 | Miscellaneous Poems |  |
70
Aspirations
I would not always sail
Upon a sunny sea:
The mountain wave, the sounding gale,
Have deeper joys for me.
Upon a sunny sea:
The mountain wave, the sounding gale,
Have deeper joys for me.
Let others love to creep
Along the flowery dell:
Be mine upon the craggy steep,
Among the storms, to dwell.
Along the flowery dell:
Be mine upon the craggy steep,
Among the storms, to dwell.
The rock, the mist, the foam,
The wonderful, the wild—
I feel they form my proper home,
And claim me for their child.
The wonderful, the wild—
I feel they form my proper home,
And claim me for their child.
71
The whirlwind's rushing wing,
The stern volcano's voice,
To me an awful rapture bring:
I tremble and rejoice.
The stern volcano's voice,
To me an awful rapture bring:
I tremble and rejoice.
I love thy solemn roar,
Thou deep, eternal sea,
Sounding along from shore to shore
The boundless and the free.
Thou deep, eternal sea,
Sounding along from shore to shore
The boundless and the free.
I love the flood's hoarse song,
The thunder's lordly mirth,
The midnight wind, that walks along
The hushed and trembling earth;
The thunder's lordly mirth,
The midnight wind, that walks along
The hushed and trembling earth;
The mountain, lone and high,
The dark and silent wood,
The desert stretched from sky to sky
In awful solitude.
The dark and silent wood,
The desert stretched from sky to sky
In awful solitude.
72
A presence and a power
In scenes like these I see:
The stillness of a midnight hour
Has eloquence for me.
In scenes like these I see:
The stillness of a midnight hour
Has eloquence for me.
Then, bursting earth's control,
My thoughts are all at flood:
I feel the stirrings in my soul
Of an immortal mood.
My thoughts are all at flood:
I feel the stirrings in my soul
Of an immortal mood.
My energies expand;
My spirit looks abroad;
And, midst the terrible and grand,
Feels nearer to her God.
My spirit looks abroad;
And, midst the terrible and grand,
Feels nearer to her God.
Let others tamely weight
The danger and the pain:
I do not shrink the price to pay,
To share the joy and gain.
The danger and the pain:
I do not shrink the price to pay,
To share the joy and gain.
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