MORTAL! if e'er thy spirits faint, By grief or pain opprest, Seek not vain hope, or sour complaint, To cheer or ease thy breast: But view thy bitterest pangs as sent A shadow of that doom, Which is the soul's just punishment In its own guilt's true home. Be thine own judge; hate thy proud heart; And while the sad drops flow, E'en let thy will attend the smart, And sanctify thy woe. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SHADOWS IN THE WATER by THOMAS TRAHERNE SPRING WATER by KENNETH SLADE ALLING DEATH by EVGENY ABRAMOVICH BARATYNSKY TO A LADY WHO HAD LOST A RELATIVE by JOHN GARDINER CALKINS BRAINARD BEFORE AND AFTER by OLIVER MADOX BROWN A PORTRAIT by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING |