Edgar Lee Masters - George Gray

[gl-oriana.livejournal.com]

I have studied many times
The marble which was chiseled for me—
A boat with a furled sail at rest in a harbor.
In truth it pictures not my destination
But my life.
For love was offered me and I shrank from its disillusionment;
Sorrow knocked at my door, but I was afraid;
Ambition called to me, but I dreaded the chances.
Yet all the while I hungered for meaning in my life.
And now I know that we must lift the sail
And catch the winds of destiny
Wherever they drive the boat.
To put meaning in one’s life may end in madness,
But life without meaning is the torture
Of restlessness and vague desire—
It is a boat longing for the sea and yet afraid.

Comments

[moonjewel.livejournal.com]

thank you.

[goodfoot08.livejournal.com]

thanks. I have always liked him. What is his place in modern poetry?
I wonder if it is just too easy to find examples of a flat, almost artless, style. But even the more awkward phrasing seems right for a small town epitaph of a small town person.

[gl-oriana.livejournal.com]

I always thought of him as a poor man's John Berryman. But I like the sentiment to this one. I always come back to it.

[lucretius.livejournal.com]

Very interesting writer. I was recently in Spoon River country, and trekked out to see his grave:

[gl-oriana.livejournal.com]

Wow! Thanks for the picture.

[epicstarshine.livejournal.com]

This is one of my absolute favorite poems. Thank you for posting it! :3