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Poetry Archives

A continuing selection of classic and contemporary poems.

Kings

Joyce Kilmer

(For the Rev. James B. Dollard)


The Kings of the earth are men of might,
And cities are burned for their delight,
And the skies rain death in the silent night,
 And the hills belch death all day!

But the King of Heaven, Who made them all,
Is fair and gentle, and very small;
He lies in the straw, by the oxen’s stall—
 Let them think of Him to-day!
Online text © 1998-2008 Poetry X. All rights reserved.
From Main Street and Other Poems | 1917
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