My God, to live: how didst Thou bear to live, Preaching and teaching, toiling to and fro? Few men accepting what Thou hadst to give, Few men prepared to know Thy Face, to see the truth Thou cam'st to show. My God, to die: how didst Thou bear to die That long slow death in weariness of pain? A curse and an astonishment, past by, Pointed at, mocked again, By men for whom Thy blood was shed in vain. Whilst I do hardly bear my easy life, And hardly face my easy-coming death: I turn to flee before the tug of strife; And shrink with troubled breath From sleep, that is not death, Thy Spirit saith. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...FIRST BOOK OF AIRS: SONG 7 by THOMAS CAMPION ON THE DEATH OF RICHARD WEST by THOMAS GRAY NOVEMBER BLUE by ALICE MEYNELL THE WAITER AND THE ALLIGATOR by G. W. A. BEHIND TIME by ALEXANDER ANDERSON SONG BY AN OLD SHEPHERD by WILLIAM BLAKE |