Forget all these, the barren fool in power, <br />The madman in command, the jealous O, <br />The bitter world, biting its bitter hour, <br />The cruel now, the happy long ago. <br /> <br />Forget all these, for, though they truly hurt, <br />Even to the soul, they are not lasting things, <br />Men are no gods, men tread the city dirt, <br />But in our souls we can be queens and kings. <br /> <br />And I, O Beauty, O divine white wonder, <br />On whom my dull eyes, blind to all else, peer, <br />Have you for peace, that not the whole war's thunder, <br />Nor the world's hate, can threat or take from here. <br /> <br />So you remain, though all man's passionate seas <br />Roar their blind tides, I can forget all these.<br /><br />John Masefield<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/sonnet-ii-15/
