| Take this kiss upon the brow! And, in parting from you now, Thus much let me avow- You are not wrong, who deem That my days have been a dream; Yet if hope has flown away In a night, or in a day, In a vision, or in none, Is it therefor the less gone? All that we see or seem Is but a dream within a dream. I stand amid the roar Of a surf-tormented shore, And I hold within my hand Grains of the golden sand- How few!! yet how they creep Through the fingers to the deep, While I weep - while I weep!! O God!! can I not grasp Them with a tighter clasp?? O God!! can I not save One from the pitiless wave?? Is all that we see or seem, But a dream within a dream?? ---------------------- Just lost, when I was saved!! Just felt the world go by!! Just gift me for the onset with Eternity When breath blew back, And on the other side I heard recede the disappointed tide!! Therefor, as One returned, I feel, Odd secrets of the line to tell!! Some Sailor, skirting foreign shores - Some pale Reporter, from the awful doors Before the Sea!! Next time, to stay!! Next time, the things to see By Ear unheard, Unscrutinized by Eye - Next time, to tarry, While the Ages steal - Slow tramp the Centuries, And the Cycles wheel!! -------------------- Wild nights - wild nights!! Were I with thee Wild nights should be Our luxury!! Futile the winds To a heart in port, Done with the compass, Done with the chart!! Rowing in Eden, Ah, the sea!! Might I but moor, tonight, With thee!! -------------------- I can wade grief Whole pools of it. I�m used to that. But the least push of joy Breaks up my feet, And I tip, drunken, Let no pebble smile, �Twas no liquor, That was all!! Power is only pain. Stranded, thro� discipline, �Till weights will hang, Give balm to giants, And they�ll wilt, like men Give himmaleh, They�ll carry him!! -------------------- �Hope� is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul - And sings the tune without words And never stops - at all. And sweetest in the gale is heard, And sore must be the storm That could abash the little bird That kept so many warm. I�ve heard it in the chillest land, And on the strangest sea. Yet, never, in extremity, It asked a crumb of me. |
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