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Home  »  Poetry: A Magazine of Verse  »  Joyce Kilmer

Harriet Monroe, ed. (1860–1936). The New Poetry: An Anthology. 1917.

The Thorn

Joyce Kilmer

THE GARDEN of God is a radiant place

And every flower has a holy face.

Our Lady like a lily bends above the cloudy sod,

But Saint Michael is the thorn on the rose-bush of God.

David is the song upon God’s lips,

And Our Lady is the goblet that He sips,

And Gabriel’s the breath of His command;

But Saint Michael is the sword in God’s right hand.

The Ivory Tower is fair to see,

And may her walls encompass me!

But when the Devil comes with the thunder of his might,

Saint Michael, show me how to fight!