ONCE when the messenger that stays For all, beside me stood, I mused on what great Shakespeare says Of evil and of good. And shall the evil I have done Live after me? I said; When lo! a splendor like the sun Shone round about my bed. And a sweet spirit of the skies Near me, yet all apart, In whispers like the low wind's sighs, Spake to my listening heart; Saying, your poet, reverenced thus, For once hath been unwise; The good we do lives after us, The evil 't is that dies! Evil is earthy, of the earth, -- A thing of pain and crime, That scarcely sends a shadow forth Beyond the bounds of time. But good, in substance, dwells above This discontented sphere, Extending only, through God's love, Uncertain shadows here. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...ON A SOLDIER FALLEN IN THE PHILIPPINES by WILLIAM VAUGHN MOODY ALFRED THE HARPER by JOHN STERLING (1806-1844) INSCRIPTION FOR AN ICE-HOUSE by ANNA LETITIA BARBAULD MORE WALKS by RICHARD HARRIS BARHAM THE LILY-POOL AND THE COW by THOMAS EDWARD BROWN |