Going down Hill on a Bicycle, A Boy's Song

By Henry Charles Beeching

1859-1919


WITH lifted feet, hands still,
I am poised, and down the hill
Dart, with heedful mind;
The air goes by in a wind.

Swifter and yet more swift,
Till the heart with a mighty lift
Makes the lungs laugh, the throat cry:--
'O bird, see; see, bird, I fly.

'Is this, is this your joy?
O bird, then I, though a boy
For a golden moment share
Your feathery life in air!'

Say, heart, is there aught like this
In a world that is full of bliss?
'Tis more than skating, bound
Steel-shod to the level ground.

Speed slackens now, I float
Awhile in my airy boat;
Till, when the wheels scarce crawl,
My feet to the treadles fall.

Alas, that the longest hill
Must end in a vale; but still,
Who climbs with toil, wheresoe'er,
Shall find wings waiting there.

DayPoems Poem No. 804
<a href="http://www.daypoems.net/poems/804.html">Going down Hill on a Bicycle, A Boy's Song by Henry Charles Beeching</a>

The DayPoems Poetry Collection, www.daypoems.net
Timothy Bovee, editor

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