HIGH walls and huge the body may confine, And iron gates obstruct the prisoner's gaze, And massive bolts may baffle his design, And vigilant keepers watch his devious ways; But scorns the immortal mind such base control: No chains can bind it and no cell enclose. Swifter than light it flies from pole to pole, And in a flash from earth to heaven it goes. It leaps from mount to mount; from vale to vale It wanders, plucking honeyed fruits and flowers; It visits home to hear the fireside tale And in sweet converse pass the joyous hours; 'T is up before the sun, roaming afar, And in its watches wearies every star. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...MEMORY by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON BUCOLIC COMEDY: SPINNING SONG by EDITH SITWELL SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY: FIDDLER JONES by EDGAR LEE MASTERS AUNTIE'S SKIRTS by ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON TO THINK OF TIME by WALT WHITMAN LUCY (4) by WILLIAM WORDSWORTH THE LOST CHILD by ST. CLAIR ADAMS |