Who shall say it is vain that the dappled shadows of heaven pass over the singing hills? that the dark hounds of the sky trace mournfully and aloof the enchanted plain? that love is at once a cry for the seizing of life, and a food, and an herb that kills? Better the unseen chain, better the savor of bitter grass and the cloudy leaven of fire, and the salt of tears in the loaf we share than the stark loneliness of rain and the confession of the ultimate gray shadows, the implacable dark wisdom of despair. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...DEATH AND DOCTOR HORNBOOK; A TRUE STORY by ROBERT BURNS THE WILD GAZELLE by GEORGE GORDON BYRON DOWNFALL OF POLAND [FALL OF WARSAW, 1794] by THOMAS CAMPBELL IMAGES: 1 by RICHARD ALDINGTON OF A WINNOWER OF WHEAT TO THE WINDS by JOACHIM DU BELLAY THE COVERT by EDMUND CHARLES BLUNDEN FIGHT! (HARVARD-DARTMOUTH FOOTBALL GAME, 1908) by HARRY RANDOLPH BLYTHE |