Could I but Ride Indefinite
poem 661
Could I but Ride Indefinite - meaning Summary
Yearning for Unconstrained Freedom
This short poem speaks of a speaker’s longing for unbounded, playful freedom. Imagining life as a meadow bee or a raft on air, the speaker pictures visiting wherever desired, flirting with flowers, marrying freely, and escaping pursuit or social constraint. The images contrast light, mobile pleasure with confinement; the final lines make liberty relative by comparing it to the captive’s dream. The tone blends whimsy and wistfulness, using small domestic and natural scenes to express a wish to evade obligation and intrusion in favor of solitary, wandering autonomy.
Read Complete AnalysesCould I but ride indefinite As doth the Meadow Bee And visit only where I liked And No one visit me And flirt all Day with Buttercups And marry whom I may And dwell a little everywhere Or better, run away With no Police to follow Or chase Him if He do Till He should jump Peninsulas To get away from me I said But just to be a Bee Upon a Raft of Air And row in Nowhere all Day long And anchor off the Bar What Liberty! So Captives deem Who tight in Dungeons are.
Feel free to be first to leave comment.