The Poems of Algernon Charles Swinburne In Six Volumes |
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 | The Poems of Algernon Charles Swinburne |  |
102
V
1
For the sea too seeks and rejoices,Gains and loses and gains,
And the joy of her heart's own choice is
As ours, and as ours are her pains:
As the thoughts of our hearts are her voices,
And as hers is the pulse of our veins.
2
Her fields that know not of dearthNor lie for their fruit's sake fallow
Laugh large in the depth of their mirth:
But inshore here in the shallow,
Embroiled with encumbrance of earth,
Their skirts are turbid and yellow.
3
The grime of her greed is upon her,The sign of her deed is her soil;
As the earth's is her own dishonour,
And corruption the crown of her toil:
She hath spoiled and devoured, and her honour
Is this, to be shamed by her spoil.
103
4
But afar where pollution is none,Nor ensign of strife nor endeavour,
Where her heart and the sun's are one,
And the soil of her sin comes never,
She is pure as the wind and the sun,
And her sweetness endureth for ever.
| The Poems of Algernon Charles Swinburne | |