Air Castles
By Juan F. Salazar


My life’s tomorrow beckons me
From distant mountains high and low;
My future seems a boundless sea,
Where moving passions come and go.
Deep in my heart ambition dwells;
He cheers me up the highland,
And guides me through the hills and dells
Where I pass the busy day.
I cannot write with Shakespeare’s pen,
But I can love with Shakespeare’s heart;
I love his skill his craft of men,
His mastery of poet’s art.
I do not care for fame, as he,
Enthroned was like unto a god:
The depths he reached are dark to me.
But I will grope the ways he tried.
I wear achievement’s coronet.
For best are they who see things done!
And all my cares I soon forget
When I have wrought my work alone.
If I be met by adverse fate,
And all my dreams but in vain;
Then, must I work the harder yet
With high resolve to try again.



How Well Did You Read?


Now that you have finished reading the poem, it’s time to find out how much you understood from the text. Simply answer the questions in the space provided.


1. What is an air castle?

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2. What is the air castle of the speaker?

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3. Shakespeare is mentioned in the third stanza, do you know who he is? What does the speaker say about him?

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4. What do you think is the message of the speaker in the last stanza? Do you agree or disagree with him? Why or why not?

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5. Do you have your own air castles? What are they? Is it possible for you to reach your air castle? How?

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