If I shall find some other world Where never bud of sin occurs, And pain is not, nor suffering, Nor heartache ever grimly blurs; If I shall know serenity All rippleless and without prod, I wonder if I should not cry, At last, for pain and tempest, God? I do not know. I do not know. But this I know—my raptures seem To follow at Old Travail's heels— The joy divine, the holy dream. I do not know, but this to me As noontime sky is frank and clear— That out of cloud and lightning flash The rainbows' colorings appear A placid Eden bower I think Would be as Gobi lusterless. Eternal harps would hound my ears With dins my soul would long to miss; And, shorn of struggle and unrest I venture soon I'd lift my eyes In prayer to God to take it back, Or lash me forth from Paradise. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE YARN OF THE 'NANCY BELL' by WILLIAM SCHWENCK GILBERT THE VAMPIRE by RUDYARD KIPLING SING-SONG; A NURSERY RHYME BOOK: 20 by CHRISTINA GEORGINA ROSSETTI MARY'S GIRLHOOD (FOR A PICTURE): 1 by DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI AEOLIAN HARP (2) by WILLIAM ALLINGHAM |