Poem by Alan Seeger

Sonnet 2. Not that I always struck the proper mean

Not that I always struck the proper mean
Of what mankind must give for what they gain,
But, when I think of those whom dull routine
And the pursuit of cheerless toil enchain,
Who from their desk-chairs seeing a summer cloud
Race through blue heaven on its joyful course
Sigh sometimes for a life less cramped and bowed,
I think I might have done a great deal worse;
For I have ever gone untied and free,
The stars and my high thoughts for company;
Wet with the salt-spray and the mountain showers,
I have had the sense of space and amplitude,
And love in many places, silver-shoed,
Has come and scattered all my path with flowers.

1. Thirty Sonnets. 19. Vivien
2. Thirty Sonnets. 28. On the Cliffs, Newport
3. Broceliande
4. Thirty Sonnets. 7. Sonnet 7. To me, a pilgrim on that journey bound
5. Thirty Sonnets. 21. Virginibus Puerisque

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