"Lest by diminished vitality and abated Vigilance, I become food for crocodiles—for that quicksand Of gluttony which is legion. It is there—close at hand— On either side Of me. You remember the Israelites who said in pride "And stoutness of heart: 'The bricks are fallen down, we will Build with hewn stone, the sycamores are cut down, we will change to Cedars?' I am not ambitious to dress stones, to renew Forts, nor to match My value in action, against their ability to catch "Up with arrested prosperity. I am not like Them, indefatigable, but if you are a god you will Not descriminate against me. Yet—if you may fulfil None but prayers dressed As gifts in return for your own gifts—disregard the request." | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...TO THE UNKNOWN EROS: BOOK 1: 16. A FAREWELL by COVENTRY KERSEY DIGHTON PATMORE RETURNING, WE HEAR THE LARKS by ISAAC ROSENBERG ODE IN MEMORY OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEERS FALLEN FOR FRANCE by ALAN SEEGER CIRCE by AUGUSTA DAVIES WEBSTER THE MISTRESS; A SONG by JOHN WILMOT THE JEW'S GIFT; A.D. 1200 by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH |