Thank you for visiting SNEWPapers!
Sign up free
Poem
June 23, 1791
The New Hampshire Gazette And General Advertiser
Portsmouth, Rockingham County, New Hampshire
What is this article about?
A sonnet reflecting on the meaning of life, contrasting the views of sorrowful souls (endless woe) and joyful ones (pleasure without purpose), concluding it is the twilight prelude to heavenly rapture and divine glory.
Clipping
OCR Quality
95%
Excellent
Full Text
Parnassian SPRING.
From the Gazette of the United States.
SONNET
"Ay, What is life? the sons of sorrow cry--
Is it to breathe a lingering age of woe
In vegetative being here below?
To eat, to drink, to sleep, and then to die?
Is it in pleasure's airy rounds to fly?
To laugh, to dance"--the souls of joy would know--
"To plunge in lewdness, and no care bestow
On what may greatly fit us for the sky?
No, 'Tis the twilight of a heavenly day,
Whose radiant glories opening on the soul,
Shall raise, and bear it, from itself away,
Far o'er the bounds of this terrestrial pole,
Wak'd to new rapture by the living lay,
Where God informs the immeasurable whole."
From the Gazette of the United States.
SONNET
"Ay, What is life? the sons of sorrow cry--
Is it to breathe a lingering age of woe
In vegetative being here below?
To eat, to drink, to sleep, and then to die?
Is it in pleasure's airy rounds to fly?
To laugh, to dance"--the souls of joy would know--
"To plunge in lewdness, and no care bestow
On what may greatly fit us for the sky?
No, 'Tis the twilight of a heavenly day,
Whose radiant glories opening on the soul,
Shall raise, and bear it, from itself away,
Far o'er the bounds of this terrestrial pole,
Wak'd to new rapture by the living lay,
Where God informs the immeasurable whole."
What sub-type of article is it?
Sonnet
What themes does it cover?
Religious Faith
Moral Virtue
What keywords are associated?
Meaning Of Life
Sorrow Joy
Heavenly Rapture
Divine Glory
Religious Reflection
Poem Details
Subject
On The Meaning Of Life
Key Lines
"Ay, What Is Life? The Sons Of Sorrow Cry "
"To Plunge In Lewdness, And No Care Bestow / On What May Greatly Fit Us For The Sky?"
No, 'Tis The Twilight Of A Heavenly Day,
Where God Informs The Immeasurable Whole."