Dear Angels and dear disembodied Saints Unseen around us, worshiping in rest, May wonder that man's heart so often faints, And his steps lag along the heavenly quest, What while his foolish fancy moulds and paints A fonder hope than all they prove for best; A lying hope which undermines and taints His soul, as sin and sloth make manifest. Sloth, and a lie, and sin: shall these suffice The unfathomable heart of craving man, That heart which being a deep calls to the deep? Behold how many like us rose and ran When Christ, Life-giver, roused them from their sleep To rise and run and rest in Paradise! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...OLD TRAILS by EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON THE TEN COMMANDMENTS by GEORGE SANTAYANA AN ODE, PARAPHRASED: THE CUP by ANACREON THE LADDER OF SAINT AUGUSTINE by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW PICTURES FROM APPLEDORE: 5 by JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL BISHOP BRUNO by ROBERT SOUTHEY WHEN I HEARD AT THE CLOSE OF THE DAY by WALT WHITMAN |