LIFE'S sadly solemn mystery Hangs o'er me like a weight; The glorious longing to be free, The gloomy bars of fate. Alternately the good and ill, The light and dark, are strung; Fountains of love within my heart, And hate upon my tongue. Beneath my feet the unstable ground, Above my head the skies; Immortal longings in my soul, And death before my eyes. No purely pure, and perfect good, No high, unhindered power; A beauteous promise in the bud, And mildew on the flower. The glad, green brightness of the spring; The summer, soft and warm; The faded autumn's fluttering gold, The whirlwind and the storm. To find some sure interpreter My spirit vainly tries; I only know that God is love, And know that love is wise. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...AN OLD SWEETHEART [OF MINE] by JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY CASSANDRA by EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON TO FOREIGN LANDS by WALT WHITMAN ODES: BOOK 2: ODE 15. ON DOMESTIC MANNERS (UNFINISHED) by MARK AKENSIDE RUTH by CECIL FRANCES ALEXANDER THE LAST MAN: LIFE'S UNCERTAINTY by THOMAS LOVELL BEDDOES |