Two Poems Every Child (Past the Age of 18) Should Read
The first is a poem fragment (from Shelley's Epipsychidion ) I picked up from reading E M Forster's The Longest Journey . Perhaps I'm not "forcing on it" the exact same thoughts that Shelley or Forster did, but I nevertheless find something that says "Carve out a Spiritual Life for Yourself." Thy wisdom speaks in me, and bids me dare Beacon the rocks on which high hearts are wrecked. I never was attached to that great sect 20 Whose doctrine is that each one should select Out of the crowd a mistress or a friend, And all the rest, though fair and wise, commend To cold oblivion; though it is in the code Of modern morals, and the beaten road 25 Which those poor slaves with weary footsteps tread Who travel to their home among the dead By the broad highway of the world, and so With one chained friend, perhaps a jealous foe, The dreariest and the longest journey go. ...