Six hundred years have passed since Bacon taught That some day man, through conquered air, would fly. Four centuries ago Da Vinci caught The gleam, and pictured ships to cleave the sky. Men's minds have soared, at oneness with the birds, These countless years, some heaven to attain; But in the end have found, O bitter words, In all the sky's immensity, no gain. While bombs are whining through the shattered sky No birds can sing. The shadow and the shroud Hang dark above the shambles of Shanghai Where pestilence came raining from a cloud. The dreamers of the past, unwittingly, Increased the sum of human misery. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...FACADE: 24. AN OLD WOMAN LAMENTS IN SPRINGTIME by EDITH SITWELL SPRING STORM by WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS THE BEACON; A MUSICAL DRAMA by JOANNA BAILLIE A DAY DREAM by EMILY JANE BRONTE AN AUGUST MIDNIGHT by THOMAS HARDY |