HE stood upon the world's broad threshold; wide The din of battle and of slaughter rose; He saw God stand upon the weaker side, That sank in seeming loss before its foes: Many there were who made great haste and sold Unto the cunning enemy their swords, He scorned their gifts of fame, and power, and gold, And, underneath their soft and flowery words, Heard the cold serpent hiss; therefore he went And humbly joined him to the weaker part, Fanatic named, and fool, yet well content So he could be the nearer to God's heart, And feel its solemn pulses sending blood Through all the wide-spread veins of endless good. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SOLILOQUY OF A TURKEY by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR MEMORY OF THE IRISH DEAD by JOHN KELLS INGRAM POEM FOR PICTURE: TO AN OIL PAINTING BY WINSLOW HOMER (DRIFTWOOD) by FRANK ANKENBRAND JR. EMBLEMS OF LOVE: 41. LOVE REQUIRES NO ENTREATIES by PHILIP AYRES THE OLD TRAMP by PIERRE JEAN DE BERANGER THE WATCHERS by EDMUND CHARLES BLUNDEN SONG/FOR SANNA by OLGA BROUMAS MASQUE AT THE MARRIAGE OF THE EARL OF SOMERSET: CHORUS (1) by THOMAS CAMPION TOWARDS DEMOCRACY: PART 2. THUS I YEARNED FOR LOVE by EDWARD CARPENTER |