NOT wish, nor fear, nor quite expectancy Is that vague spirit Surmise, That wanderer, that wonderer, whom we see Within each other's eyes; And yet not often. For she flits away, Fitful as infant thought, Visitant at a venture, hope at play, Unversed in facts, untaught. In "the wide fields of possibility" Surmise, conjecturing, Makes little trials, incredulous, that flee Abroad on random wing. One day this inarticulate shall find speech, This hoverer seize our breath. Surmise shall close with man -- with all, with each -- In her own sovereign hour, the moments of our death. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...EMPEDOCLES ON ETNA; A DRAMATIC POEM by MATTHEW ARNOLD ANACREON by ANTIPATER OF SIDON THE BIRDS: THE WEDDING CHANT by ARISTOPHANES TO SARAH TAYLOR by ANNA LETITIA BARBAULD A VISION OF VIRGINS by EDWARD ROBERT BULWER-LYTTON |