WHEN I have seen thy snowy wing O'er the blue wave at evening spring, And give those scales, of silver white, So gaily to the eye of light, As if thy frame were form'd to rise, And live amid the glorious skies; Oh! it has made me proudly feel, How like thy wing's impatient zeal Is the pure soul, that scorns to rest Upon the world's ignoble breast, But takes the plume that God has given, And rises into light and heaven! But, when I see that wing, so bright, Grow languid with a moment's flight, Attempt the paths of air in vain, And sink into the waves again; Alas! the flattering pride is o'er; Like thee, awhile, the soul may soar, But erring man must blush to think, Like thee, again, the soul may sink! O Virtue! when thy clime I seek, Let not my spirit's flight be weak: Let me not, like this feeble thing, With brine still dropping from its wing, Just sparkle in the solar glow, And plunge again to depths below; But, when I leave the grosser throng With whom my soul hath dwelt so long, Let me, in that aspiring day, Cast every lingering stain away, And, panting for thy purer air, Fly up at once and fix me there! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...WASHING-DAY by ANNA LETITIA BARBAULD FOR A' THAT AND A' THAT by CHARLES WILLIAM SHIRLEY BROOKS ENCOURAGED by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR THE OLD CLOCK ON THE STAIRS by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW NERVES by ARTHUR WILLIAM SYMONS POLYHYMNIA: L'ENVOY by WILLIAM BASSE THE DISINTERRED WARRIOR by WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT |