Others abide our question. Thou art free. We ask and ask - thou smilest and art still, Out-topping knowledge. For the loftiest hill, Who to the stars uncrowns his majesty, Planting his stedfast footsteps in the sea, Making the heaven of heavens his dwelling-place, Spares but the cloudy border of his base To the foiled searching of mortality; And thou, who didst the stars and sunbeams know, Self-schooled, self-scanned, self-honored, self-secure, Didst tread on earth unguessed at - better so! All pains the immortal spirit must endure, All weakness that impairs, all griefs that bow, Find their sole voice in that victorious brow. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...IMAGINATION, FR. A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE AS THE GREEK'S SIGNAL FLAME by WALT WHITMAN THE ELF CHILD by GEORGE LAWRENCE ANDREWS THE WHITE WATCH (OPUS JUVENIS) by GORDON BOTTOMLEY THE SHEPHERD'S PIPE: FIRST ECLOGUE by WILLIAM BROWNE (1591-1643) TWO SKETCHES: 1. H.B. by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING |