I LOVE the wild free play of life, unfettered force in motion, The racing wind, the lightning flash, the tempest on the ocean, I crave the boon of thunderbolts, the rocking of the mountains, — Yet love I still the tumbling rill, the pretty play of fountains. The thirst of force is in my blood, the cannon's deadly rattle, The charging of the White Hussars, the blind alarms of battle, The rage of roaring river-floods, the shock of clanging cities, — And yet I love the magic of the poet's little ditties. I call for life, for bounding life, the soul in conflagration, The splendid speed of meteors, the prophet's exultation, I dare to dream the wrath of God, the human hate of duty, For these reveal and force me feel the mighty range of beauty. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE FAIRY CHILD by JOHN ANSTER TO THE DANDELION by JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL FRAGMENTS OF A LOST GNOSTIC POEM OF THE 12TH CENTURY by HERMAN MELVILLE MAN AN' MOOSE by ROBERT ADAMSON (1832-) A BALLADE OF OTHER IDOLS by LEONARD BACON (1887-1954) ON EDWARD WEBBE, ENGLISH GUNNER by WILLIAM ROSE BENET |