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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


DISCONTENT by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING

Poet Analysis

First Line: LIGHT HUMAN NATURE IS TOO LIGHTLY TOST
Last Line: GOD'S CHARTERED JUDGMENTS WALK FOR EVERMORE.
Subject(s): CONDUCT OF LIFE; GOD;

LIGHT human nature is too lightly tost
And ruffled without cause, complaining on --
Restless with rest, until, being overthrown,
It learneth to lie quiet. Let a frost
Or a small wasp have crept to the innermost
Of our ripe peach, or let the wilful sun
Shine westward of our window, -- straight we run
A furlong's sigh as if the world were lost.
But what time through the heart and through the brain
God hath transfixed us, -- we, so moved before,
Attain to a calm. Ay, shouldering weights of pain,
We anchor in deep waters, safe from shore,
And hear submissive o'er the stormy main
God's chartered judgments walk for evermore.



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