‘Twas August, and the fierce sun overhead
Smote on the squalid streets of Bethnal Green,
And the pale weaver, through his windows seen
In Spitalfields, looked thrice dispirited.
I met a preacher there I knew, and said:
“Ill and o’erworked, how fare you in this scene?”-
“Bravely!” said he; “for I of late have been
Much cheered with thoughts of Christ, the living bread.”
O human soul! as long as thou canst so
Set up a mark of everlasting light,
Above the howling senses’ ebb and flow,
To cheer thee, and to right thee if thou roam-
Not with lost toil thou labourest through the night!
Thou mak’st the heaven thou hop’st indeed thy home.
(Matthew Arnold)
More Poetry from Matthew Arnold:
Matthew Arnold Poems based on Topics: Soul, Night, Light, Heaven, Home, Christianity, Jesus Christ- Stanzas In Memory Of The Author Of 'Obermann' (Matthew Arnold Poems)
- Thyrsis: A Monody (Matthew Arnold Poems)
- The Scholar-Gyps (Matthew Arnold Poems)
- The Church Of Brou (Matthew Arnold Poems)
- Epilogue To Lessing's Laocooen (Matthew Arnold Poems)
- A Summer Night (Matthew Arnold Poems)
Readers Who Like This Poem Also Like:
Based on Topics: Night Poems, Light Poems, Soul Poems, Heaven Poems, Christianity Poems, Home Poems, Jesus Christ PoemsBased on Keywords: toil, thou, fierce, right, bread, fare, thoughts, green, met, indeed, human