Their Height in Heaven Comforts Not
poem 696
Their Height in Heaven comforts not Their Glory nought to me ‘Twas best imperfect as it was I’m finite I can’t see The House of Supposition The Glimmering Frontier that Skirts the Acres of Perhaps To Me shows insecure The Wealth I had contented me If ’twas a meaner size Then I had counted it until It pleased my narrow Eyes Better than larger values That show however true This timid life of Evidence Keeps pleading I don’t know.
Their Height in Heaven Comforts Not - meaning Summary
Choosing Finite Contentment
The speaker rejects distant, grand assurances of heavenly height or abstract glory, preferring the imperfect, knowable world. Modest possessions and limited understanding bring genuine satisfaction; larger truths or proofs feel insecure and alienating. The poem contrasts speculative exaltation with a cautious pragmatism: a "timid life of Evidence" that admits ignorance yet finds comfort in bounded experience and personal measure rather than transcendent promise.
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