Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, AN INCIDENT, by ELIZABETH OAKES PRINCE SMITH


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

AN INCIDENT, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: A simple thing, yet chancing as it did
Last Line: I would not soar like thee, in loneliness to pine!
Alternate Author Name(s): Smith, Seba (e. Oakes), Mrs.; Oakes-smith, Elizabeth
Subject(s): Birds; Eagles; Flight; Life; Flying


A simple thing, yet chancing as it did,
When life was bright with its illusive dreams,
A pledge and promise seemed beneath it hid;
The ocean lay before me, tinged with beams
That lingering draped the west, a wavering stir,
And at my feet down fell a worn, gray quill;
An eagle, high above the darkling fir,
With steady flight, seemed there to take his fill
Of that pure ether breathed by him alone.
O noble bird! why didst thou loose for me
Thy eagle plume? still unessayed, unknown
Must be that pathway fearless winged by thee;
I ask it not, no lofty flight be mine,
I would not soar like thee, in loneliness to pine!





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