ANTHOLOGY OF MASSACHUSETTS POETS (84)

THE FLIGHT

    I

    O WILD HEART, track the land's perfume, Beach-roses and moor-heather！ All fragrances of herb and bloom Fail, out at sea, together. O follow where aloft find room Lark-song and eagle-feather！ All ecstasies of throat and plume Melt, high on yon blue weather.

    O leave on sky and ocean lost The flight creation dareth； Take wings of love, that mounts the most： Find fame, that furthest fareth！ Thy flight, albeit amid her host Thee, too, night star-like beareth, Flying, thy breast on heaven's coast, The infinite outweareth.

    II

    "Dead o'er us roll celestial fires； Mute stand Earth's ancient beaches； Old thoughts, old instincts, old desires, The passing hour outreaches； The soul creative never tires—— Evokes, adcres, beseeches； And that heart most the god inspires Whom most its wildness teaches.

    "For I will course through falling years And stars and cities burning； And I will march through dying cheers Past empires unreturning； Ever the world flame reappears Where mankind power is earning, The nations' hopes, the people's tears, One with the wild heart yearning.