I WAS not; now I am -- a few days hence I shall not be; I fain would look before And after, but can neither do; some Power Or lack of power says "no" to all I would. I stand upon a wide and sunless plain, Nor chart nor steel to guide my steps aright. Whene'er, o'ercoming fear, I dare to move, I grope without direction and by chance. Some feign to hear a voice and feel a hand That draws them ever upward thro' the gloom. But I -- I hear no voice and touch no hand, Tho' oft thro' silence infinite I list, And strain my hearing to supernal sounds; Tho' oft thro' fateful darkness do I reach, And stretch my hand to find that other hand. I question of th' eternal bending skies That seem to neighbor with the novice earth; But they roll on, and daily shut their eyes On me, as I one day shall do on them, And tell me not the secret that I ask. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SONNET TO THE AUTUMNAL MOON by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE THE DEATH OF AUTUMN by EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY LITTLE ORPHANT ANNIE by JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY TO THE MOCKINGBIRD by RICHARD HENRY WILDE THE WILD SWANS AT COOLE by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS A CAUTION TO POETS by MATTHEW ARNOLD |