My breast, or that of others, for a while.
Fame is the thirst of youth,—but I am not[1]
So young as to regard men's frown or smile,
As loss or guerdon of a glorious lot;—
I stood and stand alone,—remembered or forgot.
CXIII.
I have not loved the World, nor the World me;
I have not flattered its rank breath,[2] nor bowed
To its idolatries a patient knee,
Nor coined my cheek to smiles,—nor cried aloud
In worship of an echo: in the crowd
They could not deem me one of such—I stood
Among them, but not of them[3]—in a shroud
Of thoughts which were not their thoughts, and still could,
Had I not filed my mind, which thus itself subdued.N23
- ↑
Fame is the dream of boyhood—I am not
So young as to regard the frown or smile
Of crowds as making an immortal lot.—[MS. (lines 6, 7 erased).] - ↑ [Compare Shakespeare, Coriolanus, act iii. sc. 1, lines 66, 67—
"For the mutable, rank-scented many, let them
Regard me as I do not flatter."] - ↑ [Compare Manfred, act ii. sc. 2, lines 54-57—
"My spirit walked not with the souls of men,
Nor looked upon the earth with human eyes;
The thirst of their ambition was not mine,
The aim of their existence was not mine."]
