Not so! You stand as long ago a king stood on the seashore, bidding back the tide that onward rolled resistless still, to fling its awful volume landward, wild and wide. And just as impotent is your command to stem the tide that rises in my soul. It ebbs not at the lifting of your hand. It owns no curb; it yields to no control. Mighty it is, and of the elements— Brother of winds and lightning, cold and fire; subtle as light, as steadfast and intense; sweet as the music of Apollo's lyre. You think to rule the ocean's ebb and flow with that soft woman's hand? Nay, love, not so. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...TO MAY HOWARD JACKSON - SCULPTOR by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON FRA LIPPO LIPPI by ROBERT BROWNING MARRIAGE A-LA-MODE: SONG by JOHN DRYDEN PICTURES FROM APPLEDORE: 2 by JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL AFTER MUSIC by JOSEPHINE PRESTON PEABODY KNOWLEDGE by HENRY DAVID THOREAU PENTUCKET [AUGUST 29, 1708] by JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER |