Apologia Poem by Oscar Wilde

Apologia

Rating: 3.1


IS it thy will that I should wax and wane,
Barter my cloth of gold for hodden grey,
And at thy pleasure weave that web of pain
Whose brightest threads are each a wasted day?

Is it thy will--Love that I love so well--
That my Soul's House should be a tortured spot
Wherein, like evil paramours, must dwell
The quenchless flame, the worm that dieth not?

Nay, if it be thy will I shall endure,
And sell ambition at the common mart,
And let dull failure be my vestiture,
And sorrow dig its grave within my heart.

Perchance it may be better so--at least
I have not made my heart a heart of stone,
Nor starved my boyhood of its goodly feast,
Nor walked where Beauty is a thing unknown.

Many a man hath done so; sought to fence
In straitened bonds the soul that should be free,
Trodden the dusty road of common sense,
While all the forest sang of liberty,

Not marking how the spotted hawk in flight
Passed on wide pinion through the lofty air,
To where the steep untrodden mountain height
Caught the last tresses of the Sun God's hair.

Or how the little flower he trod upon,
The daisy, that white-feathered shield of gold,
Followed with wistful eyes the wandering sun
Content if once its leaves were aureoled.

But surely it is something to have been
The best belovèd for a little while,
To have walked hand in hand with Love, and seen
His purple wings flit once across thy smile.

Ay! though the gorgèd asp of passion feed
On my boy's heart, yet have I burst the bars,
Stood face to face with Beauty, known indeed
The Love which moves the Sun and all the stars!

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
SS BAGHELA 30 September 2005

Oscar Wilde is brilliant here.

5 6 Reply
Mary Ali 03 March 2008

This poem is so amazing and beautiful! love it. Mary

5 3 Reply
John Kago 21 November 2013

absolute genius in delivery. cant get enough of it..

3 2 Reply

This poem is amazing but difficult to understand for ordinary readers and such greatness.

2 2 Reply
* Sunprincess * 17 October 2015

....most wondeful, especially love this line ★ The love which moves the sun and all the stars!

2 2 Reply
Shaun Cronick 21 July 2020

Good old Oscar he was the complete writer and wit. So immortal is his great legacy of work. Always worth rereading for there are things sometimes overlooked or forgotten and waiting to (re) discovered.

0 0 Reply
Ruta Mohapatra 21 July 2020

But surely it is something to have been The best belovèd for a little while...……..Beautiful lines!

1 0 Reply
* Sunprincess * 21 July 2020

Stunning piece of poetry, Visiting again to enjoy it.

0 0 Reply
Ratnakar Mandlik 21 July 2020

" If it be thy will I will endure And sell ambition at common mart and let failue be my vestiture and sorrow dig it's grave within my heart." The intensity of love and devotion are very laudable. A well deserved classic poem of the day.

0 0 Reply
Pranab K Chakraborty 21 July 2020

Stood face to face with Beauty, known indeed The Love which moves the Sun and all the stars! ............................................ ending with such marvelous mechanism of life by Almighty Himself. Great indeed yet in 2020. Thanks PH to put.

0 0 Reply
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Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde

Dublin / Ireland
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