Poem by William Lisle Bowles

The Blind Man of Salisbury Cathedral

THERE is a poor blind man, who every day,
In summer sunshine or in winter’s rain,
Duly as tolls the bell, to the high fane
Explores, with faltering footsteps, his dark way,
To kneel before his Maker, and to hear
The chanted service, pealing full and clear.
Ask why alone in the same spot he kneels
Through the long year. O, the wide world is cold,
As dark, to him! Here he no longer feels
His sad bereavement. Faith and hope uphold
His heart; he feels not he is poor and blind,
Amid the unpitying tumult of his mind.
As through the aisles the choral anthems roll,
His soul is in the choirs above the skies,
And songs far off of angel companies,
When this dim earth hath perished like a scroll.
O, happy if the rich, the vain, the proud,—
The pluméd actors in life’s motley crowd,—
Since pride is dust, and life itself a span,
Would learn one lesson from a poor blind man!

1. Cadland, Southampton River
2. Picture of an Old Man
3. Greenwich Hospital
4. Banwell Hill
5. Sonnet 2. Written at Bamborough Castle

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