 | Poems |  |
CHILD, PURSUE THY BUTTERFLY!
Child, pursue thy butterfly,
Hot of foot and keen of eye,
But to learn, poor fool, when caught,
It, so wildly, hotly sought,
Was but all unworth thy thought,
All unworth a smile or sigh.
Child, pursue thy butterfly!
Hot of foot and keen of eye,
But to learn, poor fool, when caught,
It, so wildly, hotly sought,
Was but all unworth thy thought,
All unworth a smile or sigh.
Child, pursue thy butterfly!
Thou, the hunter of a name,
Chaser of the flight of fame,
On, Ixion-like, above,
Mount, to clasp but cloud, and prove
Thou art but the cheat of Jove,
Mock and laughter of the sky.
Child, pursue thy butterfly!
Chaser of the flight of fame,
On, Ixion-like, above,
Mount, to clasp but cloud, and prove
Thou art but the cheat of Jove,
Mock and laughter of the sky.
Child, pursue thy butterfly!
Midas, thou that in the strife
But for riches, wastest life,
Win thy wish, and, winning, learn
All that thou hast toiled to earn
Is what wisdom well may spurn,
Bought with all thou winn'st it by.
Child, pursue thy butterfly!
But for riches, wastest life,
Win thy wish, and, winning, learn
All that thou hast toiled to earn
Is what wisdom well may spurn,
Bought with all thou winn'st it by.
Child, pursue thy butterfly!
Bee, that knowest but the power
Sweets to suck from every hour,
Thou, whose wasted days have known
Pleasures of the sense alone,
On, amid thy joys to own,
Won, they waken but the sigh.
Child, pursue thy butterfly!
Sweets to suck from every hour,
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Pleasures of the sense alone,
On, amid thy joys to own,
Won, they waken but the sigh.
Child, pursue thy butterfly!
Shadow-hunter, too, art thou,
Who, to good, thy toil dost vow?
No—the golden gleams that woo
Thy swift hopes, O soul! pursue;
Won or not, thou track'st the true,
Ever to thine heaven more nigh;
Thine no fleeting butterfly!
Who, to good, thy toil dost vow?
No—the golden gleams that woo
Thy swift hopes, O soul! pursue;
Won or not, thou track'st the true,
Ever to thine heaven more nigh;
Thine no fleeting butterfly!
| Poems | |