Away, away! The sea-gull's screech, Disconsolate, accosts my ear; And, in their monotone, I hear The breakers pounding on the beach. Rise, O my soul, from idle days; From nights of pleasure sweet now rise; Calliope, from out the skies, Upon me her command thus lays: "Life, son, is short; and though thy years Not yet have numbered three times ten, Yet soon the hour approaches when Death's steps shall echo in thine ears. "Then rise from pleasure-seeking days, From nights of idlesse sweet, O rise, Weave well thy pilgrim melodies, If thou would'st win a master's bays!" | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...CONTRA MORTEM: THE THAW by HAYDEN CARRUTH BIRTHDAY POEM FOR THOMAS HARDY by CECIL DAY LEWIS A POEM FROM THE EDGE OF AMERICA by JAMES GALVIN IN QUEST by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON DE LITTLE PICKANINNY'S GONE TO SLEEP by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON MA LADY'S LIPS AM LIKE DE HONEY (NEGRO LOVE SONG) by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON |