The silent trees above my head The silent pathway at my feet Shame me when here I dare to tread Accompanied by thoughts unmeet. "Alas!" they seem to say, "have we In speechless patience travailed long Only at last to bring forth thee, A creature void of speech or song? "Only in thee can Nature know Herself, find utterance and a tongue To tell her rapture and her woe, And yet of her thou hast not sung. "Thy mind with trivial notions rife Beholds the pomp of night and day, The winds and clouds and seas at strife, Uncaring, and hath naught to say." O Man, with destiny so great, With years so few to make it good, Such fooling in the eyes of fate May well give speech to stones and wood! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...WINTER NIGHT SONG by SARA TEASDALE A CHILD'S THOUGHT OF GOD by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING THE FLIGHT OF THE GEESE by CHARLES GEORGE DOUGLAS ROBERTS TO JANE: KEEN STARS by PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY AT ONE O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING by CHARLES BAUDELAIRE |