Classic and Contemporary Poetry
DANGER, by HELEN MARIA HUNT FISKE JACKSON Poet's Biography First Line: With what a childish and short sighted sense Last Line: Lies hid the pebble for the fatal sling. Alternate Author Name(s): H. H.; Holm, Saxe; Jackson, Helen Hunt Subject(s): Advice; Death; Wind; Dead, The | ||||||||
With what a childish and short-sighted sense Fear seeks for safety; reckons up the days Of danger and escape, the hours and ways Of death; it breathless flies the pestilence; It walls itself in towers of defence; By land, by sea, against the storm it lays Down barriers; then, comforted, it says: "This spot, this hour is safe." Oh, vain pretence! Man born of man knows nothing when he goes; The winds blow where they list, and will disclose To no man which brings safety, which brings risk. The mighty are brought low by many a thing Too small to name. Beneath the daisy's disk Lies hid the pebble for the fatal sling. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A FRIEND KILLED IN THE WAR by ANTHONY HECHT FOR JAMES MERRILL: AN ADIEU by ANTHONY HECHT TARANTULA: OR THE DANCE OF DEATH by ANTHONY HECHT CHAMPS D?ÇÖHONNEUR by ERNEST HEMINGWAY NOTE TO REALITY by TONY HOAGLAND A LAST PRAYER by HELEN MARIA HUNT FISKE JACKSON |
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