A purple cloud hangs half-way down;
Sky, yellow gold below;
The naked trees, beyond the town,
Like masts against it show,—
Bare masts and spars of our earth-ship,
With shining snow-sails furled;
And through the sea of space we slip,
That flows all round the world.
In my sleep I was fain of their fellowship, fain
Of the live-oak, the marsh, and the main.
The little green leaves would not let me alone in my sleep;
Up-breathed from the marshes, a message of range and of sweep,
Interwoven with waftures of wild sea-liberties, drifting,
Came through the lapped leaves sifting, sifting,
Came to the...
A darkened hut outlined against the sky,
A forward-looking slope,—some cedar trees,
Gaunt grasses stirred by the awaking breeze,
And nearer, where the grayer shadows lie,
Within a small paled square, one may descry
The beds wherein the Poor first taste of ease,
Where dewy rose-vines drop their spicy lees
Above the dreamless ashes,...
The Day unfolds like a lotus bloom,
Pink at the tip and gold at the core,
Rising up swiftly through waters of gloom
That lave night’s shore.
Down bamboo-stalks the sunbeams slide,
Darting like glittering elves at play,
To the thin arched grass where crickets hide
And sing all day.
The old crows caw from the...
[See full text.]
IN my sleep I was fain of their fellowship, fain
Of the live-oak, the marsh and the main.
The little green leaves would not let me alone in my sleep.
Upbreathed from the marshes, a message of range and of sweep.* * * * *
I have waked, I have come, my belovèd! I might not abide:
I have come ere the dawn...
Young palmer sun, that to the shining sands
Pourest thy pilgrim’s tale, discoursing still
Thy silver passages of sacred lands,
With news of Sepulchre and Dolorous Hill,
Canst thou be he that, Yester-Sunset warm,
Purple with Paynim rage and wrack-desire,
Dashed ravening out of a dusty lair of storm,
Harried the west, and set the...
Hast thou a charm to stay the morning star
In his steep course? So long he seems to pause
On thy bald, awful head, O sovran Blanc!
The Arve and Arveiron at thy base
Rave ceaselessly; but thou, most awful Form,
Risest from forth thy silent sea of pines
How silently! Around thee and above,
Deep is the air and dark, substantial, black—...
As on my bed at dawn I mused and prayed,
I saw my lattice prankt upon the wall,
The flaunting leaves and flitting birds withal—
A sunny phantom interlaced with shade;
“Thanks be to Heaven,” in happy mood I said,
“What sweeter aid my matins could befall
Than this fair glory from the east hath made?
What holy sleights hath God, the Lord of...
The Doomed — regard the Sunrise
With different Delight —
Because — when next it burns abroad
They doubt to witness it —
The Man — to die — tomorrow —
Harks for the Meadow Bird —
Because its Music stirs the Axe
That clamors for his head —
Joyful — to whom the Sunrise...
The Sunrise runs for Both —
The East — Her Purple Troth
Keeps with the Hill —
The Noon unwinds Her Blue
Till One Breadth cover Two —
Remotest — still —
Nor does the Night forget
A Lamp for Each — to set —
Wicks wide away —
The North — Her blazing Sign
...
