"I TELL thee," said the old man, "what is life. A gulf of troubled waters -- where the soul, Like a vexed bark, is tossed upon the waves Of pain and pleasure, by the wavering breath Of passions. They are winds that drive it on, But only to destruction and despair. Methinks that we have known some former state More glorious than our present; and the heart Is haunted by dim memories -- shadows left By past felicity. Hence do we pine For vain aspirings -- hopes that fill the eyes With bitter tears for their own vanity. Are we then fallen from some lovely star, Whose consciousness is as an unknown curse?" | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SERVICE by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON TO MILITARY PROGRESS by MARIANNE MOORE THE PINES AND THE SEA by CHRISTOPHER PEARSE CRANCH MILTON'S PRAYER [OF PATIENCE, OR, IN BLINDNESS] by ELIZABETH LLOYD HOWELL |