I envy not in any moods The captive void of noble rage, The linnet born within the cage, That never knew the summer woods; I envy not the beast that takes His license in the field of time, Unfetter'd by the sense of crime, To whom a conscience never wakes; Nor, what may count itself as blest, The heart that never plighted troth But stagnates in the weeds of sloth; Nor any want-begotten rest. I hold it true, whate'er befall; I feel it, when I sorrow most; 'T is better to have loved and lost Than never to have loved at all. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...23RD STREET RUNS INTO HEAVEN by KENNETH PATCHEN THE CARD-DEALER by DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI THE CATARACT OF LODORE by ROBERT SOUTHEY SONNET TO THE HUNGARIAN NATION by MATTHEW ARNOLD THWARTED UTTERANCE by WILLIAM ROSE BENET THE PAGODA by EDMUND CHARLES BLUNDEN TO THE DAUGHTER OF A NYMPH by AGNES COCHRAN BUAMBLETT A BOOK OF AIRS: SONG 27 by THOMAS CAMPION TOWARDS DEMOCRACY: PART 4. HAFIZ TO THE CUP-BEARER by EDWARD CARPENTER |