Songs of Love and Rebellion/You want to be a poet, child?

by Covington Hall

YOU WANT TO BE A POET, CHILD?

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To take your pen and write
Of fairies in the wonderlands
And goblins in the night?

To comrade with the bee
And steal the sweets of honied plants
That grow by land and sea?

To wander with the light
Along the paths of morning,
Or adown the vales of night?

To understand the words,
The strange, mysterious language
Of the freeborn forest birds?

To hear the heart of things,
The music of the waters
And the rustle of the wings?

With wistful eyes to gaze
Across the sea of sadness
On the lands of other days?

To stand out in the dark
Alone upon the mountains
Where the wolves of failure bark?

To see the light of love
Fade slowly from the world around
And vanish from above?

To watch the ghostly wraith
That springs up from the ashes
Of your perished hope and faith?

Ah! let your heart be strong
If you would be a poet, child—
The singer of a song!