow, Or mar thy hospitality; no wave Of mortal tumult to obliterate The soul's marmoreal calmness: Grief should be, Like joy, majestic, equable, sedate; Confirming, cleansing, raising, making free; Strong to consume small troubles; to commend Great thoughts, grave thoughts, thoughts lasting to the end. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...TO A BLUEBELL by EMILY JANE BRONTE RESIGNATION by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW TWO SONGS FROM THE PERSIAN: 1 by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH SONG FOR THE NEWBORN by MARY HUNTER AUSTIN THE BATTLE OF THE PIGMIES AND THE CRANES by JAMES BEATTIE J.K.; SOLDIER OF FORTUNE by BERTON BRALEY LINES WRITTEN BENEATH A PICTURE by GEORGE GORDON BYRON |