We know the worst -- the darkest doom That lies beyond the sinner's tomb, The long, black agonies of hell That loving Voice spared not to tell. The merest gleam of heaven sufficed Heaven's Herald, the revealing Christ; But sin He showed, and penalty, How faithfully! how anxiously! As when a father sends his son Out in the clashing world alone, He warns him of the evil there, Nor stays to picture what is fair. What glories, then, what mysteries, Lie in the Saviour's silences! What bliss we could not have believed, Eye hath not seen nor mind conceived! The dearest wish, the fondest hope, The fair ideal's farthest scope, No longer doubt, but dare to know; He would have said, were these not so | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...FUGUE FOR A DROWNED GIRL by JAMES GALVIN HOW THEY GO ON by JAMES GALVIN UNTITLED, 1968; FOR MARK ROTHKO by JAMES GALVIN SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY: AMI GREEN by EDGAR LEE MASTERS SONNET by EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON PLAINT OF THE DISGUSTED BRITON IN THE STATES by GEORGE SANTAYANA |