Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, WESTWARD PAGEANT, by LUCILLE BURTON


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

WESTWARD PAGEANT, by                    
First Line: Always the westward pageant; always man
Last Line: Aye! It is so! -- march on, o caravan!
Subject(s): Caravans; Dreams; Pioneers; Travel; Nightmares; Journeys; Trips


Always the westward pageant; always man
Following stars; an endless caravan
Marching to hidden music some call dreams,
Forever pressing forth in steady streams.
Westward the trail that makes this planet's round --
Wagons and stars and men all outward bound --
The times the snows fall lightly as her mirth,
Sappho's dark Venus cleaves unto this earth
And like that gentle genius sheds soft rays
Upon the caravan and sings its praise!
O lonely trail that men have followed far,
Impregnable, impassioned Evening Star;
That some have known while others groped in dark,
That some have held and fanned -- O hidden spark! --
That each and every soul has shed in flame
That this processional might bear His name!
All honor to the two rich human streams,
The men who dream and those bereft of dreams;
For stars are steady -- Is it so with man?
Aye! it is so! -- March on, O Caravan!





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