Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, NATURE, by HENRY DAVID THOREAU



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NATURE, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: O nature! I do not aspire
Last Line: Only be it near to you.
Subject(s): Holidays; Trees


O nature! I do not aspire
To be the highest in thy choir, --
To be a meteor in thy sky,
Or comet that may range on high;
Only a zephyr that may blow
Among the reeds by the river low;
Give me thy most privy place
Where to run my airy race.
In some withdrawn, unpublic mead
Let me sigh upon a reed,
Or in the woods, with leafy din,
Whisper the still evening in:
Some still work give me to do, --
Only -- be it near to you!
For I'd rather be thy child
And pupil, in the forest wild,
Than be the king of men elsewhere,
And most sovereign slave of care;
To have one moment of thy dawn,
Than share the city's year forlorn.
Some still work give me to do
Only be it near to you.




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