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. On a Theme in the Greek Anthology
2. Thirty Sonnets. 27. Oneata
3. Thirty Sonnets. 24. Coucy
4. Thirty Sonnets. 26. The Old Lowe House, Staten Island
5. The Bayadere

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