Again the tossing boughs shut out the scene, Again the drifting vapors intervene, And the moon's pallid disk is hidden quite; And now I see the table wider grown, As round a pebble into water thrown Dilates a ring of light. I see the table wider grown, I see it garlanded with guests, As if fair Ariadne's Crown Out of the sky had fallen down; Maidens within whose tender breasts A thousand restless hopes and fears, Forth reaching to the coming years, Flutter awhile, then quiet lie Like timid birds that fain would fly, But do not dare to leave their nests;-- And youths, who in their strength elate Challenge the van and front of fate, Eager as champions to be In the divine knight-errantry Of youth, that travels sea and land Seeking adventures, or pursues, Through cities, and through solitudes Frequented by the lyric Muse, The phantom with the beckoning hand, That still allures and still eludes. O sweet illusions of the brain! O sudden thrills of fire and frost! The world is bright while ye remain, And dark and dead when ye are lost! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...GENERAL WILLIAM BOOTH ENTERS INTO HEAVEN by NICHOLAS VACHEL LINDSAY A REQUIEM FOR SOLDIERS LOST IN OCEAN TRANSPORTS by HERMAN MELVILLE MIRANDA'S SUPPER (VIRGINIA, 1866) by ELINOR WYLIE VILLANELLE: AU RETOUR DU PRINTEMPS by PHILIP SCHUYLER ALLEN THE DAUGHTER OF THE BLIND by ANNE M. F. ANNAN THE ART OF PRESERVING HEALTH: BOOK 2. THE GASTRIC MUSE by JOHN ARMSTRONG THE POET'S SOLILOQUY by E. M. AVERILL THE HEART-CRY by FRANCIS WILLIAM BOURDILLON GHELUVELT; EPITAPH ON THE WORCESTERS by ROBERT SEYMOUR BRIDGES |