Edwin Arlington Robinson (1869–1935). Collected Poems. 1921.
V. The Town Down the River26. Bon Voyage
C
And old as Troy,
Bringer of best and worst
In wild alloy—
Light, like a linnet first,
He sang for joy.
Of every day,
Mocker of all degrees
And always gay,
Child of the Cyclades
And of Broadway—
The boy began,
Drunk with a woodland wine
Thessalian:
But there was rue to twine
The pipes of Pan.
The more along,
Vivid and always new
And always wrong,
Knowing his only clew
A siren song.
He gave and spent:
Feast or a funeral
He laughed and went,
Laughing to be so small
In the event.
By many a tongue,
Flayed for his long defeat
By being young,
Lured by the fateful sweet
Of songs unsung—
But knowing not
The secret of an art
That few forgot,
He played the twinkling part
That was his lot.
As twinkles do,
He pushed himself aside
And out of view:
Out with the wind and tide,
Before we knew.