Poems of Thomas Bailey Aldrich / [by Thomas Bailey Aldrich] [electronic text]

X.
ENAMORED ARCHITECT OF AIRY RHYME.

ENAMORED architect of airy rhyme, Build as thou wilt; heed not what each man says Good souls, but innocent of dreamers' ways, Will come, and marvel why thou wastest time; Others, beholding how thy turrets climb 'Twixt theirs and heaven, will hate thee all their days: But most beware of those who come to praise. O Wondersmith, O worker in sublimeAnd heaven-sent dreams, let art be all in all; Build as thou wilt, unspoiled by praise or blame, Build as thou wilt, and as thy light is given: Then, if at last the airy structure fall, Dissolve, and vanish—take thyself no shame. They fail, and they alone, who have not striven.