ASCEND, oh my Soul, with the wings of the lark ascend! Soaring away and away far into the blue. Or with the shrill seagull to the breakers bend, Or with the bee, where the grasses and field-flowers blend, Drink out of golden cups of the honey-dew. Ascend, oh my Soul, on the wings of the wind as it blows, Striking wild organ-blasts from the forest trees, Or on the zephyr bear love of the rose to the rose, Or with the hurricane sower cast seed as he goes Limitless ploughing the leagues of the sibilant seas. Ascend, oh my Soul, on the wings of the choral strain, Invisible tier above tier upbuilding sublime; Note as it scales after note in a rhythmical chain Reaching from chaos and welter of struggle and pain, Far into vistas empyreal receding from time. Ascend! take wing on the thoughts of the Dead, my Soul, Breathing in colour and stone, flashing through epic and song: Thoughts that like avalanche snows gather force as they roll, Mighty to fashion and knead the phenomenal throng Of generations of men as they thunder along. As compressed within the bounded shell Boundless Ocean seems to surge and swell, Haunting echoes of an infinite whole Moan and murmur through Man's finite soul. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE MOTHER WATCH by EDGAR ALBERT GUEST PETER QUINCE AT THE CLAVIER by WALLACE STEVENS THE QUEEN IN FRANCE; AN ANCIENT SCOTTISH BALLAD by WILLIAM EDMONSTOUNE AYTOUN ON THE BIRTH OF A FRIEND'S ELDEST SON by ANNA LETITIA BARBAULD |