The Resignation
Thomas Chatterton
1752 to 1770
Track 1
Reconstruct the poem by dragging each line into its correct position. Your goal is to reassemble the original poem as accurately as possible. As you move the lines, you'll see whether your arrangement is correct, helping you explore the poem's flow and meaning. You can also print out the jumbled poem to cut up and reassemble in the classroom. Either way, take your time, enjoy the process, and discover how the poet's words come together to create something truly beautiful.
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Then why, my soul, dost thou complain?
To still my sorrows, own thy pow'r,
Which God, my East, my sun reveals.
The sickness of my soul declare.
Shake off the melancholy chain.
Omniscience could the danger see,
Encroaching sought a boundless sway,
Will vanish at the morning light,
The mystic mazes of thy will,
But what th' Eternal acts is right.
When anguish swells the dewy tear,
For God created all to bless.
And Mercy look the cause away.
Why drooping seek the dark recess?
But yet, with fortitude resigned,
Thy mercy in thy justice praise.
But ah! my breast is human still;
The shadows of celestial light,
O teach me in the trying hour,
Forbid the sigh, compose my mind,
Whose eye this atom globe surveys,
The gloomy mantle of the night,
Nor let the gush of mis'ry flow.
My languid vitals' feeble rill,
I'll thank th' inflicter of the blow;
Which on my sinking spirit steals,
Are past the pow'r of human skill,—
O God, whose thunder shakes the sky,
To thee, my only rock, I fly,
Thy goodness love, thy justice fear.
The rising sigh, the falling tear,
If in this bosom aught but Thee