Explore "O Friend! I Know Not" by Alice Meynell on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
O FRIEND! I know not which way I must look
For comfort; being, as I am, oppressed
To think that now our life is only dressed
For show; mean handiwork of craftsman, cook,
Or groom!-We must run glittering like a brook
In the open sunshine, or we are unblessed;
The wealthiest man among us is the best;
No grandeur now in nature or in book
Delights us. Rapine, avarice, expense,-
This is idolatry; and these we adore; / Plain living and high thinking are no more; / The homely beauty of the good old cause / Is gone; our peace, our fearful innocence, / And pure religion breathing household laws.