OR endless sleep 't will be, -- and that is rest, Freedom forever from life's weary cares -- Or else a life beyond the climbing stairs And dizzy pinnacles of thought expressed In symbols such as in our mortal breast Are framed by time and space; -- life that upbears The soul by a law untried amid these snares Of sense that make it a too willing guest. So sleep or waking were a boon divine. Yet why this inextinguishable thirst, This hope, this faith that to existence cling? Nay e'en the poor dark chrysalis some fine Ethereal creature prisons, till it burst Into the unknown, air on golden wing. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...RODNEY'S RIDE [JULY 3, 1776] by ELBRIDGE STREETER BROOKS THE THREE WARNINGS by HESTER LYNCH (SALUSBURY) PIOZZI FIRST FRUITS IN 1812 [AUGUST 19, 1812] by WALLACE RICE EPIPSYCHIDION by PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY PREFATORY POEM TO MY BROTHER'S SONNETS by ALFRED TENNYSON |