Classic and Contemporary Poetry
INSCRIPTIONS FOR A SEAT BY THE ROAD SIDE HALF-WAY UP A STEEP HILL, by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Thou who in youthful vigour rich, and light Last Line: Then wake in heaven, and find the dream all true. | ||||||||
Thou who in youthful vigour rich, and light With youthful thoughts dost need no rest! O thou, To whom alike the valley and the hill Present a path of ease! Should e'er thine eye Glance on this sod, and this rude tablet, stop! 'Tis a rude spot, yet here, with thankful hearts, The foot-worn soldier and his family Have rested, wife and babe, and boy, perchance Some eight years old or less, and scantly fed, Garbed like his father, and already bound To his poor father's trade. Or think of him Who, laden with his implements of toil, Returns at night to some far distant home, And having plodded on through rain and mire With limbs o'erlaboured, weak from feverish heat, And chafed and fretted by December blasts, Here pauses, thankful he hath reached so far, And 'mid the sheltering warmth of these bleak trees Finds restoration -- or reflect on those Who in the spring to meet the warmer sun Crawl up this steep hill-side, that needlessly Bends double their weak frames, already bowed By age or malady, and when, at last, They gain this wished-for turf, this seat of sods, Repose -- and, well-admonished, ponder here On final rest. And if a serious thought Should come uncalled -- how soon thy motions high, Thy balmy spirits and thy fervid blood Must change to feeble, withered, cold and dry -- Cherish the wholesome sadness! And where'er The tide of Life impel thee, O be prompt To make thy present strength the staff of all, Their staff and resting-place -- so shalt thou give To Youth the sweetest joy that Youth can know; And for thy future self thou shalt provide Through every change of various life, a seat, Not built by hands, on which thy inner part, Imperishable, many a grievous hour, Or bleak or sultry may repose -- yea, sleep The sleep of Death, and dream of blissful worlds, Then wake in Heaven, and find the dream all true. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A DAY DREAM by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE A THOUGHT SUGGESTED BY A VIEW, OF SADDLEBACK IN CUMBERLAND by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE AN INVOCATION; SONG, FR. REMORSE by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE AN ODE TO THE RAIN by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE ANSWER TO A CHILD'S QUESTION by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE APOLOGIA PRO VITA SUA by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE COLOGNE; EPIGRAM by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE DEJECTION: AN ODE by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE DUTY SURVIVING SELF-LOVE; THE ONLY SURE FRIEND OF DECLINING LIFE by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE EPITAPH ON HIMSELF by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE FANCY IN NUBIBUS; OR, THE POET IN THE CLOUDS by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE |
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