Of Charity
Arthur Symons 1865 (Milford Haven) – 1945
A beggar died last night; his soul
Went up to God, and said:
'I come uncalled, forgive it, Lord;
I died for want of bread.'
Then answered him the Lord of heaven:
'Son, how can this thing be?
Are not my saints on earth? and they
Had surely succoured thee.'
'Thy saints, O Lord,' the beggar said,
'Live holy lives of prayer;
How should they know of such as we?
We perish unaware.
'They strive to save our wicked souls
And fit them for the sky;
Meanwhile, not having bread to eat,
(Forgive!) our bodies die.'
Then the Lord God spake out of heaven
In wrath and angry pain:
'O men, for whom my Son hath died,
My Son hath lived in vain!'
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 11, 2023
- 37 sec read
- 36 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | XAXA BCXC ADCD XEXE BFXF |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 624 |
Words | 131 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
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"Of Charity" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 1 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/3992/of-charity>.
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