The Retrospect (1812) [ Concepts ]
… It was not unrequited love That bade my 'wildered spirit rove; 'Twas not the pride disdaining life, That with this mortal world at strife Would yield to the soul's inward sense, Then groan in human impotence, And weep because … vile slaves of earthly night Would twine around its struggling flight. Oh, many were the friends whom fame Had linked with the unmeaning name, Whose magic marked among mankind The casket of my unknown mind, Which hidden from the vulgar … The saviour of a sinking land, Would crawl, its ruthless tyrant's slave, And fatten upon Freedom's grave, Though doomed with her to perish, where The captive clasps abhorred despair. They could not share the bosom's feeling, Which, passion's …
Poetry | Friendship | Nature
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