PRAISE, praise ye the prophets, the sages Who lived and who died for the ages; The grand and magnificent dreamers; The heroes, and mighty redeemers; The martyrs, reformers, and leaders; The voices of mystical Vedas; The bibles of races long shrouded Who left us their wisdom unclouded; The truth that is old as their mountains, But fresh as the rills from their fountains. And praise ye the poets whose pages Give solace and joy to the ages; Who have seen in their marvellous trances Of thought and of rhythmical fancies, The manhood of Man in all errors; The triumph of hope over terrors; The great human heart ever pleading Its kindred divine, though misleading, Fate held it aloof from the heaven That to spirits untempted was given . The creeds of the past that have bound us, With visions of terror around us Like dungeons of stone that have crumbled, Beneath us lie shattered and humbled. The tyranny mitred and crested , Flattered and crowned and detested; The blindness that trod upon Science; The bigotry Ignorance cherished; The armed and the sainted alliance Of conscience and hate -they have perished, Have melted like mists in the splendor Of life and of beauty supernal - Of love ever watchful and tender, Of law ever one and eternal. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE GUERDON by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH INVITED GUESTS by FRANCES EKIN ALLISON SONNETS OF MANHOOD: 11. THE GREEK POET IN ENGLAND by GEORGE BARLOW (1847-1913) TO THINE OWN SELF BE TRUE by PAKENHAM THOMAS BEATTY THE SECOND BROTHER; AN UNFINISHED DRAMA by THOMAS LOVELL BEDDOES OLD THINGS by THOMAS T. BLEWETT THE TIME IS GONE by EDMUND CHARLES BLUNDEN VALUES by HARRY RANDOLPH BLYTHE TO THE LORD LOVE (AT THE APPROACH OF OLD AGE) by KATHERINE HARRIS BRADLEY |