 | The Creed of My Heart and Other Poems |  |
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TO URANIA
I
As in the days of winter, when the birds no longer sing,The dark earth, wrapped in slumber, dreams of the flowers of spring;
As midnight dreams of the morning; as the river dreams of the sea;—
So have I dreamed and waited,—waited, and dreamed of thee.
II
Long ere thine eyes enthralled me, their light was my guide and goal;Long ere thy lips had spoken, their music rang in my soul;
Long ere the sun had risen, the skies were flushing above;
Long ere our hearts had mingled, I felt the flame of thy love.
III
As, in the old-world story, the dark-eyed beautiful queenCame to the heart that loved her, though the ocean rolled between;—
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Sped by the breath of Heaven, my heart's predestined bride.
IV
Soft are thy murmured accents; yet in them my spirit hearsThe voice of the rolling thunder, the song of the gliding spheres:
Dark are thine eyes, and dreamy,—dreamy, and dark and deep;
Yet in them the lightning flashes, and the stars their vigils keep.
V
Daughter of all the ages, thy soul is woven of raysShed by the deeds of heroes from dark forgotten days.
Thou hast caught the glow of the sunset, the flush of the mystic morn,
The glamour of years departed, the promise of years unborn.
VI
Forgive if I ever doubted that life is cradled in light:Forgive if I ever trembled at death's mysterious night:—
Queen of my heart, forgive me: I tremble, I doubt no more:
I am strong in thy soaring courage, and wise in thy sacred lore.
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VII
Nature to thee hath whispered the secret of all her strife;Nature in thee hath hidden the fount of her inmost life:—
Oh, I am tired of dreaming: dark are thine eyes and deep;
Gaze into mine and wake them from life's bewildering sleep.
VIII
What shall I give thee, Dearest, who hast given my soul to me?What but the gift thou gavest,—the life that thy love set free?
The flame that leaped from its embers,—the flame of love's kindled breath;
Love's dream in the world of shadows; love's self in the world of death.
| The Creed of My Heart and Other Poems | |