Main Street, and Other Poems

<h2> Father Gerard Hopkins, S. J. </h2> <p>Why didst thou carve thy speech laboriously,<br/> And match and blend thy words with curious art?<br/> For Song, one saith, is but a human heart<br/> Speaking aloud, undisciplined and free.<br/> Nay, God be praised, Who fixed thy task for thee!<br/> Austere, ecstatic craftsman, set apart<br/> From all who traffic in Apollo's mart,<br/> On thy phrased paten shall the Splendour be!<br/> <br/> Now, carelessly we throw a rhyme to God,<br/> Singing His praise when other songs are done.<br/> But thou, who knewest paths Teresa trod,<br/> Losing thyself, what is it thou hast won?<br/> O bleeding feet, with peace and glory shod!<br/> O happy moth, that flew into the Sun!<br/></p> <p><SPAN name="link2H_4_0012" id="link2H_4_0012"></SPAN></p> <br/> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />