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Poems (Greenwell)/Forsaken

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For works with similar titles, see Forsaken.
4521800Poems — ForsakenDora Greenwell
FORSAKEN. 
Martyrs, through fire and steel Have felt the tracking of the steadfast eye Of faithful friend or kind disciple nigh That strengthened them; beside the cruel wheel Hath Woman waited, wiping from a face Beloved, the damps of anguish; kings in chase Upon the mountains held from day to day, Have leaned on peasants scorning to betray The baffled hope, the head discrownèd: nay, A hand unseen upon a tyrant's tomb Hath scattered flowers; so strong above disgrace. Despair, and death, rise human hearts; of whom—King, Martyr, Malefactor—is it said That all forsook him, all forsook and fled,Save of One only? Human love forsakes Yet is not all forsaken! He that takes This drear pre-eminence of woe, alone Forsaketh never—never! He hath known That pang too well; Saviour, with Thine own Too little seemed it for Thy love to share All bitter draughts, so hast Thou bid this cup Pass from our souls for ever, drinking up Its wormwood and its gall, our lips to spare.