What sweet, what happy days had I, When dreams made Time Eternity! Before I knew this body's breath Could not take life in without death. As fresh as any field of grass This breath of life was, then; it was An orchard with more fruit than leaf, And every owl enjoyed his grief. No Winter's morn, when I went forth, Could force on me a sunless North. When I would watch the bees for hours Clinging to their love-bitten flowers; And, dreaming to the songs of birds, Would still delay my deeds and words; And every common day could place A shining Sunday in my face. O for my greater days to come, When I shall travel far from home! On seas that have no shade in sight, Into the woods that have no light; Over the mountains' heads so tall, Cut by the clouds to pieces small; Across wide plains that give my eye No house or tree to measure them by. And all the wonders I shall see In some old city new to me; Haunting the ships and docks, and then To hear the strange, sea-faring men That with their broken English prove More lands than one to roam and love. What sweet, what happy days had I -- When dreams made Time Eternity! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...CHIQUITA by FRANCIS BRET HARTE THE ARAB TO THE PALM by BAYARD TAYLOR MEDITATION AT KEW by ANNA WICKHAM THE GENTLE CHECK by JOSEPH BEAUMONT AN EASTER HYMN by THOMAS BLACKBURN NON EST MEUM, SI MUGIAT AFRICUS MALUS PROCELLIS ... by JOHN BYROM |