The Poems of Algernon Charles Swinburne In Six Volumes |
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| III. | III THANKSGIVING |
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 | The Poems of Algernon Charles Swinburne |  |
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III
THANKSGIVING
Could love give strength to thank thee! Love can give
Strong sorrow heart to suffer: what we bear
We would not put away, albeit this were
A burden love might cast aside and live.
Love chooses rather pain than palliative,
Sharp thought than soft oblivion. May we dare
So trample down our passion and our prayer
That fain would cling round feet now fugitive
And stay them—so remember, so forget,
What joy we had who had his presence yet,
What griefs were his while joy in him was ours
And grief made weary music of his breath,
As even to hail his best and last of hours
With love grown strong enough to thank thee, Death?
| The Poems of Algernon Charles Swinburne | |