The Emptiness



Come for testing you with pleasure,
Behold for this is vanity;
Enjoy what desires treasure,
Feel free to use profanity.

For it is mad and of pleasure,
Searching my heart on how to cheer;
With wisdom how can I measure,
My body with wine has no fear.

How do I lay hold on folly,
Until I might see what is good;
Doing for God what is holy,
The days of my life as I should.

I made great works and built a house,
I planted trees for bearing fruit;
I married a beautiful spouse,
A family with a deep root.

Pools of water nourish the trees,
Servants and maidens work the field;
In feeling the warmth of the breeze,
Harvesting what the ground will yield.

I gain profit from silver and gold,
While paying tax to the king;
Such a delight that does unfold,
For all the goodness God will bring.

I became great surpassed before,
How much wisdom remained in me;
My eyes desired to assure,
Making diligent as to see.

I found pleasure in my toil,
For my toil was my reward;
With laboring of the soil,
So I can tithe unto the Lord.

I look at what my hands have done,
Toil expended to do it;
To what is gained under the sun,
The vanity of my merit.

Copyright ©2022 Richard Newton Sherrer

About this poem

The Vanity of Self-Indulgence Ecclesiastes 2:1-11

Font size:
Collection  PDF     
 

Written on July 14, 2022

Submitted by richards.77936 on July 13, 2022

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:21 min read
2

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABAB ACAC BDBD EFEF GHGH IJIJ XBXB KLKL MXMX A
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,179
Words 271
Stanzas 10
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 1

Richard Newton Sherrer

I was born and raised on a farm in Pennsylvania. It was a small family farm that was handed down through 8 generations of Sherrer men until my father; Newton just could not make a living from it any longer. He thought that I would make a better living away from the farm. So, I decided to join the Air Force in 1969 upon graduating from high school. I gained quite a bit of experience and insight on life while in the service. Even though I was only stationed on the east coast of the US, my Air Force career took me to Germany and Korea. After 20 years wearing of the blue uniform, I decided going in a different direction and found myself becoming very diverse in many different fields. Something still seemed missing to me after being separated from the service for about 10 years. The Air Force was a way of life for me, but really missed life in Korea. I found myself changing careers again. Poetry was an interest of his since my days in high school. With returning to the Lord, I felt motivated to write of my Christian beliefs. I started looking at Bible verses and reflecting on my own personal experiences. The Bible was found to be as true today as to when the various books were written. I could see much of what the Bible is teaching us as valid as every in modern time. It felt only natural to me on using his personal experience based on Bible verses and see much of my own life written in the Scriptures. God inspires me what to write about though. I do not claim to be an expert on God or the Bible. I am just a Christian who has become enlightened to write poetic verses from the Holy Scriptures. more…

All Richard Newton Sherrer poems | Richard Newton Sherrer Books

7 fans

Discuss the poem The Emptiness with the community...

0 Comments

    Translation

    Find a translation for this poem in other languages:

    Select another language:

    • - Select -
    • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
    • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
    • Español (Spanish)
    • Esperanto (Esperanto)
    • 日本語 (Japanese)
    • Português (Portuguese)
    • Deutsch (German)
    • العربية (Arabic)
    • Français (French)
    • Русский (Russian)
    • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
    • 한국어 (Korean)
    • עברית (Hebrew)
    • Gaeilge (Irish)
    • Українська (Ukrainian)
    • اردو (Urdu)
    • Magyar (Hungarian)
    • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
    • Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Italiano (Italian)
    • தமிழ் (Tamil)
    • Türkçe (Turkish)
    • తెలుగు (Telugu)
    • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
    • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
    • Čeština (Czech)
    • Polski (Polish)
    • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Românește (Romanian)
    • Nederlands (Dutch)
    • Ελληνικά (Greek)
    • Latinum (Latin)
    • Svenska (Swedish)
    • Dansk (Danish)
    • Suomi (Finnish)
    • فارسی (Persian)
    • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
    • հայերեն (Armenian)
    • Norsk (Norwegian)
    • English (English)

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this poem to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "The Emptiness" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 1 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/132063/the-emptiness>.

    Become a member!

    Join our community of poets and poetry lovers to share your work and offer feedback and encouragement to writers all over the world!

    May 2024

    Poetry Contest

    Join our monthly contest for an opportunity to win cash prizes and attain global acclaim for your talent.
    30
    days
    12
    hours
    36
    minutes

    Special Program

    Earn Rewards!

    Unlock exciting rewards such as a free mug and free contest pass by commenting on fellow members' poems today!

    Browse Poetry.com

    Quiz

    Are you a poetry master?

    »
    Who wrote the poem "The Road Not Taken"?
    A Langston Hughes
    B Emily Dickinson
    C Walt Whitman
    D Robert Frost