Poems

Yes, though He well may tremble at the soundOf his own voice, who from the judgment-seatSends the pale Convict to his last retreatIn death; though Listeners shudder all around,They know the dread requital's source profound;Nor is, they feel, its wisdom obsolete(Would that it were!) the sacrifice unmeetFor Christian Faith. But hopeful signs abound;The social rights of man … [Read more...] about Sonnets Upon The Punishment Of Death – In Series, 1839 – XIII – Conclusion – Yes, Though He Well May Tremble At The Sound, By: William Wordsworth

See the Condemned alone within his cellAnd prostrate at some moment when remorseStings to the quick, and, with resistless force,Assaults the pride she strove in vain to quell.Then mark him, him who could so long rebel,The crime confessed, a kneeling PenitentBefore the Altar, where the SacramentSoftens his heart, till from his eyes outwellTears of salvation. Welcome death! while … [Read more...] about Sonnets Upon The Punishment Of Death – In Series, 1839 – XII – See The Condemned Alone Within His Cell, By: William Wordsworth

Ah, think how one compelled for life to abideLocked in a dungeon needs must eat the heartOut of his own humanity, and partWith every hope that mutual cares provide;And, should a less unnatural doom confideIn life-long exile on a savage coast,Soon the relapsing penitent may boastOf yet more heinous guilt, with fiercer pride.Hence thoughtful Mercy, Mercy sage and pure,Sanctions … [Read more...] about Sonnets Upon The Punishment Of Death – In Series, 1839 – XI – Ah, Think How One Compelled For Life To Abide, By: William Wordsworth

He sat on the beach of his private island,wrote messages on scraps of paperonce were staring blankly back at him,folded them up, pushed them through bottles’ narrow necksinto bottles’ ample bodies,where they, shaken, shifted. He flung them as far as he could into the ocean's waves,like a parent gazed after them,until he lost them in the sprayor the tangle of waves like a … [Read more...] about Desert Isle, By: Alan Hardy

Our bodily life, some plead, that life the shrineOf an immortal spirit, is a giftSo sacred, so informed with light divine,That no tribunal, though most wise to siftDeed and intent, should turn the Being adriftInto that world where penitential tearMay not avail, nor prayer have for God's earA voice that world whose veil no hand can liftFor earthly sight. "Eternity and … [Read more...] about Sonnets Upon The Punishment Of Death – In Series, 1839 – X – Our Bodily Life, Some Plead, That Life The Shrine, By: William Wordsworth