 | Poems and Sonnets |  |
280
POWERLESS!
Sad to see but not
To be able alas! to do,
To see the thing that is new,
And know that this is what
They want, that this is true;
To be able alas! to do,
To see the thing that is new,
And know that this is what
They want, that this is true;
But not to be able to speak,
Though a man may struggle and sigh,
Though fire flash from the eye,
And fire burn on the cheek,
To be passed, inaudible, by;
Though a man may struggle and sigh,
Though fire flash from the eye,
And fire burn on the cheek,
To be passed, inaudible, by;
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To struggle as one in a dream
To burst the choking bands
Of unreality's lands,
To be and not to seem,
To loose the powerless hands,
To burst the choking bands
Of unreality's lands,
To be and not to seem,
To loose the powerless hands,
But back again to be thrown
Into the old dark place,
We who had known the grace
Of Beauty, we thought, to moan
For a sight of her bright sweet face,
Into the old dark place,
We who had known the grace
Of Beauty, we thought, to moan
For a sight of her bright sweet face,
For a sight of her we adore
Piercing the gloom of the dark,
That we with wings of a lark
May rise the universe o'er
Grown small as a dim small spark,
Piercing the gloom of the dark,
That we with wings of a lark
May rise the universe o'er
Grown small as a dim small spark,
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And shower down from the skies
Manifold gifts for men,
Light, and fire now and then,
Songs, and melodious cries,
Rocket-like flash of a pen—
Manifold gifts for men,
Light, and fire now and then,
Songs, and melodious cries,
Rocket-like flash of a pen—
Bitter it is, when our work
Is some such as this, to be bound
On earth, and here to be found
Feeble, seeming to shirk
Our duty, giving no sound.
Is some such as this, to be bound
On earth, and here to be found
Feeble, seeming to shirk
Our duty, giving no sound.
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