"From these our interviews from which I steal
from all that I may be
or have been before"

If I remember correctly, those are the last three lines of that stanza. Was it Childe Harold? can't remember which poem, he wrote so many

That's amazing! the only piece of poetry I remember from my childhood - I'm 76 yrs old

From Wallace Stevens "Of Mere Being"

"A gold-feathered bird
Sings in the palm, without human meaning,
Without human feeling, a foreign song.

You know then that it is not the reason
That makes us happy or unhappy.
The bird sings. Its feathers shine."

Enjoy the aesthetic, for what it is.

Nature brings intense joy.

Thank you for the very nice poetry. Here's a favorite of mine by our late poet laureate Stanley Kunitz. I was lucky enough to hear him recite this poem when he was 98 years old. He was a little man with a deep powerful voice.

Halley's Comet

Miss Murphy in first grade
wrote its name in chalk
across the board and told us
it was roaring down the stormtracks
of the Milky Way at frightful speed
and if it wandered off its course
and smashed into the earth
there'd be no school tomorrow.
A red-bearded preacher from the hills
with a wild look in his eyes
stood in the public square
at the playground's edge
proclaiming he was sent by God
to save every one of us,
even the little children.
"Repent, ye sinners!" he shouted,
waving his hand-lettered sign.
At supper I felt sad to think
that it was probably
the last meal I'd share
with my mother and my sisters;
but I felt excited too
and scarcely touched my plate.
So mother scolded me
and sent me early to my room.
The whole family's asleep
except for me. They never heard me steal
into the stairwell hall and climb
the ladder to the fresh night air.

Look for me, Father, on the roof
of the red brick building
at the foot of Green Street --
that's where we live, you know, on the top floor.
I'm the boy in the white flannel gown
sprawled on this coarse gravel bed
searching the starry sky,
waiting for the world to end.

I thought the religious context behind rapture was a Christian thing and was globally recognized in that religion, is that not true?

Back to the question at hand though, I find that I’m happiest in life when I can set my own pace and things aren’t frantic, and I find a lot of joy in the work I do and the challenges I overcome there.

I'm confused, and I'm sure it's me not you. You think you got blocked for posting your thoughts about poetry? Is this poem of Byron's related to you getting blocked? I'm honestly not being snarky; I don't understand, my apologies.