O, SAD when grass is green, O, sad when blue-bells blow, Sad, sad 'mid lily sheen, Laburnum's rippled glow, And all the things that grow, And are not sad -- Sad! sad! O, sad when lambkins skip, O, sad when children play, Sad, sad, when to my lip Is pressed the dewy may, And all the bright things say: -- "Why art thou sad?" Sad! sad! Is it some tricksy Puck That makes me causeless dole? Or does some vampire suck The blood from out my soul? Or is it joy diviner, Joy echoing in a minor, Joy vibrant to its pole, That seems but sad? -- Sad! sad! Is it the ebbing ghost Of God that leaves me dry Upon a weary coast, Beneath a burning sky? Is it His voice afar That booms upon the bar, And makes me sigh, And makes me sad? Sad! sad! Or does the old travail-pain Resume the mother-@3geist?@1 In some far orb again Is boundless ransom priced For others than for us? In Mars, or Uranus, They crucify the Christ? So am I sad -- Sad! sad! One thing appears to me -- The work is not complete; One world I know, and see It is not at His feet -- Not, not! Is this the sum? Not, not! the Heaven is dumb -- I bear His stigmata Or not -- ah, who shall say? Only it is most meet That I be sad -- Sad! sad! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SHERMAN'S IN SAVANNAH [DECEMBER 22, 1864] by OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES TO AMARANTHA, THAT SHE WOULD DISHEVEL HER HAIR by RICHARD LOVELACE THE BRIDE AND GROOM by WILLIAM EDWARD ADAMS FLORENTINE INGRATITUDE by WILLIAM BLAKE THE SPIRIT'S WARFARE by WILLIAM BLAKE THE MIRROR OF DIANA by MATHILDE BLIND THE CHILDREN'S BOATS by RICHARD EUGENE BURTON TOWARDS DEMOCRACY: PART 2. ON AN ATLANTIC STEAMSHIP by EDWARD CARPENTER |