Moods
Moods - meaning Summary
Yearning for Spontaneous Song
The speaker longs for a spontaneous, natural song that might revive him from dull lethargy. He imagines a gift of art that feels fresh and elemental—healing, slightly bitter, and restorative—yet acknowledges that such inspiration arrives unpredictably. The poem compares the creative impulse to a wind: sudden, strong, and untraceable, coming and going by its own will, beyond the control or timing of any listener.
Read Complete AnalysesOh that a Song would sing itself to me Out of the heart of Nature, or the heart Of man, the child of Nature, not of Art, Fresh as the morning, salt as the salt sea, With just enough of bitterness to be A medicine to this sluggish mood, and start The life-blood in my veins, and so impart Healing and help in this dull lethargy! Alas! not always doth the breath of song Breathe on us. It is like the wind that bloweth At its own will, not ours, nor tarrieth long; We hear the sound thereof, but no man knoweth From whence it comes, so sudden and swift and strong, Nor whither in its wayward course it goeth.
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