Sports and gallantries, the stage, the arts, the antics of dancers,
The exuberant voices of music,
Have charm for children but lack nobility; it is bitter earnestness
That makes beauty; the mind
Knows, grown adult.
A sudden fog-drift muffled the ocean,
A throbbing of engines moved in it,
At length, a stone’s throw out, between the rocks and the vapor,
One by one moved shadows
Out of the mystery, shadows, fishing-boats, trailing each other
Following the cliff for guidance,
Holding a difficult path between the peril of the sea-fog
And the foam on the shore granite.
One by one, trailing their leader, six crept by me,
Out of the vapor and into it,
The throb of their engines subdued by the fog, patient and
cautious,
Coasting all round the peninsula
Back to the buoys in Monterey harbor. A flight of pelicans
Is nothing lovelier to look at;
The flight of the planets is nothing nobler; all the arts lose virtue
Against the essential reality
Of creatures going about their business among the equally
Earnest elements of nature.
(Robinson Jeffers)
More Poetry from Robinson Jeffers:
Robinson Jeffers Poems based on Topics: Beauty, Mind, Nature, Music, Art, Dancing, Leading & Managing, Astronomy & Cosmology, Medicine & Medical, Leadership, Advices- Apology For Bad Dreams (Robinson Jeffers Poems)
- A Redeemer (Robinson Jeffers Poems)
- An Artist (Robinson Jeffers Poems)
- De Rerum Virtute (Robinson Jeffers Poems)
- All The Little Hoofprints (Robinson Jeffers Poems)
- Contemplation Of The Sword (Robinson Jeffers Poems)
Readers Who Like This Poem Also Like:
Based on Topics: Mind Poems, Nature Poems, Beauty Poems, Art Poems, Music Poems, Dancing Poems, Mystery Poems, Medicine & Medical Poems, Astronomy & Cosmology Poems, Sports Poems, Leading & Managing PoemsBased on Keywords: pelicans, buoys, sea-fog, exuberant, antics, peninsula, monterey, fishing-boats, gallantries