It Always Felt to Me a Wrong
poem 597
It Always Felt to Me a Wrong - meaning Summary
Moses Denied the Inheritance
The speaker responds to the biblical moment when Moses views but does not enter the Promised Land, calling it an enduring wrong. She argues this denial feels more cruel than the deaths of Stephen or Paul because it resembles a teasing display of power rather than decisive judgment. The poem shifts between imaginative sympathy and moral protest: the speaker would have forgiven Israel yet laments Moses’s fate as an almost childish test of divine ability. The tone mixes wry indignation and tender justice, highlighting themes of deferred reward, the limits of authority, and compassionate dissent.
Read Complete AnalysesIt always felt to me a wrong To that Old Moses done To let him see the Canaan Without the entering And tho’ in soberer moments No Moses there can be I’m satisfied the Romance In point of injury Surpasses sharper stated Of Stephen or of Paul For these were only put to death While God’s adroiter will On Moses seemed to fasten With tantalizing Play As Boy should deal with lesser Boy To prove ability. The fault was doubtless Israel’s Myself had banned the Tribes And ushered Grand Old Moses In Pentateuchal Robes Upon the Broad Possession ‘Twas little But titled Him to see Old Man on Nebo! Late as this My justice bleeds for Thee!
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