NOT heaving from my ribb'd breast only, Not in sighs at night in rage dissatisfied with myself, Not in those long-drawn, ill-supprest sighs, Not in many an oath and promise broken, Not in my wilful and savage soul's volition, Not in the subtle nourishment of the air, Not in this beating and pounding at my temples and wrists, Not in the curious systole and diastole within which will one day cease, Not in many a hungry wish told to the skies only, Not in cries, laughter, defiances, thrown from me when alone far in the wilds, Not in husky pantings through clinch'd teeth, Not in sounded and resounded words, chattering words, echoes,dead words, Not in the murmurs of my dreams while I sleep, Nor the other murmurs of these incredible dreams of every day, Nor in the limbs and senses of my body that take you and dismiss you continually''"not there, Not in any or all of them O adhesiveness! O pulse of my life! Need I that you exist and show yourself any more than in these songs. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...TO J. D. H. (KILLED AT SURREY C. H., OCTOBER, 1866) by SIDNEY LANIER WINDFLOWER LEAF by CARL SANDBURG LONDON, FR. SONGS OF EXPERIENCE by WILLIAM BLAKE THE SICK ROSE, FR. SONGS OF EXPERIENCE by WILLIAM BLAKE THE BIRD OF PARADISE by WILLIAM HENRY DAVIES BEDTIME by FRANCIS ROBERT ST. CLAIR ERSKINE TO HIS DYING BROTHER, MASTER WILLIAM HERRICK by ROBERT HERRICK |