How long shall it suffice Merely to hoard in thine unequalled rays The bright sequestered colours of the sun, O pearl above all price, And beautiful beyond all need of praise, World-coveted but yet possessed of none, Content in thy proud self-dominion? Shall not some ultimate And unknown hour deliver thee, and attest Life's urgent and inviolable claim To bind and consecrate Thy glory on some pure and bridal breast, Or set thee to enhance with flawless flame A new-born nation's coronal of fame? Or wilt thou self-denied Forego such sweet and sacramental ties As weld Love's delicate bonds of ecstasy, And in a barren pride Of cold, unfruitful freedom that belies The inmost secret of fine liberty Return unblest into the primal sea? | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...GOOD-BYE DOROTHY GAYLE: THE ROAD TO BUFFALO by KAREN SWENSON APPROACH OF WINTER by WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS GASCOIGNE'S GOOD MORROW by GEORGE GASCOIGNE HELIOTROPE by HARRY THURSTON PECK THE AGE OF WISDOM by WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY AN ORIGINAL THOUGHT by MARIA ABDY BRUCE: INTRODUCTION by JOHN BARBOUR |