With Esther

By Wilfrid Scawen Blunt

Born 1840


HE who has once been happy is for aye
         Out of destruction's reach. His fortune then
Holds nothing secret; and Eternity,
         Which is a mystery to other men,
Has like a woman given him its joy.
         Time is his conquest. Life, if it should fret.
Has paid him tribute. He can bear to die,
         He who has once been happy! When I set
The world before me and survey its range,
         Its mean ambitions, its scant fantasies,
The shreds of pleasure which for lack of change
         Men wrap around them and call happiness,
The poor delights which are the tale and sum
Of the world's courage in its martyrdom;

When I hear laughter from a tavern door,
         When I see crowds agape and in the rain
Watching on tiptoe and with stifled roar
         To see a rocket fired or a bull slain,
When misers handle gold, when orators
         Touch strong men's hearts with glory till they weep,
When cities deck their streets for barren wars
         Which have laid waste their youth, and when I keep
Calmly the count of my own life and see
         On what poor stuff my manhood's dreams were fed
Till I too learn'd what dole of vanity
         Will serve a human soul for daily bread,
--Then I remember that I once was young
And lived with Esther the world's gods among.

DayPoems Poem No. 766
<a href="http://www.daypoems.net/poems/766.html">With Esther by Wilfrid Scawen Blunt</a>

The DayPoems Poetry Collection, www.daypoems.net
Timothy Bovee, editor

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