GIVE me a wide and noble field Where I may perish decently! O let me in this narrow world Of shops be not condemned to die! They eat full well, they drink full well, And revel in their mole-like bliss; Their magnanimity's as great As any poor-box opening is. Cigars they carry in their mouths, Their hands we in their breeches view, And their digestive powers are great, -- O could we but digest them too! They trade in every spice that grows Upon the earth, yet we can trace, Despite their spices, in the air The odour of a grovelling race. Could I some great transgressions, yes, Colossal bloody crimes but see, -- Aught but this virtue flat and tame, This solvent strict morality! Ye clouds on high, O bear me hence, To some far spot without delay! To Lapland or to Africa, To Pomerania e'en -- away! O bear me hence! -- They hearken not -- The clouds on high so prudent are! They fly above this town, to seek With trembling haste some region far. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...HOUSES OF DREAMS by SARA TEASDALE MARY DONNELLY by WILLIAM ALLINGHAM COWPER'S GRAVE by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING DEATH OF THE DAY by WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR PEARLS OF THE FAITH: 26. AL-MUZIL by EDWIN ARNOLD STANZAS OCCASIONED BY THE DEATH OF H-- A-- by BERNARD BARTON ON F----- & S----- by WILLIAM BLAKE |