BEAUTIFUL shadow Of Thetis's boy! Who sleeps in the meadow Whose grass grows o'er Troy: From the red earth, like Adam, Thy likeness I shape, As the being who made him, Whose actions I ape. Thou clay, be all glowing Till the rose in his cheek Be as fair as, when blowing, It wears its first streak! Ye violets, I scatter, Now turn into eyes! And thou, sunshiny water, Of blood take the guise! Let these hyacinth boughs Be his long flowing hair, And wave o'er his brows As thou wavest in air! Let his heart be this marble I tear from the rock! But his voice as the warble Of birds on yon oak! Let his flesh be the purest Of mould, in which grew The lily-root surest, And drank the best dew! Let his limbs be the lightest Which clay can compound, And his aspect the brightest On earth to be found! Elements, near me, Be mingled and stirr'd, Know me, and hear me, And leap to my word! Sunbeams, awaken This earth's animation! 'Tis done! He hath taken His stand in creation! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE BIRDS OF VIETNAM by HAYDEN CARRUTH THE STARLING; SONNET by AMY LOWELL SONGS OF INNOCENCE: INTRODUCTION by WILLIAM BLAKE RETURNING, WE HEAR THE LARKS by ISAAC ROSENBERG THE DAISY; WRITTEN AT EDINBURGH by ALFRED TENNYSON |