Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


PAN by JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY

Poet Analysis

First Line: THIS PAN IS BUT AN IDLE GOD, I GUESS
Last Line: WHETHER TO FAN HIS WINGS OR FLY WITHOUT.
Subject(s): BROOKS; FANTASY; FORESTS; MYTHOLOGY - CLASSICAL; PAN (MYTHOLOGY); STREAMS; CREEKS; WOODS;

THIS Pan is but an idle god, I guess,
Since all the fair midsummer of my dreams
He loiters listlessly by woody streams,
Soaking the lush glooms up with laziness;
Or drowsing while the maiden-winds caress
Him prankishly, and powder him with gleams
Of sifted sunshine. And he ever seems
Drugged with a joy unutterable -- unless
His low pipes whistle hints of it far out
Across the ripples to the dragon-fly
That, like a wind-born blossom blown about,
Drops quiveringly down, as though to die --
Then lifts and wavers on, as if in doubt
Whether to fan his wings or fly without.



Home: PoetryExplorer.net