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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

COMPENSATION by JOHN GODFREY SAXE

First Line: WHEN ONCE, IN 'MERRIE ENGLAND'
Last Line: CRUEL ONES ARE BRIEF.
Subject(s): GRIEF; PAIN; SORROW; SADNESS; SUFFERING; MISERY;
I.

WHEN once, in "Merrie England,"
A prisoner of state
Stood waiting death or exile,
Submissive to his fate,
He made this famous answer, --
"Si longa, levis;
Si dura, brevis;
Go tell your tyrant chief,
Long pains are light ones,
Cruel ones are brief!"

II.

Alas! we all are culprits;
Our bodies doomed to bear
Discomforts and diseases,
And none may 'scape his share;
But God in pity orders,
Si longa, levis;
Si dura, brevis;
He grants us this relief,
Long pains are light ones,
Cruel ones are brief.

III.

Nor less the mind must suffer
Its weight of care and woe,
Afflictions and bereavements
Itself can only know;
But let us still remember,
Si longa, levis;
Si dura, brevis;
To moderate our grief, --
Long pains are light ones,
Cruel ones are brief.



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