The following poem by Elsie Robinson is titled “Pain” (Poems that touch the Heart compiled by A.L. Alexander, pp. 185-186):
Why must I be hurt?
Suffering and despair,
Cowardice and cruelty,
Envy and injustice,
All of these hurt.
Grief and terror,
Loneliness and betrayal
And the agony of loss or death—
All these things hurt.
Why? Why must life hurt?
Why must those who love generously,
Live honorably, feel deeply
All that is good–and beautiful
Be so hurt,
While selfish creatures
Go unscathed?
That is why—
Because they can feel.
Hurt is the price to pay for feeling.
Pain is not accident,
Nor punishment, nor mockery
By some savage god.
Pain is part of growth.
The more we grow
The more we feel—
The more we feel—the more we suffer,
For if we are able to feel beauty,
We must also feel the lack of it—
Those who glimpse heaven
Are bound to sight hell.
To have felt deeply is worth
Anything it cost.
To have felt Love and Honor,
Courage and Ecstasy
Is worth—any price.
And so—since hurt is the price
Of Larger living, I will not
Hate pain, nor try to escape it.
Instead I will try to meet it
Bravely, bear it proudly:
Not as a cross, or a misfortune, but an
Opportunity, a privilege, a challenge—to the God that
gropes within me.
First I plan on doing an analysis of the poem and then go into its heart, the deep feeling level. In the first nine lines Robinson details some of the things that hurt us as human beings. Lines 10 to 16 talk about how the good suffer and “Be so hurt/While selfish creatures/Go unscathed?” These lines allude to Ecclesiastes 7: 15-16, “. . . I have seen it all, from a righteous man perishing in his righteousness to a wicked man growing old in his wickedness . . .” (The New English Bible). While leaving the mystery of good and evil dangling in the wind and without sophistic evasion, Robinson (in lines 17-19) answers her question simply, “Because they [the good] can feel. Hurt is the price to pay for feeling.” With simple elegance she makes her point.
In lines 20-23, she explains “Pain is part of growth.” In lines 24-30 she elaborates on the previous point. With lines 31-35 she develops the concept, “To have felt deeply is worth/Anything it cost.” Lines 36-37 extend her first point, “. . . since hurt is the price/Of Larger living. . . .” Larger living implies living your full potential. In lines 38-43 she speaks of handling pain bravely as “. . . a challenge—to the God that/gropes within me.” A God that gropes within sounds like a God searching for a greater consciousness (Read Jung).
Whew! What part of me wrote those two paragraphs? The professor? This poem is gut-wrenching if you let the words evoke feelings from the painful parts of your life. Hurt, pain and salvation through feeling deeply. And in feeling deeply, you will experience both heaven and hell. And if you can experience hell, you can certainly live bigger. Quit constricting yourself to meet other people’s expectations. With all your heart, follow the God whose plans grow within you.
Photo Credit: Photo by Rusaila Bazlamit at Flickr Creative Commons.
Pain for me means life, We feel pain,love,happiness,courage and etc. because it is the nature of living. There is no misfortune but a challenge that is given for us to strengthen us. It’s very inspirational. Thank you and God Bless!
Carlo Hector recently posted..Winning Lottery
Thank you for your insightful comment, Carlo. I’m glad you found the poem and my article inspirational.
Terry Chitwood recently posted..Pain
Hi Terry!
As I was reading this poem, I reflected on it. I was recently been devastated. I was out of work and I have to pay for my rents here. But all of this has been solved now. With faith and determination, I faced them all and strove hard and now I am okay.
I love this part of your poem:
“I will not
Hate pain, nor try to escape it.
Instead I will try to meet it
Bravely, bear it proudly:
Not as a cross, or a misfortune, but an
Opportunity, a privilege, a challenge—to the God that gropes within me.”
🙂
Pain is the struggle, and pain lets you know that you are alive. It is the turning point one should conquer.
God Bless Dr. Terry and so is Carlo Hector.
Vanessa
Vanessa recently posted..LPN to RN
Thank you for your inspiring comment, Vanessa. I especially liked your last thoughts: “Pain is the struggle, and pain lets you know that you are alive. It is the turning point one should conquer.” I’m glad you were able to face and overcome adversity.
Terry Chitwood recently posted..Pain
Pain is the price of feeling. Put that way I’d never give up my pain. I hope I can face it bravely. You have written a great thought provoking post.
Pamela recently posted..Sheltering Honestly
Thank you for your sensitive comment, Pamela. I like your thoughts: “Pain is the price of feeling. Put that way I’d never give up my pain.”
Terry Chitwood recently posted..Pain
Pain.. something I have dealt with most recently. A new level of pain, grief, simply not understanding all of the why’s.. But I agree with this, this poem, this post. We are made stronger through our pain, our trials. For me it’s because I seem to cling to Jesus a little bit more when I am hurting which allows Him to smoothly work on me after all He is the potter.
Thank you for sharing this poem and your break down of it.
Blessings,
Misty
Misty recently posted..The Box
Thank you for your meaningful comment, Misty. I especially like your following ideas: “We are made stronger through our pain, our trials. For me it’s because I seem to cling to Jesus a little bit more when I am hurting which allows Him to smoothly work on me after all He is the potter.”
Terry Chitwood recently posted..Be God’s Pen
No pain no gain! Pain, failures and problems are things that we never wished to have. But have everybody come to think that this things make us strong and triggers our inner motivation to never surrender on whatever that is going through. As a saying goes that “easy come, easy go”. Life is a never ending experience.
Jasmine recently posted..warts on hands
Thank you for your apt comment, Jasmine. “No pain no gain!” This statement expands the discussion of pain by bringing in other not-yet-talked-about gains. Would anyone like to comment on this branch of the discussion?
Terry Chitwood recently posted..Be God’s Pen