 | The Collected Poems of Philip Bourke Marston |  |
199
PURE SOULS.
Pure souls that watch above me from afar,
To whom as to the stars I raise my eyes,
Draw me to your large skies,
Where God and quiet are.
To whom as to the stars I raise my eyes,
Draw me to your large skies,
Where God and quiet are.
Love's mouth is rose-red, and his voice is sweet,
His feet are winged, his eyes are as clear fire;
But I have no desire
To follow his winged feet.
His feet are winged, his eyes are as clear fire;
But I have no desire
To follow his winged feet.
Friendship may change, or friends may pass away,
And Fame's a bride that men soon weary of;
Since rest is not with Love,
No joy that is may stay.
And Fame's a bride that men soon weary of;
Since rest is not with Love,
No joy that is may stay.
But they whose lives are pure, whose hearts are high, —
Those shining spirits by the world untamed, —
May at the end, unshamed,
Look on their days gone by.
Those shining spirits by the world untamed, —
May at the end, unshamed,
Look on their days gone by.
O pure, strong souls, so star-like, calm, and bright,
If even I before the end might feel,
Through quiet pulses, steal
Your pureness, with purged sight
If even I before the end might feel,
Through quiet pulses, steal
Your pureness, with purged sight
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I might Spring's gracious work behold once more:
Might hear, as once I heard, long, long ago,
Great waters ebb and flow;
Might smell the rose of yore;
Might hear, as once I heard, long, long ago,
Great waters ebb and flow;
Might smell the rose of yore;
Might comprehend the winds and clouds again,
The saintly, peaceful moonlight hallowing all,
The scent of leaves that fall,
The Autumn's tender pain.
The saintly, peaceful moonlight hallowing all,
The scent of leaves that fall,
The Autumn's tender pain.
Ah, this, I fear, shall never chance to me;
But though I cannot shape the life I would,
It surely still is good
To look where such lives be.
But though I cannot shape the life I would,
It surely still is good
To look where such lives be.
| The Collected Poems of Philip Bourke Marston | |