| |
|
(Excerpted from "Panthea")
We are resolved into the supreme air,
We are made one with what we touch and see,
With our heart’s blood each crimson sun is fair,
With our young lives each spring-impassioned tree
Flames into green, the wildest beasts that range
The moor our kinsmen are, all life is one, and all is change.
With beat of systole and of diastole
One grand great life throbs through earth’s giant heart,
And mighty waves of single Being roll
From nerve-less germ to man, for we are part
Of every rock and bird and beast and hill,
One with the things that prey on us, and one with what we kill. . . .
Not we alone hath passions hymeneal,
The yellow buttercups that shake for mirth
At daybreak know a pleasure not less real
Than we do, when in some fresh-blossoming wood
We draw the spring into our hearts, and feel that life is good. . . .
Is the light vanished from our golden sun,
Or is this daedal-fashioned earth less fair,
That we are nature’s heritors, and one
With every pulse of life that beats the air?
Rather new suns across the sky shall pass,
New splendour come unto the flower, new glory to the grass.
And we two lovers shall not sit afar,
Critics of nature, but the joyous sea
Shall be our raiment, and the bearded star
Shoot arrows at our pleasure! We shall be
Part of the mighty universal whole,
And through all Aeons mix and mingle with the Kosmic Soul!
We shall be notes in that great Symphony
Whose cadence circles through the rhythmic spheres,
And all the live World’s throbbing heart shall be
One with our heart, the stealthy creeping years
Have lost their terrors now, we shall not die,
The Universe itself shall be our Immortality!
This poem is in the public domain.
|
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde, better known as Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900), was an Irish poet and author and is considered one of the greatest playwrights of the Victorian era. The son of unconventional parents, both of whom were writers themselves, Oscar was an outstanding student who demonstrated literary talent from an early age. An avid and vocal devotee of aestheticism--the belief in art for art's sake--Oscar traveled extensively lecturing on its merits, and was an instant celebrity when he arrived in America. Outspoken and flamboyant in his lifestyle and dress, Oscar was similar to Walt Whitman in that he had as many detractors as he did fans. His charm and wit were undeniable, though, and many of his wry remarks and clever comebacks are preserved in quotation books today. Oscar's life and work inspired numerous films and biographies, but he died penniless in Paris at the age of 47.
|
|
jackman30:
his wry remarks and clever comebacks are preserved in quotation books today. Oscar's life and work inspired numerous films and biographies, but he died penniless in Paris at the age of 47.v
Posted 08/14/2014 03:55 AM
|
LisaV:
Hi Jayne, I read this poem twice today. Once at the open mic in the morning at the library, and once in the afternoon. I think it was much appreciated by everyone who heard it. Thank you for sharing it today. Lisa
Posted 09/25/2011 12:46 AM
|
nadia ibrashi:
A beautiful poem.Thanks.
Posted 09/24/2011 01:23 PM
|
Dorcas:
The last stanza of today's poems brings tears to my eyes bringing a greater understanding of death, especially when I reflect on the recent death of my younger sister, so very dear to me. I am with sincere gratitude to the great surfacing imaginations of poets.
Dorcas
Posted 09/24/2011 10:26 AM
|
LisaV:
Wow, Jayne. This poem is absolutely perfect for me today and for the spirit of 100 Thousand Poets for Change. Thank you so much for spreading the word and sharing Wilde's poem. "...all life is one, and all is change." I might read this poem today at one of the open mic events! See you on the live stream! Lisa
Posted 09/24/2011 07:01 AM
|
|
|
|
My Cart 
