Are they shadows that we see? And can shadows pleasure give? Pleasures only shadows be, Cast by bodies we conceive, And are made the things we deem In those figures which they seem. But these pleasures vanish fast, Which by shadows are expressed; Pleasures are not, if they last; In their passing is their best. Glory is most bright and gay In a flash and so away. Feed apace, then, greedy eyes On the wonder you behold; Take it sudden as it flies, Though you take it not to hold. When your eyes have done their part, Thought must length it in the heart. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...OVID, OLD BUDDY, I WOULD DISCOURSE WITH YOU A WHILE by HAYDEN CARRUTH THE MERCY OF LAZARUS by STEPHEN DOBYNS THE SACRAL DREAMS OF RAMON FERNANDEZ by JAMES GALVIN THE ORANGE PICKER by DAVID IGNATOW CHAMBER MUSIC: 8 by JAMES JOYCE TO TWO UNKNOWN LADIES by AMY LOWELL MONODY ON THE DEATH OF WILLIAM MARION REEDY by EDGAR LEE MASTERS |