Omyvague desires!Ye lambent flames of the soul, her offspring fires:That are my soul herself in pangs sublimeRising and flying to heaven before her time:What doth tempt you forthTo drown in the south or shiver in the frosty north?What seek ye or find ye in your random flying,Ever soaring aloft, soaring and dying?Joy, the joy of flight!They hide in the sun, they flare and dance in the night;Gone up, gone out of sight: and ever againFollow fresh tongues of fire, fresh pangs of pain.Ah! they burn my soul,The fires, devour my soul that once was whole:She is scattered in fiery phantoms day by day,But whither, whither? ay whither? away, away!Could I but controlThese vague desires, these leaping flames of the soul:Could I but quench the fire: ah! could I stayMy soul that flieth, alas, and dieth away!

Omyvague desires!Ye lambent flames of the soul, her offspring fires:That are my soul herself in pangs sublimeRising and flying to heaven before her time:What doth tempt you forthTo drown in the south or shiver in the frosty north?What seek ye or find ye in your random flying,Ever soaring aloft, soaring and dying?Joy, the joy of flight!They hide in the sun, they flare and dance in the night;Gone up, gone out of sight: and ever againFollow fresh tongues of fire, fresh pangs of pain.Ah! they burn my soul,The fires, devour my soul that once was whole:She is scattered in fiery phantoms day by day,But whither, whither? ay whither? away, away!Could I but controlThese vague desires, these leaping flames of the soul:Could I but quench the fire: ah! could I stayMy soul that flieth, alas, and dieth away!

Omyvague desires!Ye lambent flames of the soul, her offspring fires:That are my soul herself in pangs sublimeRising and flying to heaven before her time:

Omyvague desires!

Ye lambent flames of the soul, her offspring fires:

That are my soul herself in pangs sublime

Rising and flying to heaven before her time:

What doth tempt you forthTo drown in the south or shiver in the frosty north?What seek ye or find ye in your random flying,Ever soaring aloft, soaring and dying?

What doth tempt you forth

To drown in the south or shiver in the frosty north?

What seek ye or find ye in your random flying,

Ever soaring aloft, soaring and dying?

Joy, the joy of flight!They hide in the sun, they flare and dance in the night;Gone up, gone out of sight: and ever againFollow fresh tongues of fire, fresh pangs of pain.

Joy, the joy of flight!

They hide in the sun, they flare and dance in the night;

Gone up, gone out of sight: and ever again

Follow fresh tongues of fire, fresh pangs of pain.

Ah! they burn my soul,The fires, devour my soul that once was whole:She is scattered in fiery phantoms day by day,But whither, whither? ay whither? away, away!

Ah! they burn my soul,

The fires, devour my soul that once was whole:

She is scattered in fiery phantoms day by day,

But whither, whither? ay whither? away, away!

Could I but controlThese vague desires, these leaping flames of the soul:Could I but quench the fire: ah! could I stayMy soul that flieth, alas, and dieth away!

Could I but control

These vague desires, these leaping flames of the soul:

Could I but quench the fire: ah! could I stay

My soul that flieth, alas, and dieth away!


Back to IndexNext