O why, dear heart, drag in The over-soul -- and why Must that poor phantom-thing They call democracy Crow in your verse and fly Skyward on barn-door wings? Each is a lie -- a lie! And lies are ugly things. Do you not know -- with all your iteration -- You who have lived so long Listening the Muse's song, What is the role of true Imagination? Goethe to Eckermann Said once; -- and he was wise, -- "Avoid high thought and scan Nature with both your eyes." "Do Hercules himself," Said Hamlet, "what he may; The cat will mew; the dog Will have his day." Democracies and over-souls, Life spins them up and sucks them down, As round the sun the old earth rolls And the green leaves bud in lane and town. Over-souls and democracies Life sucks them down and spins them up, As the immense translunar cup Gleams with its stellar autocracies. In the streets of the town the harlot waits; Even so, -- democracy or not. The lovers lean upon country gates; Even so, -- the over-soul or not. The little things -- the old world's heart -- Come back, my Poet, and write of these! The Preacher will perform his part With the over-souls and democracies. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SONGS ON THE VOICES OF BIRDS; SEA-MEWS IN WINTER TIME by JEAN INGELOW TO AGE by WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR A SOLDIER'S GRAVE by JOHN ALBEE STANZAS IN THE MEMORY OF EDWARD QUILLINAN, ESQ. by MATTHEW ARNOLD THE DAWN PATROL by PAUL BEWSHER THE RIVER HOUSE by EDMUND CHARLES BLUNDEN TANNHAUSER; OR, THE BATTLE OF THE BARDS by EDWARD ROBERT BULWER-LYTTON |