Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, SWINGING, by GRACE DENIO LITCHFIELD


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

SWINGING, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Higher, higher, farther away
Last Line: Oh, swing me! Oh, swing me! Oh, swing me!
Subject(s): Children; Desire; Swings; Childhood


HIGHER, higher, farther away,
Swing me—swing me—swing me!
Up to the tree-top, up to the sky,
So that none other has swung so high!
I will out-fly the bees and the birds and the winds.
I will out-soar the song of the lark.
I will reach to the clouds. I will shout in blue space.
I will laugh in the shadowy silver face
Of the moon, as she sits in the dark!
Oh, higher, oh, higher, oh, farther away,
Swing me—swing me—swing me!

See how I cleave the dim air in my flight,
Like a dart from an unseen bow.
See how I leap through the gloom of the night,
Like a vision of sudden and sweetest delight
Shot through a lifetime of woe.
Upward, upward, upward alway,
Like a spirit set free from its prison of clay,
That speeds through the ether away and away
To a world that none else of us know—
Oh, higher, oh, higher, oh, farther away
Swing me—swing me—swing me!

No higher? No higher? No higher?
Oh, swing me—swing me—swing me!
Can I stop so far short of my nearest desire?
Is it so childish, so vain, to aspire?
Oh, swing me, and swing me, and swing me!
I would soar far above me. Oh, help if you love me!
Oh, lend me the charm of love's powerful arm!
Nay, faster and faster! Oh, farther, I pray!
Can the dream end so soon? I was more than half-way,
Oh, swing me! Oh, swing me! Oh, swing me!





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