Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE ASCENT OF MAN, by ROSSITER WORTHINGTON RAYMOND


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE ASCENT OF MAN, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: He stood upon the earth, and turned
Last Line: Lord of two worlds, and child of god!
Subject(s): Mankind; Time; Human Race


He stood upon the earth, and turned
To gaze on sky and land and sea,
While in his ear the whisper burned,
"Behold, these all belong to thee!"
O wondrous call to conquests new!
O thrill of blood! O joy of Soul!
O peaks with ever-widening view!
O race, with still-receding goal!
He heard; he followed, evermore
Stumbling and falling, wandering far,
Yet still advancing, while before
His footsteps shone the guiding star.
He cleft the seas; the torrent loud
He harnessed to his need or whim;
He bade the lightning of the cloud
Run with his words, and toil for him.
He pierced the rock; he scaled the steep;
Destroyed; created; brought to light
The secrets of the deepest deep,
The glories of the highest height!
The future and the past he scamped;
With sense refined and vision keen,
Explored, beyond this lower land,
The treasures of a realm unseen.
Until he stood with regal brow,
No more, as on the primal sod,
A creature yet ungrown, but now
Lord of two worlds, and child of God!




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