Chapter 2 No.2

Take thou thy way between the cloud and wave,

O Daedalus, my father, steering forth

To friendly Samos, or the Carian shore!

But me the spaces of the upper heaven

Attract, the height, the freedom, and the joy.

For now, from that dark treachery escaped,

And tasting power which was the lust of youth,

Whene'er the white blades of the sea-gull's wings

Flashed round the headland, or the barbéd files

Of cranes returning clanged across the sky,

No half-way flight, no errand incomplete

I purpose. Not, as once in dreams, with pain

I mount, with fear and huge exertion hold

Myself a moment, ere the sickening fall

Breaks in the shock of waking. Launched, at last,

Uplift on powerful wings, I veer and float

Past sunlit isles of cloud, that dot with light

The boundless archipelago of sky.

I fan the airy silence till it starts

In rustling whispers, swallowed up as soon;

I warm the chilly ether with my breath;

I with the beating of my heart make glad

The desert blue. Have I not raised myself

Unto this height, and shall I cease to soar?

The curious eagles wheel about my path:

With sharp and questioning eyes they stare at me,

With harsh, impatient screams they menace me,

Who, with these vans of cunning workmanship

Broad-spread, adventure on their high domain,-

Now mine, as well. Henceforth, ye clamorous birds,

I claim the azure empire of the air!

Henceforth I breast the current of the morn,

Between her crimson shores: a star, henceforth,

Upon the crawling dwellers of the earth

My forehead shines. The steam of sacred blood,

The smoke of burning flesh on altars laid,

Fumes of the temple-wine, and sprinkled myrrh,

Shall reach my palate ere they reach the Gods.