AmyLowell:TheStarling

`I cant get

out, said the starling.

Sternes

`Sentimental Journey.

Forever the impenetrable wall

Of self confines my poor rebellious soul,

I never see the towering white clouds roll

Before a sturdy wind, save through the small

Barred window of my jail. I live a thrall

With all my outer life a clipped, square hole,

Rectangular; a fraction of a scroll

Unwound and winding like a worsted ball.

My thoughts are grown uneager and depressed

Through being always mine, my fancys wings

Are moulted and the feathers blown away.

I weary for desires never guessed,

For alien passions, strange imaginings,

To be some other person for a day.