Charles Mackay

To an Eagle

O! for an eagle's wings,
To brave the rugged blast,
In spite of wind and storm to soar
O'er mount and meadow vast.
O! that I might, like thee,
O'er Alpine summits fly,
And travel, unconfined and free,
The nearest to the sky!

O! that mine eye like thine
Upon the sun might gaze,
And revel in that living light,
Undazzled by the blaze!
O! that my rapid flight
O'er boundless ether driven,
Might never leave, for things of earth,
The brighter ones of heaven!

Here, when the soul inspired
Would leave the world behind,
Forgetting its affinity
To sorrow and mankind,
With eye like thine to scan
The wonders of its birth,
Some petty care disturbs its flight,
And draws it back to earth.

O! for an eagle's wings!
O, for an eagle's nest!
To dwell upon the mountain tops,
With Nature for my guest:
Fanned by the rushing wind,
Rejoicing in the blast,
And soaring in the light of morn
O'er woods and waters vast.