Mutation
They talk of short-lived pleasure--be it so--
Pain dies as quickly; stern, hard-featured pain
Expires, and lets her weary prisoner go.
The fiercest agonies have shortest reign;
And after dreams of horror, comes again
The welcome morning with its rays of peace.
Oblivion, softly wiping out the stain,
Makes the strong secret pangs of pain to cease:
Remorse is virtue's root; its fair increase
Are fruits of innocence and blessedness;
Thus joy, o'erborne and bound, doth still release
His young limbs from the chains that round him press.
Weep not that the world changes--did it keep
A stable, changeless state, 'twere cause indeed to weep.
Poem by
William Cullen Bryant
Biography |
Poems
| Best Poems | Short Poems
| Quotes
|
Email Poem |
More Poems by William Cullen Bryant
Comments, Analysis, and Meaning on Mutation
Provide your analysis, explanation, meaning, interpretation, and comments on the poem Mutation here.
Commenting turned off, sorry.