I marvelled at earth's glory, her grey seas Which stretch in light in confines of the sky, At her still mountains reared immovably, The fear and wonder of her leafy trees; Much more I marvelled, musing at my ease, On man and all his curious history, The scars and pangs of his antiquity, The childlike splendour of his fantasies, How, like earth's grass, he flourishes and goes -- His grief, his love, his passion, and his fear, His ant-like labours, his sublime repose -- Yet finds no peace to be accomplished here. O God, I said, who mewed me in this place, How shall I through these dreams Thy realty trace! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...IVAN THE CZAR by FELICIA DOROTHEA HEMANS THE OLD BRIDGE AT FLORENCE; SONNET by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW THE FINDING OF THE LYRE by JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL OLD MOTHERS by CHARLES SARSFIELD ROSS GRATITUDE by WILFRID SCAWEN BLUNT TO ROBERT BURNS; AN EPISTLE ON INSTINCT by ROBERT SEYMOUR BRIDGES ON JAMES GRACIE, DEAN OF GUILD by ROBERT BURNS |