 | Poems |  |
98
ASPIRATIONS.
To have the will to soar, but not the wings,—
Eyes fixed forever on a starry height,
Where stately shapes of grand imaginings
Flash down the splendors of imperial light;
Eyes fixed forever on a starry height,
Where stately shapes of grand imaginings
Flash down the splendors of imperial light;
And yet to lack the charm that makes them ours,
Th' obedient vassals of that conquering spell,
Whose omnipresent and ethereal powers,
Encircle Heaven, nor fear to enter Hell;
Th' obedient vassals of that conquering spell,
Whose omnipresent and ethereal powers,
Encircle Heaven, nor fear to enter Hell;
This is the doom of Tantalus—the thirst
For beauty's balmy fount to quench the fires
Of the wild passion that our soul hath nurst
In hopeless promptings—unfulfilled desires.
For beauty's balmy fount to quench the fires
Of the wild passion that our soul hath nurst
In hopeless promptings—unfulfilled desires.
Yet would I rather in the outward state
Of Song's immortal Palace lay me down,
A beggar basking by that golden gate,
Than bend beneath the haughtiest Empire's crown.
Of Song's immortal Palace lay me down,
A beggar basking by that golden gate,
Than bend beneath the haughtiest Empire's crown.
99
For sometimes, through the bars, my trancèd eyes
Have caught the vision of a life divine,
And seen a far, mysterious rapture rise
Beyond the veil that guards the inmost shrine.
Have caught the vision of a life divine,
And seen a far, mysterious rapture rise
Beyond the veil that guards the inmost shrine.
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