Poems Lyrical and Dramatic | ||
II.
Lo, some young aspirant on winds of hope
Springs from the earth upon a boundless flight,
Voyaging towards the morning and the light,
And sings his soul out under heaven's wide cope.
Springs from the earth upon a boundless flight,
Voyaging towards the morning and the light,
And sings his soul out under heaven's wide cope.
But, once the sunrise gates refuse to ope
A path to lightning wings that cleave and smite,
Lower and lower, spirit-broken quite,
He drops down, in the misty vales to grope.
A path to lightning wings that cleave and smite,
Lower and lower, spirit-broken quite,
He drops down, in the misty vales to grope.
And I, poor wonderer, lifted eyes afar,
And swooned with glory, and winnowed the wild air,
Singing, and soaring up and up to thee.
And swooned with glory, and winnowed the wild air,
Singing, and soaring up and up to thee.
So when at highest I failed to touch thy star,
Down, down, down, drunk with sin and with despair,
I sank, and grovelled in the riotous sea.
Down, down, down, drunk with sin and with despair,
I sank, and grovelled in the riotous sea.
Poems Lyrical and Dramatic | ||