A verse for our time

Ah, yet, when all is thought and said
The heart still overruales the head.
So, what we hope we must believe,
And what is given us receive,

Must still believe for still we hope
That in a world of larger scope
What here is faithfully begun
Will be completed, not undone.

My child, we still must think
When we that ampler life together see,
Some true results will yet appear
Of what we are, together, here.

- Arthu Hugh Clough, “Through a Glass Darkly,” 1849. (Clough rhymes with “rough.”)

This verse is oft believed to be a paean to love. Yes, love in the sense of compassion and social justice – in short, a call for self-examination and sanity. Its words ring true today.

Read the complete poem HERE.

Read about this English poet, who spent his childhood in Charleston, S.C., returned to England, then later spent time with Walt Whitman in Massachusetts HERE.