I HAVE been set so high above mankind That all alone am I. Above me broods, ruthlessly dumb and blind, The riddle of the sky -- The casket of the Undiscovered Light Whose vision makes divine, Hidden from lesser men's ignoble sight But destined to be mine. For I have risen to the final snow In solitude complete, And trodden all men live and die to know Under my mounting feet. Alone, alone I seek with soul afire The sacrament supreme. What anodyne has earth for my desire Who famish for a dream? Music is mine, and solitary splendour, White, sky-encroaching peaks -- But oh, the call intolerably tender From lips no mortal seeks, In lands the boldest wanderer never charted, Whose pinnacles of stone Inviolate, whose valleys virgin-hearted Open to me alone! But I am weary, for the time is long; Why does the dawn delay? Weary of even lightning-leaps of song, Weary of night and day, For voices call me, call me from my sleep So that I rest no more, Like ripples from an undiscovered deep Upon a lonely shore. Bloom speedily for me, Immortal Rose, My being to fulfil! Haste -- for the silent skies above me close Darker . . . and darker still. . . . | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...LALLA ROOKH: PARADISE AND THE PERI by THOMAS MOORE THE LUNCH by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH POEM FOR PICTURE: TO AN OIL PAINTING BY WINSLOW HOMER (DRIFTWOOD) by FRANK ANKENBRAND JR. CHORUS OF THE CLOUD-MAIDEN: ANTISTROPHE, FR. THE CLOUDS by ARISTOPHANES |