THE sun arose near Paderborn. With a look by no means bright'ning In fact he leads but a sorry life, This wretched earth enlight'ning. As soon as he has lighted one side, And hastens with beams all sparkling To lighten the other, already the first Is getting gloomy and darkling. Poor Sisyphus' stone keeps rolling down, The Danaids' bucket never Gets fill'd, and to lighten this earthly ball In vain is the sun's endeavour. And when the mist of morning dispersed, I saw by the wayside projecting In the early glow, His figure, who died On the cross a death so affecting. I'm filled with dejection every time That I see Thee, my poor Relation, Whose mission was to redeem the world, And be mankind's salvation. A sorry trick they play'd Thee indeed, The lords of the Council stately; O why didst Thou speak of Church and State In a manner to wound them greatly? To Thy misfortune the printing art To mortals had then not been given, Or else a book had been written by Thee On the subjects relating to heaven. The Censor would then have erased whate'er Satirical seem'd in its diction, And so the loving censorship Have saved Thee from crucifixion. Ah! if for Thy sermon on the mount Another text Thou hadst taken! Sufficient genius and talent were Thine, And the pious Thou need'st not have shaken. Money-changers and bankers Thou drov'st with the From the temple, in just indignation -- Unhappy Euthusiast! Now on the cross Thou dost suffer a sad expiation. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE QUAKER WIDOW by BAYARD TAYLOR OSTRA by ELLEN FRANCES BALDWIN WILL O' THE WISP by EDMUND CHARLES BLUNDEN THE HOPELESS PASSION by BERTON BRALEY NORTHWARD FLIGHT AT DAWN by GAIL BROOK BURKET SONGS OF THE SEA CHILDREN: 117 by BLISS CARMAN TOWARDS DEMOCRACY: PART 4. A DREAM OF HUMAN LIFE by EDWARD CARPENTER |