Poems of Nature (Thoreau)/The Poet's Delay

by Henry David Thoreau

For other versions of this work, see The Poet's Delay.

THE POET'S DELAY

In vain I see the morning rise,
⁠In vain observe the western blaze,
Who idly look to other skies,
⁠Expecting life by other ways.

Amidst such boundless wealth without,
⁠I only still am poor within,
The birds have sung their summer out,
⁠But still my spring does not begin.

Shall I then wait the autumn wind,
⁠Compelled to seek a milder day,
And leave no curious nest behind,
⁠No woods still echoing to my lay?