|
|
|
Classic and Contemporary Poetry
SOLITUDE, by WILLIAM HERBERT (1778-1847) Poet's Biography
First Line: Twere sweet to lie on desert land
Last Line: More dreadful than the pains of hell.
Subject(s): Solitude; Loneliness
First Line: Twere sweet to lie on desert land
Last Line: More dreadful than the pains of hell.
Subject(s): Solitude; Loneliness
'T WERE sweet to lie on desert land,
Or where some lone and barren strand
Hears the Pacific waters roll,
And views the stars of Southern pole!
'T were best to live where forests spread
Beyond fell man's deceitful tread,
Where hills on hills proud rising tower,
And native groves each wild embower,
Whose rocks but echo to the howl
Of wandering beast or clang of fowl!
The eagle there may strike and slay;
The tiger spring upon his prey;
The cayman watch in sedgy pool
The tribes that glide through waters cool;
The tender nestlings of the brake
May feed the slily coiling snake:
And the small worm or insect weak
May quiver in the warbler's beak:
All there at least their foes discern,
And each his prey may seize in turn.
But man, when passions fire the soul,
And reason stoops to love's control,
Deceitful deals the murderous blow
Alike on trustiest friend or foe:
And oft the venom'd hand of hate
Points not the bitterest shaft of fate:
But faithless friendship's secret fang
Tears the fond heart with keener pang,
And love demented weaves a spell
More dreadful than the pains of hell.
Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!
Other Poems of Interest...
IN ABEYANCE by DENISE LEVERTOV
IN A VACANT HOUSE by PHILIP LEVINE
SUNDAY ALONE IN A FIFTH FLOOR APARTMENT, CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS by WILLIAM MATTHEWS
SILENCE LIKE COOL SAND by PAT MORA
THE HONEY BEAR by EILEEN MYLES
AETIUS THE UNBELIEVER by WILLIAM HERBERT (1778-1847)