DOWN-STREAM 'tis all by moonlight, Up-stream at blazing noon; Down-stream upon the ripples, Up-stream through sandy dune. Down-stream, the helm held loosely, A pipe between the lips; Up-stream, like beast one straineth And galls the breast and hips. What boots it that I seem like The river's king to-day. If to-morrow like a beggar, Despised, I tug away? My pleasuring leaves no furrow Upon the water-plain; The marks of struggling footsteps Long in the sand remain. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A VALEDICTION: FORBIDDING MOURNING by JOHN DONNE WINTER'S EVENING HYMN TO MY FIRE by JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL THE HAYSTACK IN THE FLOODS by WILLIAM MORRIS (1834-1896) LESBIA'S COMPLAINT AGAINST THYRISIS HIS INCONSTANCY; A SONNET by PHILIP AYRES |