Blinded I groped—you gave me sight.
Perplexed I turned—you sent me light.
You speak unto a thousand ears:
I pay you tribute in hid tears.
I pay you homage in the hopes
That rise to scale life’s scath?d slopes.
I give you gratitude in this:
That, midway on the precipice
You never trod and never saw,
Where air you never drank, strikes raw
And wan upon the wasted breath,
And gulfs you never passed, gape death,
And crags you gained some sunlit way
Frown threatening over me to-day,—
That here with bruis?d hand I cling,
Because I heard you yonder sing
With those who conquer. If through joy,
Then deeper be our shame who toy
And loiter in the scourging rain,
And did not pass by strength of pain.
Laggard below, I reach to bless
You who are King of happiness;
You are the victor, you the brave,
Who could not stoop to be her slave.
Downward to me, rebuking, fling
My privilege of suffering.
I take and listen. Teach me. See!
Nearer than you, I ought to be;
Nearer the height man never trod,
Nearer the veil?d face of God.
I ought, and am not. Comrade! be
Unconscious captain unto me.
Unknowing, beckon and command:
I answer you with unseen hand.
You read in vain these lines between,
And smiling, wonder whom I mean.
(Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward)
More Poetry from Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward:
Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward Poems based on Topics: Death & Dying, God, Happiness, Joy & Excitement, Pain, Light, Smiling, Sense & Perception, Listening, Education, Courage- Petronilla (Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward Poems)
- Stronger Than Death (Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward Poems)
- The Poet And The Poem (Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward Poems)
- Two Faces (Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward Poems)
- That Never Was On Sea Or Land (Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward Poems)
- Guinevere (Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward Poems)
Readers Who Like This Poem Also Like:
Based on Topics: God Poems, Light Poems, Death & Dying Poems, Joy & Excitement Poems, Sense & Perception Poems, Kings & Queens Poems, Pain Poems, Happiness Poems, Smiling Poems, Education Poems, Courage PoemsBased on Keywords: scourging, rebuking, bruis, scath, to-day-, turned-