Scorners of earth, you that have one foot shod With skyward wings, but are not flying yet, You that observe no goal or station set Between your groping and the towers of God For which you languish, may it not be odd And avericious of you to forget Your toll of an accumulating debt For dusty leagues that you are still to plod? But many have paid, you say, and paid again; And having had worse than death are still alive, Only to pay seven fold, and seven times seven. They are many; and for cause not always plain, They are the laggards among those who strive On earth to raise the golden dust of heaven. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...TO MARY IN HEAVEN by ROBERT BURNS RIDDLE ON THE LETTER H (1) by CATHERINE MARIA FANSHAWE THE BLESSED VIRGIN, COMPARED TO THE AIR WE BREATHE by GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS THERE IS NO DEATH by JOHN LUCKEY MCCREERY EPITAPH ON THE ADMIRABLE DRAMATIC POET, WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE by JOHN MILTON PASA THALASSA THALASSA by EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON AVE ATQUE VALE; IN MEMORY OF CHARLES BAUDELAIRE by ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE |