As Greece of old acclaimed thee God and man, So, Death, our tongue acclaims thee: yet wast thou Hailed of old Rome as Romans hail thee now, Goddess and woman. Since the sands first ran That told when first man's life and death began, The shadows round thy blind ambiguous brow Have mocked the votive plea, the pleading vow That sought thee sorrowing, fain to bless or ban. But stronger than a father's love is thine, And gentler than a mother's. Lord and God, Thy staff is surer than the wizard rod That Hermes bare as priest before thy shrine And herald of thy mercies. We could give Nought, when we would have given: thou bidst him live. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE DESERTED HOUSE by ALFRED TENNYSON THE SOLITARY TOMB by BERNARD BARTON ENGLISH ENCOURAGEMENT OF ART (FIRST READING) by WILLIAM BLAKE AUTUMN LOVE by ALEXANDER (ALEKSANDR) ALEXANDROVICH BLOK LOVE'S POWER by WINIFRED LANGWORTHY BROWN ON JAMES GRACIE, DEAN OF GUILD by ROBERT BURNS RECOMPENSE by RICHARD EUGENE BURTON TOWARDS DEMOCRACY: PART 4. AS THE GREEKS DREAMED by EDWARD CARPENTER |