The Soldier
Gerard Manley Hopkins
Yes. Why do we áll, seeing of a soldier, bless him? bless Our redcoats, our tars? Both these being, the greater part, But frail clay, nay but foul clay. Here it is: the heart, Since, proud, it calls the calling manly, gives a guess That, hopes that, makesbelieve, the men must be no less; It fancies, feigns, deems, dears the artist after his art; And fain will find as sterling all as all is smart, And scarlet wear the spirit of wár thére express. Mark Christ our King. He knows war, served this soldiering through; He of all can handle a rope best. There he bides in bliss Now, and séeing somewhére some mán do all that man can do, For love he leans forth, needs his neck must fall on, kiss, And cry ‘O Christ-done deed! So God-made-flesh does too: Were I come o’er again’ cries Christ ‘it should be this’.
Next 10 Poems
- Gerard Manley Hopkins : The Starlight Night
- Gerard Manley Hopkins : The Times Are Nightfall
- Gerard Manley Hopkins : The Times Are Nightfall, Look, Their Light Grows Less
- Gerard Manley Hopkins : The Windhover
- Gerard Manley Hopkins : The Windhover: To Christ Our Lord
- Gerard Manley Hopkins : The Woodlark
- Gerard Manley Hopkins : The Wreck Of The Deutschland
- Gerard Manley Hopkins : Thee, God, I Come From
- Gerard Manley Hopkins : Thee, God, I Come From, To Thee Go
- Gerard Manley Hopkins : Thou Art Indeed Just
Previous 10 Poems
- Gerard Manley Hopkins : The Silver Jubilee
- Gerard Manley Hopkins : The Shepherds Brow, Fronting Forked Lightning, Owns
- Gerard Manley Hopkins : The Sea Took Pity: It Interposed With Doom
- Gerard Manley Hopkins : The Sea Took Pity
- Gerard Manley Hopkins : The Sea And The Skylark
- Gerard Manley Hopkins : The May Magnificat
- Gerard Manley Hopkins : The Loss Of The Eurydice
- Gerard Manley Hopkins : The Leaden Echo And The Golden Echo
- Gerard Manley Hopkins : The Lantern Out Of Doors
- Gerard Manley Hopkins : The Handsome Heart