Classic Poem

Was it wise to count the ranks of teeth
In the gulf's grim jaws between us there?
And when thou wert above to gaze beneath,
And shrink from the hope that look'd despair?
I leapt like a leopard the space of air.

'Twas the Desert's thirst for a dewy flower,
And the Desert's dream of Eden springs:
And the Desert's headlong arrowy power,
That gave me the force of cleaving wings:
And he who clung to them—now he clings!