rivers to the sea-第2章
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That change far off to bluish steel
Where the fragile lights on the Jersey shore
Tremble like drops of wind…stirred dew。
The strident noises of the city
Floating up to us
RIVERS TO THE SEA
Are hallowed into whispers。
Ferries cross thru the darkness
Weaving a golden thread into the night;
Their whistles weird shadows of sound。
We feel the millions of humanity beneath us;
The warm millions; moving under the roofs;
Consumed by their own desires;
Preparing food;
Sobbing alone in a garret;
With burning eyes bending over a needle;
Aimlessly reading the evening paper;
Dancing in the naked light of the café;;
Laying out the dead;
Bringing a child to birth
The sorrow; the torpor; the bitterness; the frail joy
Come up to us
Like a cold fog wrapping us round。
Oh in a hundred years
Not one of these blood…warm bodies
RIVERS TO THE SEA
But will be worthless as clay。
The anguish; the torpor; the toil
Will have passed to other millions
Consumed by the same desires。
Ages will come and go;
Darkness will blot the lights
And the tower will be laid on the earth。
The sea will remain
Black and unchanging;
The stars will look down
Brilliant and unconcerned。
Beloved;
Tho' sorrow; futility; defeat
Surround us;
They cannot bear us down。
Here on the abyss of eternity
Love has crowned us
For a moment
Victors。
AT NIGHT
WE are apart; the city grows quiet between us;
She hushes herself; for midnight makes heavy her eyes;
The tangle of traffic is ended; the cars are empty;
Five streets divide us; and on them the moonlight lies。
Oh are you asleep; or Iying awake; my lover?
Open your dreams to my love and your heart to my words;
I send you my thoughts…the air between us is laden;
My thoughts fly in at your window; a flock of wild birds。
THE YEARS
TO…NIGHT I close my eyes and see
A strange procession passing me
The years before I saw your face
Go by me with a wistful grace;
They pass; the sensitive shy years;
As one who strives to dance; half blind with tears。
The years went by and never knew
That each one brought me nearer you;
Their path was narrow and apart
And yet it led me to your heart
Oh sensitive shy years; oh lonely years;
That strove to sing with voices drowned in tears。
PEACE
PEACE flows into me
AS the tide to the pool by the shore;
It is mine forevermore;
It ebbs not back like the sea。
I am the pool of blue
That worships the vivid sky;
My hopes were heaven…high;
They are all fulfilled in you。
I am the pool of gold
When sunset burns and dies;
You are my deepening skies;
Give me your stars to hold。
APRIL
THE roofs are shining from the rain;
The sparrows twitter as they fly;
And with a windy April grace
The little clouds go by。
Yet the back…yards are bare and brown
With only one unchanging tree
I could not be so sure of Spring
Save that it sings in me。
COME
COME; when the pale moon like a petal
Floats in the pearly dusk of spring;
Come with arms outstretched to take me;
Come with lips pursed up to cling。
Come; for life is a frail moth flying
Caught in the web of the years that pass;
And soon we two; so warm and eager
Will be as the gray stones in the grass。
MOODS
I AM the still rain falling;
Too tired for singing mirth
Oh; be the green fields calling;
Oh; be for me the earth!
I am the brown bird pining
To leave the nest and fly
Oh; be the fresh cloud shining;
Oh; be for me the sky!
APRIL SONG
WILLOW in your April gown
Delicate and gleaming;
Do you mind in years gone by
All my dreaming?
Spring was like a call to me
That I could not answer;
I was chained to loneliness;
I; the dancer。
Willow; twinkling in the sun;
Still your leaves and hear me;
I can answer spring at last;
Love is near me!
MAY DAY
THE shining line of motors;
The swaying motor…bus;
The prancing dancing horses
Are passing by for us。
The sunlight on the steeple;
The toys we stop to see;
The smiling passing people
Are all for you and me。
〃I love you and I love you!〃
〃And oh; I love you; too!〃
〃All of the flower girl's lilies
Were only grown for you!〃
Fifth Avenue and April
And love and lack of care
The world is mad with music
Too beautiful to bear。
CROWNED
I WEAR a crown invisible and clear;
And go my lifted royal way apart
Since you have crowned me softly in your heart
With love that is half ardent; half austere;
And as a queen disguised might pass anear
The bitter crowd that barters in a mart;
Veiling her pride while tears of pity start;
I hide my glory thru a jealous fear。
My crown shall stay a sweet and secret thing
Kept pure with prayer at evensong and morn;
And when you come to take it from my head;
I shall not weep; nor will a word be said;
But I shall kneel before you; oh my king;
And bind my brow forever with a thorn。
TO A CASTILIAN SONG
WE held the book together timidly;
Whose antique music in an alien tongue
Once rose among the dew…drenched vines that hung
Beneath a high Castilian balcony。
I felt the lute strings' ancient ecstasy;
And while he read; my love…filled heart was stung;
And throbbed; as where an ardent bird has clung
The branches tremble on a blossomed tree。
Oh lady for whose sake the song was made;
Laid long ago in some still cypress shade;
Divided from the man who longed for thee;
Here in a land whose name he never heard;
His song brought love as April brings the bird;
And not a breath divides my love from me!
BROADWAY
THIS is the quiet hour; the theaters
Have gathered in their crowds; and steadily
The million lights blaze on for few to see;
Robbing the sky of stars that should be hers。
A woman waits with bag and shabby furs;
A somber man drifts by; and only we
Pass up the street unwearied; warm and free;
For over us the olden magic stirs。
Beneath the liquid splendor of the lights
We live a little ere the charm is spent;
This night is ours; of all the golden nights;
The pavement an enchanted palace floor;
And Youth the player on the viol; who sent
A strain of music thru an open door。
A WINTER BLUEJAY
CRISPLY the bright snow whispered;
Crunching beneath our feet;
Behind us as we walked along the parkway;
Our shadows danced;
Fantastic shapes in vivid blue。
Across the lake the skaters
Flew to and fro;
With sharp turns weaving
A frail invisible net。
In ecstasy the earth
Drank the silver sunlight;
In ecstasy the skaters
Drank the wine of speed;
In ecstasy we laughed
Drinking the wine of love。
Had not the music of our joy
Sounded its highest note?
But no;
RIVERS TO THE SEA
For suddenly; with lifted eyes you said;
〃Oh look!〃
There; on the black bough of a snow flecked maple;
Fearless and gay as our love;
A bluejay cocked his crest!
Oh who can tell the range of joy
Or set the bounds of beauty?
IN A RESTAURANT
THE darkened street was muffled with the snow;
The falling flakes had made your shoulders white;
And when we found a shelter from the night
Its glamor fell upon us like a blow。
The clash of dishes and the viol and bow
Mingled beneath the fever of the light。
The heat was full of savors; and the bright
Laughter of women lured the wine to flow。
A little child ate nothing while she sat
Watching a woman at a table there
Lean to a kiss beneath a drooping hat。
The