Nature

I ask not for those thoughts, that sudden leap

by James Russell Lowell 1819–1891

From Earlier Poems

Nature

I ask not for those thoughts, that sudden leap
From being's sea, like the isle-seeming Kraken,
With whose great rise the ocean all is shaken
And a heart-tremble quivers through the deep;
Give me that growth which some perchance deem sleep,
Wherewith the steadfast coral-stems uprise,
Which, by the toil of gathering energies,
Their upward way into clear sunshine keep,
Until, by Heaven's sweetest influences,
Slowly and slowly spreads a speck of green
Into a pleasant island in the seas,
Where, mid fall palms, the cane-roofed home is seen,
And wearied men shall sit at sunset's hour,
Hearing the leaves and loving God's dear power.

MLA

Lowell, James Russell. “I ask not for those thoughts, that sudden leap.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/lowell/154/.

Chicago

Lowell, James Russell. “I ask not for those thoughts, that sudden leap.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/lowell/154/.

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