The shepherd's brow, fronting forked lightning, owns 
The horror and the havoc and the glory 
Of it. Angels fall, they are towers, from heaven—a story 
Of just, majestical, and giant groans. 
But man—we, scaffold of score brittle bones;
Who breathe, from groundlong babyhood to hoary 
Age gasp; whose breath is our memento mori— 
What bass is our viol for tragic tones? 
He! Hand to mouth he lives, and voids with shame; 
And, blazoned in however bold the name, 
Man Jack the man is, just; his mate a hussy. 
And I that die these deaths, that feed this flame, 
That … in smooth spoons spy life’s masque mirrored: tame
My tempests there, my fire and fever fussy. 

Added: Apr 8 2005 | Viewed: 633 times | Comments (0)

Poet: Gerard Manley Hopkins
Poem: The Shepherd’s Brow, Fronting Forked Lightning, Owns

Poem of the Day on:
Oct 31 2006
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