Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, A SIGH FOR KNOCKMANY, by WILLIAM CARLETON


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

A SIGH FOR KNOCKMANY, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Take, proud ambition, take thy fill
Last Line: To pipe the song of youth again.
Subject(s): Ambition; Youth; Disappointment


Take, proud ambition, take thy fill
Of pleasures won through toil or crime;
Go, learning, climb thy rugged hill,
And give thy name to future time:
Philosophy, be keen to see
Whate'er is just, or false, or vain,
Take each thy meed, but, oh! give me
To range my mountain glens again!
Pure was the breeze that fann'd my cheek,
As o'er Knockmany's brow I went;
When every lonely dell could speak
In airy music, vision-sent;
False world, I hate thy cares and thee,
I hate the treacherous haunts of men;
Give back my early heart to me,
Give back to me my mountain glen!

How light my youthful visions shone,
When spann'd by Fancy's radiant form;
But now her glittering bow is gone,
And leaves me but the cloud and storm.
With wasted form, and cheek all pale--
With heart long seared by grief and pain,
Dunroe, I'll seek thy native vale,
I'll tread my mountain glens again.

Thy breeze once more may fan my blood,
Thy valleys all are lovely still;
And I may stand, where oft I stood,
In lonely musings on thy hill.
But, ah! the spell is gone;--no art
In crowded town, or native plain,
Can teach a crush'd and breaking heart
To pipe the song of youth again.





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net