Poems (Hoffman)/Had I but Wings Like Thine
HAD I BUT WINGS LIKE THINE
Had I but wings like thine, Free bird of flight,To scale the heights that only wings can reach,Or steer my passage o'er yon seas of light, Whose cloudy beachIs ever shifting like the sands of time!
Had I but wings like thine To soar betweenThose airy deeps and lower deeps more real,Above the wrecks and ruins of the main, The joy to feelOf freedom on unfailing pinions mine!
Had I but wings like thine To visit landsOf ancient story and undimmed renown:To roam and rest beside those glittering strands That ages crownWith words and thoughts that lustrous gems outshine!
Had I but wings like thine! In yonder skies,Thy graceful form becomes a speck to view;Had I but wings like thine I would arise, A bird of passage too,To pass beyond this narrow prison line!
Had I but wings like thine! 'Tis vain to long;Ah! rather let me feel those hidden wings,That to a higher, broader, flight belong; Be mine a heart that ever soars and singsAbove the wrecks of wrong!