Records and Other Poems By the late Robert Leighton |
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THE PRESAGE. |
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 | Records and Other Poems |  |
163
THE PRESAGE.
O, flashing wire, fierce rail, and ploughing steamer!
Of all this haste, where is the use, the need?
The sage as wise, the poet as fine a dreamer
Would be, without your speed.
Of all this haste, where is the use, the need?
The sage as wise, the poet as fine a dreamer
Would be, without your speed.
Earth's princely merchants, and her humbler traders,
Wanting your aid had surely been more blest;
For what have they become but bold invaders—
Each other's spoil and pest!
Wanting your aid had surely been more blest;
For what have they become but bold invaders—
Each other's spoil and pest!
The mental appetite, for which you cater
So busily, has turn'd from solid victuals,
To live on almost hourly news. We fritter
Our time away in littles.
So busily, has turn'd from solid victuals,
To live on almost hourly news. We fritter
Our time away in littles.
But what comes out of it? The flashing message
O'er land and sea; this rapid flight of steam—
They are the growing upward, and the presage
Of our immortal dream.
O'er land and sea; this rapid flight of steam—
They are the growing upward, and the presage
Of our immortal dream.
This passion, deeply rooted in the spirit,
For sudden knowledge, instantaneous speed,
Foreshadows what we fully shall inherit
When from the body freed.
For sudden knowledge, instantaneous speed,
Foreshadows what we fully shall inherit
When from the body freed.
| Records and Other Poems | |