A Passing Glimpse Lyrics
To Ridgely Torrence
On Last Looking into His 'Hesperides'
I often see flowers from a passing car
That are gone before I can tell what they are.
I want to get out of the train and go back
To see what they were beside the track.
I name all the flowers I am sure they weren't;
Not fireweed loving where woods have burnt--
Not bluebells gracing a tunnel mouth--
Not lupine living on sand and drouth.
Was something brushed across my mind
That no one on earth will ever find?
Heaven gives it glimpses only to those
Not in position to look too close.
On Last Looking into His 'Hesperides'
I often see flowers from a passing car
That are gone before I can tell what they are.
I want to get out of the train and go back
To see what they were beside the track.
I name all the flowers I am sure they weren't;
Not fireweed loving where woods have burnt--
Not bluebells gracing a tunnel mouth--
Not lupine living on sand and drouth.
Was something brushed across my mind
That no one on earth will ever find?
Heaven gives it glimpses only to those
Not in position to look too close.
About
Genius Annotation
The common theme of this poem is none other than Mutability that runs throughout the poetry, but in this poem the sense of change is exaggerated and expressed by putting emphasis on a gigantic man-made machine which by very nature, contrasts with the delicate and beautiful flowers
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
- 1.Spring Pools
- 5.Atmosphere
- 6.Devotion
- 8.The Cocoon
- 9.A Passing Glimpse
- 10.A Peck of Gold
- 11.Acceptance
- 13.Lodged
- 14.A Minor Bird
- 15.Bereft
- 18.The Thatch
- 19.A Winter Eden
- 20.The Flood
- 24.Sand Dunes
- 25.Canis Major
- 26.A Soldier
- 27.Immigrants
- 28.Hannibal
- 29.The Flower Boat
- 30.The Times Table
- 31.The Investment
- 32.The Last Mowing
- 33.The Birthplace
- 35.Dust in the Eyes
- 37.The Armful
- 38.What Fifty Said
- 39.Riders
- 41.The Bear
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