Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE DREAM, by MARJORIE ALLEN SEIFFERT


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE DREAM, by                    
First Line: My ancestor, in early time
Last Line: Silence of air, alone.
Alternate Author Name(s): Cypher, Angela; Hay, Elijah
Subject(s): Dreams; Eden; Evolution; Keller, Helen (1880-1968); Nightmares


My ancestor, in early time,
Inching slowly out of slime,
Longed to see the round of things
And wished himself a pair of wings.
His protoplasmic embryo
Of human intellect said: No,
In place of wings I must have hands
Obedient to my commands,
Provide these, and I'll satisfy
Your frivolous desire to fly!
This was the presage of disaster,
From that time brain became the master,
While body, dull, insensitive,
Enslaved; its very right to live
Dependent on its two hand buying
Bread by labor; dreamed of flying.

Cunning and ingenious brain,
Body trusted you in vain
To provide its dear desire . . .
This machine of wood and wire
Roaring at demented pace
Through the shattered aisles of space,
To what maniacs could it seem
The fulfillment of a dream?

Thwarted body, may you find
Some safe refuge from the mind,
Some safe Eden, new and fresh,
For the weary, trammelled flesh,
Some uncharted stream, whereon
Floats the slow, unhurried swan
Musing over a mirrored sky;
Where all the eons that rolled by
Drift back like mist, and you, enchanted,
Have the wings you have always wanted,
And explore the wide, unknown
Silence of air, alone.





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