Fleeing Away
Ella Wheeler Wilcox 1855 (Janesville) – 1919
My thoughts soar not as they ought to soar,
Higher and higher on soul-lent wings;
But ever and often and more and more
They are dragged down earthward by little things,
By little troubles and little needs,
As a lark might be tangled among the weeds.
My purpose is not what it ought to be,
Steady and fixed, like a star on high,
But more like a fisherman's light at sea;
Hither and thither it seems to fly--
Sometimes feeble, and sometimes bright,
Then suddenly lost in the gloom of night.
My life is far from my dream of life--
Calmly contented, serenely glad;
But, vexed and worried by daily strife,
It is always troubled and ofttimes sad--
And the heights I had thought I should reach one day
Grow dimmer and dimmer, and farther away.
My heart never finds the longed-for rest;
Its worldly striving, its greed for gold,
Chilled and frightened the calm-eyed guest
Who sometimes sought me in days of old;
And ever fleeing away from me
Is the higher self that I long to be.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 54 sec read
- 37 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABABCC DEDEFF GHGHII JKJKDD |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 976 |
Words | 181 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6 |
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"Fleeing Away" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 24 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/10608/fleeing-away>.
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