ADVERTISMENT
 
 
8 Nov 2009

To a Poet a Thousand Years Hence

By James Elroy Flecker   

Find Poems & Quotes by Author:
Search by keyword
Browse by author alphabetically
A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M 
N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z 

I who am dead a thousand years,
And wrote this sweet archaic song,
Send you my words for messengers
The way I shall not pass along.

I care not if you bridge the seas,
Or ride secure in the cruel sky,
Or build consummate palaces
Of metal or of masonry.

But have you wine and music still,
And statues and a bright-eyed love,
And foolish thoughts of good and ill,
And prayers to them who sit above?

How shall we conquer? Like a wind
That falls at eve our fancies blow,
And old Maeonides the blind
Said it three thousand years ago,

O friend unseen, unborn, unknown,
Student of our sweet English tongue,
Read out my words at night, alone:
I was a poet, I was young.

Since I can never see your face,
And never shake you by the hand,
I send my soul through time and space
To greet you. You will understand.


 
FirstScience.com

About | Privacy policy | Terms & conditions
© 1995-2009 All rights reserved


Christopher Potter - You Are Here: A Portable History of the Universe Win a Book!
Enter our competition to win a copy of You Are Here: A Portable History of the Universe by Christopher Potter.
> Click here
> Find 1000s more science gadgets, games & gifts