Of great endurance: Not alone his hands
Wrought in wild seas and labored in strange lands,
And not alone his patient strength withstood
The clashing cliffs and Circe's perilous sands:
Eager of some imperishable good
He drave new pathways thro' the trackless flood
Foreguarded, fearless, free from Fate's commands.
How shall our faith discern the truth he sought?
We too must watch and wander till our eyes,
Turned skyward from the topmost tower of thought,
Haply shall find the star that marked his goal,
The watch-fire of transcendent liberties
Lighting the endless spaces of the soul.


SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDY

Read the poem through. How did Ulysses strive with gods and men? Why can
it be said that he did not labor alone? Look up the story of Circe and
her palace.[10] What was the imperishable good that Ulysses sought? What
does his experience have to do with our lives? What sort of freedom does
the author speak of in the last few lines?

This verse-form is called the sonnet. How many lines has it? Make out a
scheme of the rhymes: _a b b a_, etc. Notice the change of thought at
the ninth line. Do all sonnets show this change?


EXERCISES