Madmoments: or First Verseattempts By a Bornnatural. Addressed to the Lightheaded of Society at Large, by Henry Ellison |
 | I. |
| II. |
 | Madmoments: or First Verseattempts |  |
THE GREATEST POET.
1.
He is the truest Poet who will soFor his own Heart, and not for others, be!
14
Until this rude, hard World so fair doth show,
That Tears seem no more Metaphors of Woe,
But like the Dewdrops on the Flower! he,
He is the Poet, who can feel and see
All Things as God has made them: who can throw
His own Heart into Nature's mighty Breast
And comprehend its Beatings like his own.
Who in the Consciousness supremely blest,
Like God, of that which cannot be exprest,
And still as he, feels and works out alone
Th' Unutterable! his own Heart his best,
His sole Reward, and so because unknown!
For just because none know of it but he,
First then and therefore 'tis all it can be!
2.
He for his Verse, from idle Vanity,Breaks off no paltry fragment of his Soul,
But keeps the Diamond for his Maker's eye
In his own Breast, divinely bright and whole!
Perhaps he never rhymed a verse, but his
Own Being is a perfect Rhyme in this
Grand Poem of the World—an Echo clear
Of God's own Being, in its smaller Sphere!
And if this be not Poetry, I know
Not then what is: then God himself is no
Poet, for he writes not, but does alone!
So poetize thou too, 'till thou hast grown
Like him, 'till thy Works show forth only his
And not thy Glory: for believe me this
Thy highest is, and without this is none!
| Madmoments: or First Verseattempts | |