 | Poems in many lands |  |
26
GETTATI AL VENTO.
I.
The sea swallows wheel and fly
To their homes in the grey cliff-side;
And the silent ships drift by,
The world and its ways are wide!
To their homes in the grey cliff-side;
And the silent ships drift by,
The world and its ways are wide!
Oh, which of you wandering sails
Will carry a word from me?
Spread all your wings in the gales,
Fly fast to her northern sea!
Will carry a word from me?
Spread all your wings in the gales,
Fly fast to her northern sea!
Go say to my heart's desired,
Too long from her side I roam,
And say I am tired, tired,
And I would she would call me home!
Too long from her side I roam,
And say I am tired, tired,
And I would she would call me home!
II.
I thought that I wandered, wandered,
All night till the dawn of day,
And I came to the house she dwells in,
A hundred miles away:
All night till the dawn of day,
And I came to the house she dwells in,
A hundred miles away:
27
So I watched the hills grow golden,
I heard the birds begin,
And she came to open her window,
And let the morning in.
I heard the birds begin,
And she came to open her window,
And let the morning in.
But when she would not greet me,
And I called to her all in vain,
I awoke, and knew I was dreaming,
But I could not sleep again.
And I called to her all in vain,
I awoke, and knew I was dreaming,
But I could not sleep again.
I.
What shadow is this of dead delight,That thou art dreaming of?
Oh, heart, what ails thee in the evenlight,
And is it thine old burden love,
That wistful-eyed, like one who roams,
I stand and watch from far,
The peace of sunset over quiet homes,
And the belovéd evening star?
28
II.
Are not the heavens wide? And yet,
Until all journeyings be done,
No star shall change the orbit set,
That marks its journey round the sun.
Until all journeyings be done,
No star shall change the orbit set,
That marks its journey round the sun.
And, sweet, we travel down our days,
As the stars wander in their sky;
We cannot change our fated ways,
But meet and greet and hasten by.
As the stars wander in their sky;
We cannot change our fated ways,
But meet and greet and hasten by.
III.
I breathed a name once and again,
I said a bitter thing in my pain,
“I gave you all my love, and I spent it all in vain!”
I said a bitter thing in my pain,
“I gave you all my love, and I spent it all in vain!”
Then I saw a form across the night
Glide down the stars in a veil of light,
And I said, “Who are you, dweller of the Infinite?”
Glide down the stars in a veil of light,
And I said, “Who are you, dweller of the Infinite?”
And I heard a voice on the stilly air,
“You chide amiss in your own despair;
Lo, I am the soul of her love, and I follow you everywhere!”
“You chide amiss in your own despair;
Lo, I am the soul of her love, and I follow you everywhere!”
| Poems in many lands | |