How smiles he at a generation ranked
In gloomy noddings over life! They pass.
Not he to feed upon a breast unthanked,
Or eye a beauteous face in a cracked glass.
But he can spy that little twist of brain
Which moved some weighty leader of the blind,
Unwitting 'twas the goad of personal pain,
To view in curst eclipse our Mother's mind,
And show us of some rigid harridan
The wretched bondmen till the end of time.
O lived the Master now to paint us Man,
That little twist of brain would ring a chime
Of whence it came and what it caused, to start
Thunders of laughter, clearing air and heart.
Continued
About the poet
George Meredith
George Meredith (12 February 1828 – 18 May 1909) was an English novelist and poet of the Victorian era. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature seven times. His novels are noted for their wit, brilliant dialogue, and aphoristic quality of language.…
View profile & all 23 Poems / StoriesMore from George Meredith
Love Is Winged For Two
'Love is winged for two,
A Ballad Of Past Meridian
ILast night returning from my twilight walk
A Certain People
As Puritans they prominently wax,And none more kindly gives and takes hard knocks.
A Faith On Trial
On the morning of May,Ere the children had entered my gate
A Garden Idyl
With sagest craft Arachne workedHer web, and at a corner lurked,
