Classic and Contemporary Poetry
TO IMAGINATION, by DOROTHEA LAWRANCE MANN First Line: O beauteous boy a-dream, what visions sought Last Line: Weaving us evermore thy shining pageantry. Subject(s): Imagination; Fancy | ||||||||
O beauteous boy a-dream, what visions sought Of pictures magical thy eyes unfold, What triumphs of celestial wonders wrought, What marvels from a breath of beauty rolled! Skyward and seaward on the clouds are scrolled A mystic imagery of castled thought, A thousand worlds to lose, -- or win and mold, -- A radiant iridescence swiftly caught Of ever-changing glory, fancy-fraught. Blue wonder of the sea and luminous sky, -- A thousand wonders in thy dreamlit face, -- Eyes that beheld afar the turrets high Of Ilium, and the transient mortal grace Of Deirdre's sadness, all the conquering race Of Athens, -- eyes that saw Eden's beauty lie In passionate adoration -- visions trace Across the tender brooding of the sigh That wrecked a city and made chieftains die. Forward not backward turns the mystic shine Of those far-seeing orbs that track the gleam -- The fleecy marvel of the cloud is line On line the wizard tracery of a dream. O lad, who buildest not of things that seem, Beyond what bounds of visioning divine Came that far smile, from what long-strayed sunbeam Caught thou the radiance, from what fostering vine The power to build and mold the deep design? Knowest thou the secret that thy brush would tell, Is all the dream a bubbled splendor white, Beyond those castles cloud-bound, does there dwell The eternal silence of the dark -- or light? Will thy hand hold the pen which shall indict The symbolled mystery -- write the final knell Of rainbow fancy -- is the distant sight A nothingness encircled by the spell Of gleaming bubbles wrought of beauty's shell? In vain to question, where the mystery Of Youth's short golden dream is lord and king. The eyes that farthest gaze in ecstasy, Were never meant to paint the immortal thing They see, nor understand the joy they bring. The misty baubles of the sky and sea Sail on. Dream still, bright-visioned boy, and fling The glittering mantle of thy thoughts that flee, Weaving us evermore thy shining pageantry. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE IMAGINED COPPERHEAD by ANDREW HUDGINS A SICK CHILD by RANDALL JARRELL IMAGINARY TROUBLE by JOHN KENDRICK BANGS EVERYTHING THAT ACTS IS ACTUAL by DENISE LEVERTOV ON THE MEETING OF GARCIA LORCA AND HART CRANE by PHILIP LEVINE A GROWN UP SONG by DOROTHEA LAWRANCE MANN |
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