Living

The World

by Edwin Arlington Robinson 1869–1935

From The Children of the Night (1897)

Living

Some are the brothers of all humankind,
And own them, whatsoever their estate;
And some, for sorrow and self-scorn, are blind
With enmity for man's unguarded fate.

For some there is a music all day long
Like flutes in Paradise, they are so glad;
And there is hell's eternal under-song
Of curses and the cries of men gone mad.

Some say the Scheme with love stands luminous,
Some say 't were better back to chaos hurled;
And so 't is what we are that makes for us
The measure and the meaning of the world.

MLA

Robinson, Edwin Arlington. “The World.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/robinson_ea/2/.

Chicago

Robinson, Edwin Arlington. “The World.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/robinson_ea/2/.

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