The Poetical Works of George Barlow In Ten [Eleven] Volumes |
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| XI. |
 | The Poetical Works of George Barlow |  |
15
THE AGONY OF THE AGE
What Power shall set us free? The winds are free;The waters rise and fall for very gladness;
The evening pang, the shadow of sunset sadness
At morning advent fades in infinite glee:
The leaves pass kisses on from tree to tree;
The summer brings a sound of happy lovers,
An everlasting tunefulness that hovers
High on the hills, and shines upon the sea.
The universe is happiness—but we,
Striving in vain to tear away the chains
That circle us, the more acutely see
Our own consuming atmosphere of pains,
Long only the more maddeningly to flee,
The more triumphantly the sunshine reigns
Without us,—the more ecstasy in the sky,
The more would we weave wings for us and fly;
But back we sink exhausted on the plains.
1870.
| The Poetical Works of George Barlow | |