 | The Poetical Works of Walter C. Smith |  |
How was it that Goethe in full measure tasted
All that Life had to give him, nor missed aught, nor wasted!
Sat Shakespeare alone thus, and heard the dogs bark,
Like an owl in a barn staring into the dark,
And warming its five wits to find out the mystery
Of this wonderful world, and its wonderful history!
Did they shrink from love-tryste, song, or bright-beaded wine,
As if only the dulness of life were divine?
Nay, their nets swept the stream of our full-flowing gladness,
Its still pools of thought, and side-eddies of sadness;
Where life was the deepest, and passion was strong,
They fished in its waters, and lingered there long,
And so they were rich in the glorious sense
Of a wealth of world-wide experience.
All that Life had to give him, nor missed aught, nor wasted!
Sat Shakespeare alone thus, and heard the dogs bark,
Like an owl in a barn staring into the dark,
And warming its five wits to find out the mystery
Of this wonderful world, and its wonderful history!
Did they shrink from love-tryste, song, or bright-beaded wine,
As if only the dulness of life were divine?
Nay, their nets swept the stream of our full-flowing gladness,
Its still pools of thought, and side-eddies of sadness;
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They fished in its waters, and lingered there long,
And so they were rich in the glorious sense
Of a wealth of world-wide experience.
| The Poetical Works of Walter C. Smith | |