There is no one among men that has not a special failing: And my failing consists in writing verses. I have broken away from the thousand ties of life: But this infirmity still remains behind. Each time that I look at a fine landscape: Each time that I meet a loved friend, I raise my voice and recite a stanza of poetry And am glad as though a God had crossed my path. Ever since the day I was banished to Hsun-yang Half my time I have lived among the hills. And often, when I have finished a new poem, Alone I climb the road to the Eastern Rock. I lean my body on the banks of the white stone: I pull down with my hands a green cassia branch. My mad singing startles the valleys and hills: The apes and birds all come to peep. Fearing to become a laughing-stock to the world, I choose a place that is unfrequented by men. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...BALLAD OF THE LORDS OF OLD TIME by FRANCOIS VILLON THE LOVE SONNETS OF PROTEUS: 112. GIBRALTAR by WILFRID SCAWEN BLUNT THE GIRL OF ALL PERIODS; AN IDYLL by COVENTRY KERSEY DIGHTON PATMORE THE LAST CAESAR, 1851-1870 by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH ON A LADY'S WRITING by ANNA LETITIA BARBAULD THE SOLITARY TOMB by BERNARD BARTON |