Already blushes in thy cheek The bosom-thought which thou must speak; The bird, how far it haply roam By cloud or isle, is flying home; The maiden fears, and fearing runs Into the charmed snare she shuns; And every man, in love or pride, Of his fate is never wide. Will a woman's fan the ocean smooth? Or prayers the stony Parcae sooth, Or coax the thunder from its mark? Or tapers light the chaos dark? In spite of Virtue and the Muse, Nemesis will have her dues, And all our struggles and our toils Tighter wind the giant coils. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A MOMENT by MARY ELIZABETH COLERIDGE ODE ON THE DEATH OF A FAVOURITE CAT, DROWNED IN A TUB by THOMAS GRAY BALLADE OF A TRAVELLER'S JINX by FRANKLIN PIERCE ADAMS THE MENU by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH CURIOUSLY EVANESCENT by EVA K. ANGLESBURG |