Classic and Contemporary Poetry
ODE ON THE PLEASURE ARISING FROM VICISSITUDE, by THOMAS GRAY Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Now the golden morn aloft Last Line: To him are opening paradise. Variant Title(s): Spring Subject(s): Nature | ||||||||
NOW the golden Morn aloft Waves her dew-bespangled wing, With vermeil cheek and whisper soft She woos the tardy spring: Till April starts, and calls around The sleeping fragrance from the ground, And lightly o'er the living scene Scatters his freshest, tenderest green. New-born flocks, in rustic dance, Frisking ply their feeble feet; Forgetful of their wintry trance The birds his presence greet: But chief, the skylark warbles high His trembling thrilling ecstasy; And lessening from the dazzled sight, Melts into air and liquid light. Yesterday the sullen year Saw the snowy whirlwind fly; Mute was the music of the air, The herd stood drooping by: Their raptures now that wildly flow No yesterday nor morrow know; 'T is Man alone that joy descries With forward and reverted eyes. Smiles on past misfortune's brow Soft reflection's hand can trace, And o'er the cheek of sorrow throw A melancholy grace; While hope prolongs our happier hour, Or deepest shades, that dimly lour And blacken round our weary way, Gilds with a gleam of distant day. Still, where rosy pleasure leads, See a kindred grief pursue; Behind the steps that misery treads Approaching comfort view: The hues of bliss more brightly glow Chastised by sabler tints of woe, And blended form, with artful strife, The strength and harmony of life. See the wretch that long has tost On the thorny bed of pain, At length repair his vigor lost And breathe and walk again: The meanest floweret of the vale, The simplest note that swells the gale, The common sun, the air,the skies, To him are opening Paradise. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...INTERRUPTED MEDITATION by ROBERT HASS TWO VIEWS OF BUSON by ROBERT HASS THE FATALIST: HOME by LYN HEJINIAN WRITING IS AN AID TO MEMORY: 17 by LYN HEJINIAN LET US GATHER IN A FLOURISHING WAY by JUAN FELIPE HERRERA IN MICHAEL ROBINS?ÇÖS CLASS MINUS ONE by HICOK. BOB BREADTH. CIRCLE. DESERT. MONARCH. MONTH. WISDOM by JOHN HOLLANDER VARIATIONS: 16 by CONRAD AIKEN UNHOLY SONNET 13 by MARK JARMAN ELEGY WRITTEN IN A COUNTRY CHURCHYARD by THOMAS GRAY |
|