THE mighty birds still upward rose, In slow but constant and most steady flight, The young ones following; and they would pause, As if to teach them how to bear the light, And keep the solar glory full in sight. So went they on till, from excess of pain, I could no longer bear the scorching rays; And when I looked again, they were not seen, Lost in the brightness of the solar blaze. Their memory left a type, and a desire: So should I wish towards the light to rise, Instructing younger spirits to aspire Where I could never reach amidst the skies, And joy below to see them lifted higher, Seeking the light of purest glory's prize. So would I look on splendour's brightest day With an undazzled eye, and steadily Soar upwards full in the immortal ray, Through the blue depths of the unbounded sky, Portraying wisdom's boundless purity. Before me still a lingering ray appears, But broken and prismatic, seen through tears. The light of joy and immortality. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE RECRUIT by ROBERT WILLIAM CHAMBERS THE HOUSE OF HOSPITALITIES by THOMAS HARDY TICHBORNE'S ELEGY, WRITTEN IN THE TOWER BEFORE HIS EXECUTION by CHIDIOCK TICHBORNE EHEU, FUGACES! by FRANKLIN PIERCE ADAMS VILLANELLE, WITH STEVENSON'S ASSISTANCE by FRANKLIN PIERCE ADAMS |