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STATESMEN, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Quieter than the sun is he
Last Line: How far, o god, from hope and thee.
Subject(s): Statesmen


QUIETER than the sun is he
Whose task is mightier to perform,
And needs the primal majesty
Of strength that rules the storm.

The great prophetic heart is his,
The poet's power to bless and blend
Life with the cosmic harmonies
That roll to one great end.

Ah, yet not his to seek or roam
The undiscovered and sublime;
But how to bring his good ship home
Across the seas of Time.

His course must veer with every wind,
Yet is the swiftest and the best
His wisdom of the sea can find;
And God will add the rest.

The statesman looks not where the wave
Of momentary detail swirled;
His hope is deeper than the grave
And wider than the world.

His hands upon the wheel deny
The wild demands of circumstance;
His eyes are on the distant sky
Beyond the clouds of chance:

And when, still beating up the wind,
He slowly brings the Ship of State
Home, though the people chafe to find
How dark it is and late;

With all his tacking courses run
At last beyond the roaring sea,
Men find him faithful to the one
Haven where they would be.

Far other he whose words are free
To flatter weakness and conform;
And help a drunken crew to flee
Full sail before the storm;

He scans the rainbow in the wave
And dazzling spray around him hurled;
Their light will last him till his grave
Obliterates his world.

His hands upon the wheel reply
To every call of circumstance;
He chases down the reeling sky
The rushing clouds of chance.

He spreads before the boisterous wind
The wild white wings of the Ship of State;
While all the people cheer to find
The sails crash and inflate.

Before the uproarious wind they run
Out, out into the hungry sea;
How fast! And, when that day is done,
How far, O God, from hope and Thee.





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