I would I had been born in nature's day, When man was in the world a wide-eyed boy, And clouds of sorrow crossed his sky of joy To scatter dewdrops on the buds of May. Then could he work and love and fight and pray, Nor heartsick grow in fortune's long employ. Mighty to build and ruthless to destroy He lived, while masked death unquestioned lay. Now ponder we the ruins of the years, And groan beneath the weight of boasted gain; No unsung bacchanal can charm our ears And lead our dances to the woodland fane, No hope of heaven sweeten our few tears And hush the importunity of pain. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE LOVE OF CHRIST WHICH PASSETH KNOWLEDGE by CHRISTINA GEORGINA ROSSETTI FAST ANCHOR'D ETERNAL O LOVE! by WALT WHITMAN THE LIVING GOD by ABRAHAM IBN EZRA A WOMAN'S SONNETS: 12 by WILFRID SCAWEN BLUNT THE ELDER WOMAN'S SONG: 2, FR. KING LEAR'S WIFE by GORDON BOTTOMLEY SONG: CONQUEST BY FLIGHT by THOMAS CAREW TOWARDS DEMOCRACY: PART 2. EXCEPT THE LORD BUILD THE HOUSE by EDWARD CARPENTER OUT OF THE SHADOWS: AN UNFINISHED SONNET-SEQUENCE 5 by JOSEPH SEAMON COTTER JR. |