Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


FROM A BALLOON by JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY

Poet Analysis

First Line: HO! WE ARE LOOSE. HEAR HOW THEY SHOUT
Last Line: THAT STARES INTO ETERNITY.
Subject(s): BALLOONS; EARTH; FUTURE LIFE; LIFE; WORLD; RETRIBUTION; ETERNITY; AFTER LIFE;

HO! we are loose. Hear how they shout,
And how their clamor dwindles out
Beneath us to the merest hum
Of earthly acclamation. Come,
Lean with me here and look below --
Why, bless you, man! don't tremble so!
There is no need of fear up here --
Not higher than the buzzard swings
About upon the atmosphere
With drowsy eyes and open wings!
There, steady, now, and feast your eyes; --
See, we are tranced -- we do not rise;
It is the earth that sinks from us:
But when I first beheld it thus,
And felt the breezes downward flow,
And heard all noises fail and die,
Until but silence and the sky
Above, around me, and below, --
Why, like you now, I swooned almost,
With mingled awe and fear and glee --
As giddy as an hour-old ghost
That stares into eternity.



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