O God, it is a terrible thing to die Into the inextinguishable life; To leave this known world with a feeble cry, All its poor jarring and ignoble strife. O that some shadowy spectre would disclose The Future, and the soul's confineless hunger Satisfy with some knowledge of repose! For here the lust of avarice waxeth stronger, Making life hateful; youth alone is true, Full of a glorious self-forgetfulness: Better to die inhabiting the new Kingdom of faith and promise, and confess, Even in the agony and last eclipse, Some revelation of the Apocalypse! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...IN A GONDOLA by ROBERT BROWNING A WINTER WISH by ROBERT HINCKLEY MESSINGER THE HOUSE OF LIFE: 69. AUTUMN IDLENESS by DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI THE LUTE OBEYS by THOMAS WYATT FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE by EDWIN ARNOLD |