Sure, it was so. Man in those early days Was not all stone and earth; He shined a little, and by those weak rays Had some glimpse of his birth. He saw heaven o'er his head, and knew from whence He came, condemned, hither; And, as first love draws strongest, so from hence His mind sure progressed thither. Things here were strange unto him: sweat and till, All was a thorn or weed: Nor did those last, but -- like himself -- died still As soon as they did seed. They seemed to quarrel with him, for that act That felled him foiled them all: He drew the curse upon the world, and cracked The whole frame with his fall. This made him long for home, as loth to stay With murmurers and foes; He sighed for Eden, and would often say, "Ah! what bright days were those!" Nor was heaven cold unto him; for each day The valley or the mountain Afforded vistas, and still paradise lay In some green shade or fountain. Angels lay leiger here; each bush and cell, Each oak and highway knew them; Walk but the fields, or sit down at some well, And he was sure to view them. Almighty Love! where art Thou now? Mad man Sits down and freezeth on; He raves, and swears to stir nor fire, nor fan, But bids the thread be spun. I see, Thy curtains are close-drawn; Thy bow Looks dim, too, in the cloud; Sin triumphs still, and man is sunk below The center, and his shroud. All's in deep sleep and night: thick darkness lies And hatcheth o'er Thy people -- But hark! what trumpet's that? what angel cries, "Arise! thrust in Thy sickle''? | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE CLOD AND THE PEBBLE, FR. SONGS OF EXPERIENCE by WILLIAM BLAKE WHO WALKS WITH BEAUTY by DAVID MORTON VERSES TO A FRIEND by BERNARD BARTON GIVE HIM HIS DUE by LEVI BISHOP TO REV. W. H. MILBURN by LEVI BISHOP NIGHT AND THE MERRY MAN by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING DAWN by MAXWELL STRUTHERS BURT |