Life is Struggle
To wear out heart, and nerves, and brain, And give oneself a world of pain; Be eager, angry, fierce, and hot, Imperious, supple God knows what, For whats all one to have or not; O false, unwise, absurd, and vain! For tis not joy, it is not gain, It is not in itself a bliss, Only it is precisely this That keeps us all alive. To say we truly feel the pain, And quite are sinking with the strain; Entirely, simply, undeceived, Believe, and say we neer believed The object, een were it achieved, A thing we eer had cared to keep; With heart and soul to hold it cheap, And then to go and try it again; O false, unwise, absurd, and vain! O, tis not joy, and tis not bliss, Only it is precisely this That keeps us still alive.
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"To wear out heart, and nerves, and brain,..."
Arthur Hugh Clough's contribution to classic is further solidified by the brilliance found in "Life is Struggle"... ### Why We Love This Line At Linespedia, we believe that poetry is the ultimate sanctuary for the soul...