Poetry & Analysis
Poems About Self Forgiveness
Inspirational PoemsShards
I can never remake the thing I have destroyed;
I brushed the golden dust from the moth’s bright wing,
I called down wind to shatter the cherry-blossoms,
I did a terrible thing.
I feared that the cup might fall, so I flung it from me;
I feared that the bird might fly, so I set it free;
I feared that the dam might break, so I loosed the river:
May its waters cover me.
Overview Short Summary
This short poem is about damage done through fear. The speaker knows the broken thing cannot be remade, which gives the poem a powerful self-forgiveness feeling.
Core Ideas Main Themes
Regret, fear, damage, responsibility, self-forgiveness, and the wish for cleansing.
Interpretation Symbols and Their Meaning
The moth, blossoms, cup, bird, and river all suggest fragile things harmed by panic. The final water image feels like a plea for release.
After a Reading of Darkwater
I did not think… I did not know…
What pale excuse is this I make
In answer to my brother’s woe,
Age-long, for deep injustice sake!
Across his mute and patient soul,
While I have gone my heedless way,
The shadows of a fate might roll
That deepened night and darkened day.
But I have read a burning page,
That glowed with white and soul-wrung fire,
And now no more I may engage
My conscience with a feeble hire.
For all the wrong I did not heed,
Chance-born in happier paths to live,
I cry unto my brother’s need
One word of love and shame… forgive!
Overview Short Summary
This poem is about awakening to another person’s suffering. It moves from ignorance to conscience and ends with a humble appeal to forgiveness.
Core Ideas Main Themes
Conscience, injustice, compassion, shame, mercy, and moral awakening.
Reader Connection Why It Fits Forgiveness
This poem gives the forgiveness theme a wider human meaning. It is not only about private hurt; it is also about becoming aware of pain we once ignored.
The Contrast
They scorned her for her sinning,
Spoke harshly of her fall,
Nor lent the hand of mercy
To break her hated thrall.
The dews of meek repentance
Stood in her downcast eye:
Would no one heed her anguish?
All pass her coldly by?
From the cold, averted glances
Of each reproachful eye,
She turned aside, heart-broken,
And laid her down to die.
And where was he, who sullied
Her once unspotted name;
Who lured her from life’s brightness
To agony and shame?
Who left her on life’s billows,
A wrecked and ruined thing;
Who brought the winter of despair
Upon Hope’s blooming spring?
Through the halls of wealth and fashion
In gaiety and pride,
He was leading to the altar
A fair and lovely bride!
None scorned him for his sinning,
Few saw it through his gold;
His crimes were only foibles,
And those were gently told.
* * * * * *
Before him rose a vision,
A maid of beauty rare;
Then a pale, heart-broken woman,
The image of despair.
Next came a sad procession,
With many a sob and tear;
A widow’d, childless mother
Totter’d by an humble bier.
The vision quickly faded,
The sad, unwelcome sight;
But his lip forgot its laughter,
And his eye its careless light.
A moment, and the flood-gates
Of memory opened wide;
And remorseful recollection
Flowed like a lava tide.
That widow’s wail of anguish
Seemed strangely blending there,
And mid the soft lights floated
That image of despair.
Overview Short Summary
This poem contrasts harsh judgment toward one person with social excuse-making for another. It asks readers to think about mercy, responsibility, and unequal blame.
Core Ideas Main Themes
Mercy, judgment, shame, remorse, social hypocrisy, compassion, and the human need for forgiveness.
Critical Reading AP Lit-Style Central Argument
The poem argues that mercy is often withheld from the vulnerable while wrongdoing by the powerful is softened or ignored. That contrast makes the poem morally sharp.
A Litany in Time of Plague
Adieu, farewell, earth’s bliss;
This world uncertain is;
Fond are life’s lustful joys;
Death proves them all but toys;
None from his darts can fly;
I am sick, I must die.
Lord, have mercy on us!
Rich men, trust not in wealth,
Gold cannot buy you health;
Physic himself must fade.
All things to end are made,
The plague full swift goes by;
I am sick, I must die.
Lord, have mercy on us!
Beauty is but a flower
Which wrinkles will devour;
Brightness falls from the air;
Queens have died young and fair;
Dust hath closed Helen’s eye.
I am sick, I must die.
Lord, have mercy on us!
Strength stoops unto the grave,
Worms feed on Hector brave;
Swords may not fight with fate,
Earth still holds open her gate.
“Come, come!” the bells do cry.
I am sick, I must die.
Lord, have mercy on us!
Wit with his wantonness
Tasteth death’s bitterness;
Hell’s executioner
Hath no ears for to hear
What vain art can reply.
I am sick, I must die.
Lord, have mercy on us!
Haste, therefore, each degree,
To welcome destiny;
Heaven is our heritage,
Earth but a player’s stage;
Mount we unto the sky.
I am sick, I must die.
Lord, have mercy on us!
Overview Short Summary
This poem repeats a plea for mercy while reflecting on death, wealth, beauty, strength, and human limits. It belongs naturally with spiritual forgiveness poems.
Core Ideas Main Themes
Mercy, mortality, humility, prayer, spiritual forgiveness, and the limits of worldly pride.
Emotional Effect Tone and Mood
The mood is solemn and prayer-like. Its repeated cry for mercy gives the poem a strong spiritual rhythm.
The Things That Count
Now, dear, it isn’t the bold things,
Great deeds of valour and might,
That count the most in the summing up of life at the end of the day.
But it is the doing of old things,
Small acts that are just and right;
And doing them over and over again, no matter what others say;
In smiling at fate, when you want to cry, and in keeping at work when you want to play—
Dear, those are the things that count.
And, dear, it isn’t the new ways
Where the wonder-seekers crowd
That lead us into the land of content, or help us to find our own.
But it is keeping to true ways,
Though the music is not so loud,
And there may be many a shadowed spot where we journey along alone;
In flinging a prayer at the face of fear, and in changing into a song a groan—
Dear, these are the things that count.
My dear, it isn’t the loud part
Of creeds that are pleasing to God,
Not the chant of a prayer, or the hum of a hymn, or a jubilant shout or song.
But it is the beautiful proud part
Of walking with feet faith-shod;
And in loving, loving, loving through all, no matter how things go wrong;
In trusting ever, though dark the day, and in keeping your hope when the way seems long—
Dear, these are the things that count.
Overview Short Summary
This poem says that the small repeated acts of goodness matter more than grand displays. It fits forgiveness because healing often depends on quiet choices made again and again.
Core Ideas Main Themes
Kindness, patience, endurance, hope, faith, emotional maturity, and daily goodness.
Reader Connection Why It Fits Forgiveness
Forgiveness may begin with one small act: not answering pain with more pain, not hardening the heart, and choosing what is right again.
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