Had I the choice to emulate the verse Of poets stately, beautiful, sublime; Could I be Homer's equal, to rehearse The wars and warriors of heroic time, Hector, Achilles, Ajax; had I art The woe-entangled Hamlet to declare, Or unfold Lear's, Othello's, inmost heart, Or sing as Tennyson of ladies fair; -- Metre and wit the best, and minstrel fingers, And choice conceit to wield in perfect rhyme, Delight of singers: -- These, these, O sea, all these I gladly gave, Would you the undulation of one wave, Its trick to me transfer, its sigh, its prayer, Or breathe one breath of yours upon my verse And leave its odor there. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...CENTRAL PARK AT DUSK by SARA TEASDALE INTOXICATION by EMILY DICKINSON RUNNING THE BATTERIES by HERMAN MELVILLE FANCIES AT NAVESINK: 6 by WALT WHITMAN TO A FOIL'D EUROPEAN REVOLUTIONAIRE by WALT WHITMAN THE LITTLE MATCH-GIRL by HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN AUSTERITY OF POETRY by MATTHEW ARNOLD SONNETS OF MANHOOD: 50. MY LOVE by GEORGE BARLOW (1847-1913) |