To learn the Transport by the Pain 1
As Blind Men learn the sun!
To die of thirst－suspecting
That Brooks in Meadows run!
To stay the homesick－homesick feet 5
Upon a foreign shore－
Haunted by native lands, the while－
And blue－beloved air!
This is the Sovereign Anguish! 9
This－the signal woe!
These are the patient "Laureates"
Whose voices－trained－below－
Ascend in ceaseless Carol－13
Inaudible, indeed,
To us－the duller scholars
Of the Mysterious Bard!
As Blind Men learn the sun!
To die of thirst－suspecting
That Brooks in Meadows run!
To stay the homesick－homesick feet 5
Upon a foreign shore－
Haunted by native lands, the while－
And blue－beloved air!
This is the Sovereign Anguish! 9
This－the signal woe!
These are the patient "Laureates"
Whose voices－trained－below－
Ascend in ceaseless Carol－13
Inaudible, indeed,
To us－the duller scholars
Of the Mysterious Bard!
(F.178/J.167)
[1–4] Blind, thirst:: a hint on Homer, a blind man who felt the world with pain and thirst for knowledge.
[5–8] homesick, foreign, native lands:: Homer as a wandering minstrel.
[11] Laureates:: a hint on poets.
[15, 16] scholars, Mysterious Bard:: Homer is a legend with very little record about him.