OH, say not that my heart is cold To aught that once could warm it; That nature's form, so dear of old, No more has power to charm it; Or, that the ungenerous world can chill One glow of fond emotion For those who made it dearer still, And shared my wild devotion. Still oft those solemn scenes I view In rapt and dreamy sadness; Oft look on those who loved them too With fancy's idle gladness; Again I long'd to view the light In nature's features glowing; Again to tread the mountain's height, And taste the soul's o'erflowing. Stern duty rose, and frowning flung His leaden chain around me; With iron look and sullen tongue He mutter'd as he bound me: "The mountain-breeze, the boundless heaven Unfit for toil the creature; These for the free alone are given -- But what have slaves with nature?" | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...LINES TO WILLIAM LINLEY WHILE HE SANG A SONG TO PURCELL'S MUSIC by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE BREAKFAST by WILFRID WILSON GIBSON AUTUMN IN THE WEALD by EDMUND CHARLES BLUNDEN MOSES AND THE DERVISH by EDWARD ROBERT BULWER-LYTTON |