HAIL then ye daring few! who proudly soar Through paths by mortal eye unviewed before! From earth and all her humble scenes who rise To search the extended mansions of the skies. If firm his breast who first undaunted gave His fragile vessel to the stormy wave, How much superior he! whose buoyant car Borne through the strife of elemental war, Driven by the veering wind's uncertain tide, No helm to steer him, and no oar to guide, Sees earth's stupendous regions spread below, To hillocks shrunk the mountains' loftiest brow; Who now his head sublime, astonished, shrouds In the dull gloom of rain-distended clouds, And sits enthroned 'mid solitude and shade Which human eyesight never can pervade, Or rides amidst the howling tempest's force Tracing the volleyed lightning to its source; Or proudly rising o'er the lagging wind Leaves all the jarring atmosphere behind, And at his feet, while spreading clouds extend, While thunders bellow and while storms descend, Feels on his head the enlivening sunbeams play, And drinks in skies serene the unsullied stream of day. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...IF HE SHOULD COME by EDWIN MARKHAM A SMILE AS SMALL AS MINE by EMILY DICKINSON MY LADY'S TEARS by JOHN DOWLAND SONNET: ENGLAND by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH THE CLINGING VINE by ANTIPATER OF SIDON |