Renewal
As the young phœnix, duteous to his sire,1
Lifts in his beak the creature he has been,2
And, laying o’er the corse broad vans for screen.3
Bears it to solitudes, erects a pyre,4
And, soon as it is wasted by the fire,5
Grides with disdainful claw the ashes clean,6
Then spreading unencumbered wings serene,7
Mounts to the æther with renewed desire:8
So joyously I lift myself above9
The life I buried in hot flames to-day;10
The flames themselves are dead—and I can range11
Alone through the untarnished sky I love,12
And trust myself, as from the grave one may,13
To the enchanting miracles of change.14