Poem by Herman Melville

Published february 19, 2015 11:41

In placid hours well-pleased we dream
Of many a brave unbodied scheme.
But form to lend, pulsed life create,
What unlike things must meet and mate:
a flame to melt, a wind to freeze;
Sad patience, joyous energies;
Humility, yet pride and scorn;
Instinct and study; love and hate;
Audacity, reverence. These must mate,
And fuse with Jacob's mystic heart,
To wrestle with the angel, Art.