When on pretentious seas I would embark, I thought alluring flares would speed my course; Unfathomed depths my endless quest would mark, Enhancing serfdom with impelling force. Within confines that reach for glamorous heights, One's craft may flounder through the misty ways. Abject and futile are the dazzling lights That spread obscurities through hapless days. Outside those bounds a drifting hulk had veered And weathered seas, again serene and pure, My craft on to a shifting course was steered Beyond vainglory's once enticing lure. I knew that nothing then could set me free, Except the vastness of the starlit sea. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE STORY OF THE ASHES AND THE FLAME by EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON TO MAKE A PRAIRIE by EMILY DICKINSON A CAMEO by ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD: TRANSLATION by CAIUS PEDO ALBINOVANUS |