quote · Legacy record
We overstate the ills of life, and take Imagination, given us to bring down The choirs of singing angels, overshone By God’s clear glory,—down our earth, to rake The dismal snows instead; flake following flake, To cover all the corn. We walk upon The shadow of hills, across a level thrown, And pant like climbers. Near the alder-brake We sigh so loud, the Nightingale within Refuses to sing loud, as else she would. O, brothers! let us leave the shame and sin Of taking vainly, in a plaintive mood, The holy name of Grief!—holy herein, That by the grief of One, came all our good.
We overstate the ills of life, and take Imagination, given us to bring down The choirs of singing angels, overshone By God’s clear glory,—down our earth, to rake The dismal snows instead; flake following flake, To cover all the corn. We walk upon The shadow of hills, across a level thrown, And pant like climbers. Near the alder-brake We sigh so loud, the Nightingale within Refuses to sing loud, as else she would. O, brothers! let us leave the shame and sin Of taking vainly, in a plaintive mood, The holy name of Grief!—holy herein, That by the grief of One, came all our good.
In print by 1888 AD · industrial
Recorded in a printed collection by this date; the original date of these words is still unknown.
Meaning not yet available
An individual explanation has not yet been added. We do not substitute a generic description for an interpretation of these particular words.
Begin with source-checked readings and explanations ↗Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Miss Barrett (identity unresolved)
Attribution: unknown - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- In print by 1888 AD · industrial
In print by 1888: recorded in A Cyclopædia of Sacred Poetical Quotations (catalogued1888). Collection publication is an upper bound for this wording, not its earliest origin, composition date or the author's lifetime.
An author lifetime, approximate period or collection date is not necessarily the date when these words were first written or spoken. - Recorded source
- A Cyclopædia of Sacred Poetical Quotations (catalogued1888) (1888 AD)
Page 270 · printed citation: Miss Barrett · subject: GRIEF
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.