Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE SUNSHINE OF THE GODS, by BAYARD TAYLOR Poet's Biography First Line: Who shall sunder the fetters Last Line: The hour of perfect song! Alternate Author Name(s): Taylor, James Bayard Subject(s): Flowers; Goddesses & Gods; Mythology; Singing & Singers | ||||||||
I. WHO shall sunder the fetters, Who scale the invisible ramparts Whereon our nimblest forces Hurl their vigor in vain? Where, like the baffling crystal To a wildered bird of the heavens, Something holds and imprisons The eager, the stirring brain? II. Alas, from the fresh emotion, From thought that is born of feeling, From form, self-shaped, and slowly Its own completeness evolving, To the rhythmic speech, how long! What hand shall master the tumult Where one on the other tramples, And none escapes a wrong? Where the crowding germs of a thousand Fancies encumber the portal, Till one plucks a voice from the murmurs And lifts himself into Song! III. As a man that walks in the mist, As one that gropes for the morning Through lengthening chambers of twilight, The souls of the poems wander Restless, and dumb, and lost, Till the Word, like a beam of morning, Shivers the pregnant silence, And the light of speech descends Like a tongue of the Pentecost! IV. Ah, moment not to be purchased, Not to be won by prayers, Not by toil to be conquered, But given, lest one despair, By the Gods in wayward kindness, Stay -- thou art all too fair! Hour of the dancing measures, Sylph of the dew and rainbow, Let us clutch thy shining hair! V. For the mist is blown from the mind, For the impotent yearning is over, And the wings of the thoughts have power: In the warmth and the glow creative Existence mellows and ripens, And a crowd of swift surprises Sweetens the fortunate hour; Till a shudder of rapture loosens The tears that hang on the eyelids Like a breeze-suspended shower, With a sense of heavenly freshness Blown from beyond the sunshine, And the blood, like the sap of the roses, Breaks into bud and flower. VI. 'T is the Sunshine of the Gods, The sudden light that quickens, Unites the nimble forces, And yokes the shy expression To the thoughts that waited long, -- Waiting and wooing vainly: But now they meet like lovers In the time of willing increase, Each warming each, and giving The kiss that maketh strong: And the mind feels fairest May-time In the marriage of its passions, For Thought is one with Speech, In the Sunshine of the Gods, And Speech is one with Song! VII. Then a rhythmic pulse makes order In the troops of wandering fancies: Held in soft subordination, Lo! they follow, lead, or fly. The fields of their feet are endless, And the heights and the deeps are open To the glance of the equal sky: And the Masters sit no longer In inaccessible distance, But give to the haughtiest question, Smiling, a sweet reply. VIII. Dost mourn, because the moment Is a gift beyond thy will, -- A gift thy dreams had promised, Yet they gave to Chance its keeping And fettered thy free achievement With the hopes they not fulfil? Dost sigh o'er the fleeting rapture, The bliss of reconcilement Of powers that work apart, Yet lean on each other still? IX. Be glad, for this is the token, The sign and the seal of the Poet: Were it held by will or endeavor, There were naught so precious in Song. Wait: for the shadows unlifted To a million that crave the sunshine, Shall be lifted for thee erelong. Light from the loftier regions Here unattainable ever, -- Bath of brightness and beauty, -- Let it make thee glad and strong! Not to clamor or fury, Not to lament or yearning, But to faith and patience cometh The Sunshine of the Gods, The hour of perfect Song! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE APOLLO TRIO by CONRAD AIKEN BAD GIRL SINGING by MARK JARMAN CHAMBER MUSIC: 4 by JAMES JOYCE CHAMBER MUSIC: 5 by JAMES JOYCE CHAMBER MUSIC: 28 by JAMES JOYCE THE SONG OF THE NIGHTINGALE IS LIKE THE SCENT OF SYRINGA by MINA LOY BEDOUIN [LOVE] SONG by BAYARD TAYLOR NATIONAL ODE; INDEPENDENCE SQUARE, PHILADELPHIA by BAYARD TAYLOR |
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