The Poet's Testament Poem by George Santayana

The Poet's Testament

Rating: 3.2


I give back to the earth what the earth gave,
All to the furrow, none to the grave,
The candle's out, the spirit's vigil spent;
Sight may not follow where the vision went.

I leave you but the sound of many a word
In mocking echoes haply overheard,
I sang to heaven. My exile made me free,
from world to world, from all worlds carried me.

Spared by the furies, for the Fates were kind,
I paced the pillared cloisters of the mind;
All times my present, everywhere my place,
Nor fear, nor hope, nor envy saw my face.

Blow what winds would, the ancient truth was mine,
And friendship mellowed in the flush of wine,
And heavenly laughter, shaking from its wings
Atoms of light and tears for mortal things.

To trembling harmonies of field and cloud,
Of flesh and spirit was my worship vowed.
Let form, let music, let all quickening air
Fulfil in beauty my imperfect prayer.

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Bernard Snyder 16 September 2015

Such a lovely poem. Wow!

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David Wood 16 September 2015

A delighrful poem on a sad theme.

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Edward Kofi Louis 16 September 2015

The poet's testament is the testament of life! Nice work.

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* Sunprincess * 16 September 2015

.............nicely penned....love the theme ★

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Savita Tyagi 16 September 2015

Lovely poem. I give back all till no more left to give is the sentiment that one can feel most satisfied about.

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Kim Barney 16 September 2015

P.S. Who translated it and why weren't they given credit?

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Kim Barney 16 September 2015

Very nice in English, but I would bet it's even better in the original Spanish. Does anyone know where I can find a copy of it in Spanish? Thanks.

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Seema Jayaraman 16 September 2015

the mellow flight of time...the ultimate truth that we can only give back to earth anyways it was never ours take..beautiful poem

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