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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


SHALL I LOOK BACK? by LOUISE CHANDLER MOULTON

Poet Analysis

First Line: FROM SOME DIM HEIGHT OF BEING, UNDESCRIED
Last Line: SHALL I LOOK BACK AND WONDER AT MY FEARS?
Subject(s): PAST;

FROM some dim height of being, undescried,
Shall I look back and trace the weary way
By which my feet are journeying to-day, --
The toilsome path that climbs the mountain-side
Or leads into the valley, sun-denied,
Where, through the darkness, hapless wanderers stray,
Unblessed, uncheered, ungladdened by a ray
Of certitude their errant steps to guide?

Shall I look back, and see the great things small;
The toilsome path, God's training for my feet,
The pains that never had been worth my tears?
Will some great light of rapture, bathing all,
Make by-gone woe seem joy; past bitter, sweet?
Shall I look back and wonder at my fears?



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