As to Being Alone: Difference between revisions
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Silence and space terrified me, bringing the thought of | Silence and space terrified me, bringing the thought of | ||
::: what an irritable clod I was and how soon death | ::: what an irritable clod I was and how soon death | ||
::: would gulp me down ... | ::: would gulp me down . . . | ||
</poem> | </poem> | ||
</paragraph> | </paragraph> | ||
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This fear has reared cities: | This fear has reared cities: | ||
The cowards flock together by the millions lest they | The cowards flock together by the millions lest they | ||
::: should be left alone for a half hour ... | ::: should be left alone for a half hour . . . | ||
With church, theater and school, | With church, theater and school, | ||
With office, mill and motor, | With office, mill and motor, | ||
With a thousand cunning devices, and clever calls to | With a thousand cunning devices, and clever calls to | ||
::: each other, | ::: each other, | ||
They escape from themselves to the crowd ... | They escape from themselves to the crowd . . . | ||
</poem> | </poem> | ||
</paragraph> | </paragraph> | ||
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The warm bath of humanity in which I relaxed and | The warm bath of humanity in which I relaxed and | ||
::: soaked myself: | ::: soaked myself: | ||
And never, I hope, shall I be without it—at times ... | And never, I hope, shall I be without it—at times . . . | ||
</poem> | </poem> | ||
</paragraph> | </paragraph> | ||
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::: morning: | ::: morning: | ||
The earth has an appointment with me, not to be | The earth has an appointment with me, not to be | ||
::: broken ... | ::: broken . . . | ||
I must accustom myself to the gaunt face of the Sub- | I must accustom myself to the gaunt face of the Sub- | ||
::: time ... | ::: time . . . | ||
I must see what I really am, and what I am for, | I must see what I really am, and what I am for, | ||
And what this city is for, and the Earth and the stars | And what this city is for, and the Earth and the stars | ||
::: in their hurry ... | ::: in their hurry . . . | ||
</poem> | </poem> | ||
</paragraph> | </paragraph> |
Revision as of 09:58, 15 July 2024
Author | Oppenheim, James |
---|---|
Genre | Poetry |
Journal or Book | Songs for the New Era |
Publisher | The Century Co. |
Year of Publication | 1914 |
Pages | 7-8 |
Additional information | - |
WHY did you hate to be by yourself,
And why were you sick of your own company?
Such the question, and this the answer:
I feared sublimity:
I was a little afraid of God:
Silence and space terrified me, bringing the thought of
what an irritable clod I was and how soon death
would gulp me down . . .
This fear has reared cities:
The cowards flock together by the millions lest they
should be left alone for a half hour . . .
With church, theater and school,
With office, mill and motor,
With a thousand cunning devices, and clever calls to
each other,
They escape from themselves to the crowd . . .
Oh, I have loved it all:
Snug rooms, the talk, the pleasant feast, the pictures:
The warm bath of humanity in which I relaxed and
soaked myself:
And never, I hope, shall I be without it—at times . . .
But now myself calls me ...
The skies demand me, though it is but ten in the
morning:
The earth has an appointment with me, not to be
broken . . .
I must accustom myself to the gaunt face of the Sub-
time . . .
I must see what I really am, and what I am for,
And what this city is for, and the Earth and the stars
in their hurry . . .
To turn out typewriters,
To invent a new breakfast food,
To devise a dance that was never danced until now,
To urge a new sanitation, and a swifter automobile—
Have the life-surging heavens no business but this?