The Agnostic

Mathilde Blind 1841 (Mannheim) – 1896 (London)



NOT in the hour of peril, thronged with foes,
Panting to set their heel upon my head,--
Or when alone from many wounds I bled
Unflinching beneath Fortune's random blows;
Not when my shuddering hands were doomed to close
The unshrinking eyelids of the stony dead;--
Not then I missed my God, not then--but said:
'Let me not burden God with all man's woes!'

But when resurgent from the womb of night
Spring's Oriflamme of flowers waves from the Sod;
When peak on flashing Alpine peak is trod
By sunbeams on their missionary flight;
When heaven-kissed Earth laughs, garmented in light;--
That is the hour in which I miss my God.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

35 sec read
68

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABBAXBBA CDDCCD
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 633
Words 117
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 8, 6

Mathilde Blind

Mathilde Blind, was a German-born British poet. Her work was praised by Matthew Arnold and French politician and historian Louis Blanc. more…

All Mathilde Blind poems | Mathilde Blind Books

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