"Aspiration" by Adah Issacs Menken

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend July 27, 2019   Aspiration   Adah Isaacs Menken

Poor, impious Soul! that fixes its high hopes     In the dim distance, on a throne of clouds, And from the morning's mist would make the ropes     To draw it up amid acclaim of crowds— Beware! That soaring path is lined with shrouds;     And he who braves it, though of sturdy breath, May meet, half way, the avalanche and death!   O poor young Soul!—whose year-devouring glance     Fixes in ecstasy upon a star, Whose feverish brilliance looks a part of earth,     Yet quivers where the feet of angels are, And seems the future crown in realms afar—     Beware! A spark thou art, and dost but see Thine own reflection in Eternity!            This poem is in the public domain. Published in Poem-a-Day on July 27, 2019, by the Academy of American Poets. About This Poem   "Aspiration" was published in Infelicia (J.B. Lippincott, 1868).   Adah Isaacs Menken was born on June 15, 1835, in Memphis, Tennessee. Most known as the highest earning actress of her time, she is the author of Infelicia (J.B. Lippincott, 1868). She died on August 10, 1868, in Paris, France. Poetry by Menken   Infelicia and Other Writings (Broadview Press, 2002) "Venetian Glass" by Amy Lowell "City Visions" by Emma Lazarus "Niobe" by Henrietta Cordelia Ray July Guest Editor: Paul Guest   Thanks to Paul Guest, author of Because Everything Is Terrible (Diode Editions, 2018), who curated Poem-a-Day for this month's weekdays. Read a Q&A with Guest about his curatorial approach this month and find out more about our guest editors for the year. Thanks for being a part of the Academy of American Poets community. To learn about other programs, including National Poetry Month, Poem in Your Pocket Day, the annual Poets Forum, and more, visit Poets.org.   You are receiving this e-mail because you elected to subscribe to our mailing list. If you would like to unsubscribe, please click here.   © Academy of American Poets 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038