493. Be Still, My Soul, Be Still by AE Housman
AE Housman read by Classic Poetry Aloud:\nhttp://www.classicpoetryaloud.com/\n\nGiving voice to the poetry of the past.\n\n---------------------------------------\n\n Be Still, My Soul, Be Still\nby AE Housman (1859 \u2013 1936)\n\nBe still, my soul, be still; the arms you bear are brittle,\nEarth and high heaven are fixt of old and founded strong.\nThink rather, - call to thought, if now you grieve a little,\nThe days when we had rest, O soul, for they were long.\n\nMen loved unkindness then, but lightless in the quarry\nI slept and saw not; tears fell down, I did not mourn;\nSweat ran and blood sprang out and I was never sorry:\nThen it was well with me, in days ere I was born.\n\nNow, and I muse for why and never find the reason,\nI pace the earth, and drink the air, and feel the sun.\nBe still, be still, my soul; it is but for a season:\nLet us endure an hour and see injustice done.\n\nAy, look: high heaven and earth ail from the prime foundation;\nAll thoughts to rive the heart are here, and all are vain:\nHorror and scorn and hate and fear and indignation-\nOh why did I awake? when shall I sleep again?\n\nFirst aired: 29 July 2009\n\nFor hundreds more poetry readings, visit the Classic Poetry Aloud index.\n\nReading \xa9 Classic Poetry Aloud 2009