If hands could free you, heart,
Where would you fly?
Far, beyond every part
Of earth this running sky
Makes desolate? Would you cross
City and hill and sea,
If hands could set you free?
I would not lift the latch;
For I could run
Through fields, pit-valleys, catch
All beauty under the sun–
Still end in loss:
I should find no bent arm, no bed
To rest my head.
(Philip Larkin)
More Poetry from Philip Larkin:
- Vers De Soci (Philip Larkin Poems)
- Tr (Philip Larkin Poems)
- Night Music (Philip Larkin Poems)
- When First We Faced (Philip Larkin Poems)
- As Bad as a Mile (Philip Larkin Poems)
- Library Ode (Philip Larkin Poems)