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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
TOWARDS DEMOCRACY: PART 2. BY LAKE WACHUSETT, by EDWARD CARPENTER Poet's Biography First Line: The night-breeze murmurs odorous through the wild Last Line: Souls winged and equipped for freedom. Subject(s): Fish & Fishing; Freedom; Wachusett (mountain), Massachusetts; Anglers; Liberty | |||
THE night-breeze murmurs odorous through the wild chestnuts where Lake Wachusett lies embowered in trees; The moon shines over the mountains not other than when the wild man walked them; The crickets and frogs cry shrill, the bull-frog twangs his bass, and the firefly shines fitful among the bushes; While solitary in his boat the fisher is known by his lamp gleaming over the water. Murmured as in a dream I catch the import of creation. Like a far-off sound which the attentive listener mistakes not: Through the chirruping of the crickets and high fluting of the frogs, through the lull of the breeze and the voice of the fisherman singing across the lake—through the calls of the Indians faintly lingering still among the laurel and pine tangles— Through the face of the moon leaning down from the sky, and the fitful bird-eluding flash of the firefly— Nay, through the remembered faces and calls of the city, and all sights and sounds— Still I catch the old old theme, the theme of birth and deliverance. Tremble on O breeze overhead, tremble O prince of love, with thy wings the whole universe overshadowing, Calling Thou from their hidden dwelling-places the souls of men to their deliverance: Where they lie hidden in the waters calling, or fitful in the air flashing—or in all strange elusive forms hiding vainly their birth-marks, yet by Thy voice discovered; Where by the solitary lamp upon the lake, after trout and pickerel, or upon the pavements of cities, or with the moon through the mild night, or on the gleaming water-surfaces with cool gurgling throats— Eluding, grotesque—still to thy voice they answer unwitting. Tremble on O breeze glittering dissolving all things transparent—tremble O prince of love with thy wings all things overshadowing: Calling invoking out of chaos, out of the mad jumble and whirligig of the world, through all destinies and forms and long agelong preparations— Souls winged and equipped for freedom. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...LOVE THE WILD SWAN by ROBINSON JEFFERS AFTER TENNYSON by AMBROSE BIERCE QUARTET IN F MAJOR by WILLIAM MEREDITH CROSS THAT LINE by NAOMI SHIHAB NYE EMANCIPATION by ELIZABETH ALEXANDER AS A MOULD FOR SOME FAIR FORM by EDWARD CARPENTER |
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