They leap from the level road, They spurn the prudent plain, The clouds are their high abode, The sky is their domain. Sons of the lords of earth, Of water and of fire, Born of a daring birth, Newly do they aspire. Forth to the element That only is unsubdued, Boldly their way is bent, Firm in their fortitude. They fashion eager wings, They curve the pinions fair, They contrive a force for the fragile things, And fling them into the air. They ride the racing wind, They mount the welcoming steeps, They leave the hawks behind, They sweep as the eagle sweeps. Abreast of the day they run, They leap the horizon bars; Their eyes are like the sun, Their soul is kin to the stars. Under their spurning flight The air is a steady floor, Time is a flash of light And space is an open door. What though a winged death Shadows their sunny way? Never a faltering breath, Never a weak delay. A burst of flame on high, A fall as a meteor falls! Out of the shuddering sky Vainly the curlew calls. Yet from the wreckage still, Smiling in death's despite, Another of equal skill Springs for a farther flight. Ah, jubilant pioneers, Read what the future hath, Beyond our hesitant fears, Ahead of our plodding path. To mystical regions bear The banner of hope unfurled, And through the wilderness air Break a way for the world! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...PEACE (1) by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON TO TIME by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON DOMEDAY BOOK: JOHN CAMPBELL AND CARL EATON by EDGAR LEE MASTERS SONG FOR THE FIRST OF THE MONTH by DOROTHY PARKER THE LAST JUDGMENT by JOHN CROWE RANSOM DEDICATION TO THE LATER SONNETS TO URANIA by GEORGE SANTAYANA |