XV

Hls brow spreads large and placid, and his eye
Is deep and bright, with steady looks that still.
Soft lines of tranquil thought his face fulfill —
His face at once benign and proud and shy.
If envy scout, if ignorance deny,
His faultless patience, his unyielding will,
Beautiful gentleness and splendid skill,
Innumerable gratitudes reply.
His wise, rare smile is sweet with certaintity
And seems in all his patients to compel
Such love and faith as failure cannot quell
We hold him for another Herakles,
Battling with custom, prejudice, disease,
As once the son of Zeus with Death and Hell.

References

Henley, W. E. "In Hospital." Poems. 2nd edition. London: David Nutt, 1889. P. 24.


Last modified 26 November 2004