Poet of the serene and thoughtful lay! In youth's fair dawn, when the soul, still untried, Longs for life's conflict, and seeks restlessly Food for its cravings in the stirring songs, The thrilling strains of more impassioned bards; Or, eager for fresh joys, culls with delight The flowers that bloom in fancy's fairy realm -- We may not prize the mild and steadfast ray That streams from thy pure soul in tranquil song But, in our riper years, when through the heat And burden of the day we struggle on, Breasting the stream upon whose shores we dreamed, Weary of all the turmoil and the din Which drowns the finer voices of the soul; We turn to thee, true priest of Nature's fane, And find the rest our fainting spirits need, -- The calm, more ardent singers cannot give; As in the glare intense of tropic days, Gladly we turn from the sun's radiant beams, And grateful hail fair Luna's tender light. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...COUNSEIL TO A BACHELER by MARIANNE MOORE TO A BLUEBELL by EMILY JANE BRONTE THE SPANISH FRIAR: 1-3. LOVE'S DESPAIR by JOHN DRYDEN BALLADE OF BLUE CHINA by ANDREW LANG THE GREENWOOD SHRIFT; GEORGE III AND A DYING WOMAN IN WINDSOR FOREST by ROBERT SOUTHEY EVIL EASIER THAN GOOD by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH |