Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, AEROPHORION: THE AIR BALLOON, by HENRY JAMES PYE


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AEROPHORION: THE AIR BALLOON, by             Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Hail then ye daring few! Who proudly soar
Last Line: And drinks in skies serene the unsullied stream of day.
Subject(s): Balloons


HAIL then ye daring few! who proudly soar
Through paths by mortal eye unviewed before!
From earth and all her humble scenes who rise
To search the extended mansions of the skies.
If firm his breast who first undaunted gave
His fragile vessel to the stormy wave,
How much superior he! whose buoyant car
Borne through the strife of elemental war,
Driven by the veering wind's uncertain tide,
No helm to steer him, and no oar to guide,
Sees earth's stupendous regions spread below,
To hillocks shrunk the mountains' loftiest brow;
Who now his head sublime, astonished, shrouds
In the dull gloom of rain-distended clouds,
And sits enthroned 'mid solitude and shade
Which human eyesight never can pervade,
Or rides amidst the howling tempest's force
Tracing the volleyed lightning to its source;
Or proudly rising o'er the lagging wind
Leaves all the jarring atmosphere behind,
And at his feet, while spreading clouds extend,
While thunders bellow and while storms descend,
Feels on his head the enlivening sunbeams play,
And drinks in skies serene the unsullied stream of day.





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