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Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906 / Ohio / United States)
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Life's Tragedy
It may be misery not to sing at all,
And to go silent through the brimming day;
It may be misery never to be loved,
But deeper griefs than these beset the way.
To sing the perfect song,
And by a half-tone lost the key,
There the potent sorrow, there the grief,
The pale, sad staring of Life's Tragedy.
To have come near to the perfect love,
Not the hot passion of untempered youth,
But that which lies aside its vanity,
And gives, for thy trusting worship, truth.
This, this indeed is to be accursed,
For if we mortals love, or if we sing,
We count our joys not by what we have,
But by what kept us from that perfect thing.
Read poems about / on: grief, passion, sorrow, sad, truth, song, lost, life, love, joy, trust
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Beautiful poem, so touching and so true!
Excellent work...great balance.
I'm actually having trouble comprehending how outstanding this poem is! !
Though sullen but poetic
master piece of the month, for me and to me!
Let the poet take my pleasure and praise; his notes are high and logical. This poem, especially the first stanza, is a masterpiece of the month for me! ! !
Now this is lovely! ! ! !
and I don`t understand why so low votes. namely I put 10, because I think it`s a real poem, but not boring, just need to get the idea the author tried to deliver. i think he took farer about falling short. for sometimes 2+2 is not 4. in life it goes bit different way than in mathematics. bright and memorable work!
The greatest tragedy is not to fall short of perfection but not to try for it.
Should it not be: 'And by a half-tone lose the key.'
Interesting analogy between music and love is well expressed by the poet!