Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE STEPHENSON OF THE AIR, by AMOS RUSSEL WELLS


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE STEPHENSON OF THE AIR, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Where lives he? - that inventive one
Last Line: Has learned to struggle and to win!
Subject(s): Air Travel; Inventions And Inventors; Stephenson, George (1781-1848)


Where lives he? -- that inventive one
For whom the world is waiting -- where?
The ether's future Stephenson,
The coming conqueror of the air?

And has he found the secret yet,
The solvent thought, whate'er it be?
May the explorer not forget
That mystic Open Sesame!

And will he sail with mighty wing,
Or vast balloon, or whirling fan?
Or will it be a startling thing
On some unprecedented plan?

And when the deed is brought to pass
And men are taught the way to fly,
Must all our railroads go to grass
And all our commerce seek the sky?

I do not know; but this I know, --
Whatever bulk the thought attain,
It must begin and slowly grow
From one wee notion in the brain;

Some quick idea swiftly caught
And stoutly held with iron grip
While patience labors on the thought
And firmness will not let it slip.

For never on a gale of luck
Shall his fine air-ship come to port;
Its keel is grit, its sails are pluck,
The hurricane it dares to court!

Its captain, whosoe'er he be,
Has counted cowardice a sin,
Has found the air a stormy sea,
Has learned to struggle and to win!





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net