Unto the Prison House of Pain none willingly repair— The bravest who an entrance gain Reluctant linger there;— For Pleasure, passing by that door, stays not to cheer the sight, And Sympathy but muffles sound and banishes the light. Yet in the Prison House of Pain things full of beauty blow— Like Christmas roses, which attain Perfection with the snow— Love, entering, in his mild warmth the darkest shadows melt, And often, where the hush is deep, the waft of wings is felt. Ah, me! the Prison House of Pain!—what lessons there are bought!— Lessons of a sublimer strain Than any elsewhere taught; Amid its loneliness and bloom, grave meanings grow more clear, For to no earthly dwelling-place seems God so strangely near! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A BIRTHDAY SONG by SIDNEY LANIER ECHOES: 7 by WILLIAM ERNEST HENLEY A VISION UPON [THIS CONCEIT] OF THE FAERIE QUEENE (2) by WALTER RALEIGH THE TENT ON THE BEACH: 10. THE PALATINE by JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER EMBLEMS OF LOVE: 3. THE VOLUNTARY PRISONER by PHILIP AYRES LINES WRITTEN AT THE CLOSE OF THE YEAR by ANNA LETITIA BARBAULD |