To flee from memory 1
Had we the Wings
Many would fly
Inured to slower things
Birds with surprise 5
Would scan the cowering Van
Of men escaping
From the mind of man
Had we the Wings
Many would fly
Inured to slower things
Birds with surprise 5
Would scan the cowering Van
Of men escaping
From the mind of man
(F.1343/J.1242)
[1] flee, memory:: to escape the past.
[2] Wings:: protection.
[3] fly:: to escape.
[4] slower:: stagnant in one's life.
[5] Birds:: young smart fellows.
[6] Van:: wagon, a hint on the exploring of the wild.
[7, 8] escaping, mind:: escaping is one of the reasons for people to go West.
The importance of the Western field is universally recognized. Its attractiveness is by the young almost universally felt. It is a community of young men. . . . It has drawn also therewith men of no principle or of doubtful principle; men of ruined lives and broken fortunes; men who are determined to serve both God and Mammon; men who leave their conscience with their church letter, at home, when they emigrate. They that go West go to seek their fortune. ─ Home Missionary (1868)
MANIFEST DESTINY IN THE WEST. That remarkable succession of circumstances quoted oftentimes as "Manifest Destiny" is nowhere in history more wonderfully illustrated than in the rapid spread of Americanism from the eastern to the western shores of the North American continent. ─ Overland Monthly, and Out West Magazine (1869)
