The Gardener 5: I Am Restless
I am restless. I am athirst for far-away things. My soul goes out in a longing to touch the skirt of the dim distance. O Great Beyond, O the keen call of thy flute! I forget, I ever forget, that I have no wings to fly, that I am bound in this spot evermore. I am eager and wakeful, I am a stranger in a strange land. Thy breath comes to me whispering an impossible hope. Thy tongue is known to my heart as its very own. O Far-to-seek, O the keen call of thy flute! I forget, I ever forget, that I know not the way, that I have not the winged horse. I am listless, I am a wanderer in my heart. In the sunny haze of the languid hours, what vast vision of thine takes shape in the blue of the sky! O Farthest end, O the keen call of thy flute! I forget, I ever forget, that the gates are shut everywhere in the house where I dwell alone!
The Gardener 5: I Am Restless - meaning Summary
Longing for the Unattainable
The poem expresses intense restlessness and longing for a distant, almost mystical beyond. The speaker is repeatedly drawn by the alluring call of a flute toward an unreachable horizon, forgetting each time the physical and circumstantial limits that bind them. Scenes shift from wakeful yearning to dreamy vision to lonely resignation, tracing a movement between hope and the recurring realization of confinement and the impossibility of literal escape.
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