Not that I always struck the proper mean Of what mankind must give for what they gain, But, when I think of those whom dull routine And the pursuit of cheerless toil enchain, Who from their desk-chairs seeing a summer cloud Race through blue heaven on its joyful course Sigh sometimes for a life less cramped and bowed, I think I might have done a great deal worse; For I have ever gone untied and free, The stars and my high thoughts for company; Wet with the salt-spray and the mountain showers, I have had the sense of space and amplitude, And love in many places, silver-shoed, Has come and scattered all my path with flowers. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...NOVEMBER, 1806 by WILLIAM WORDSWORTH DROUTH WILL BE ENDED by GLADYS NAOMI ARNOLD THE BABES IN THE WOOD; OR, THE NORFOLK TRAGEDY by RICHARD HARRIS BARHAM JENNIE HARRIS OLIVER by THERESA DRULEY BLACK INDISPENSABLE by BERTON BRALEY A SONNET FOR THE EARTH by ANNA HEMPSTEAD BRANCH EVENSONG by THOMAS EDWARD BROWN HOME, SWEET HOME WITH VARIATIONS: 1. ORIGINAL THEME AS PAYNE WROTE IT by HENRY CUYLER BUNNER |