I'm guided in the darkest night By flashes of auroral light, Which over dart thy eastern home And teach me not in vain to roam. Thy steady light on t'other side Pales the sunset, makes day abide, And after sunrise stays the dawn, Forerunner of a brighter morn. There is no being here to me But staying here to be When others laugh I am not glad, When others cry I am not sad, But be they grieved or be they merry I'm supernumerary. I am a miser without blame Am conscience stricken without shame. An idler am I without leisure, A busy body without pleasure. I did not think so bright a day Would issue in so dark a night. I did not think such sober play Would leave me in so sad a plight, And I should be most sorely spent Where first I was most innocent. I thought by loving all beside To prove to you my love was wide, And by the rites I soared above To show you my peculiar love. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...POETICAL ABSTRACTS: 2. METAPHYSICAL by HAYDEN CARRUTH ON THE DEATH OF MR. PURCELL by JOHN DRYDEN THE FAIR SINGER by ANDREW MARVELL IKE WALTON'S PRAYER by JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY THOSE WHO LOVE by SARA TEASDALE THE PRIDE OF BEAUTY by PIERRE JEAN DE BERANGER |