PROUD, little Man, opinion's slave, Error's fond child, too duteous to be free, Say, from the cradle to the grave, Is not the earth thou tread'st too grand for thee? This globe that turns thee, on her agile wheel Moves by deep springs, which thou canst never feel: Her day and night, her centre and her sun, Untraced by thee, their annual courses run. A busy fly, thou sharest the march divine, And flattering fancy calls the motion thine; Untaught how soon some hanging grave may burst, And join thy flimsy substance to the dust. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE PAINS OF SLEEP by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI: 7. THE SILENCE by JOHN GOULD FLETCHER UPON HIS DEPARTURE HENCE by ROBERT HERRICK FAITHLESS NELLY GRAY; A PATHETIC BALLAD by THOMAS HOOD TO LUCY, COUNTESS OF BEDFORD, WITH MR. DONNE'S SATIRES by BEN JONSON |