 | The Poet and Nature and The Morning Road |  |
THE WHARVES OF SLUMBER.
Upon the wharves of Slumber
I watched the Ships of Dreams
Come sailing in through mist and moon,
With glowworm lights and gleams.
I watched the Ships of Dreams
Come sailing in through mist and moon,
With glowworm lights and gleams.
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Their holds were stuffed with plunder
Of every land and time;
With Ophir gold and gods of Greece,
And scraps of ancient rhyme.
Of every land and time;
With Ophir gold and gods of Greece,
And scraps of ancient rhyme.
Pastiles of Cretan henbane,
And bales of Yemen silk,
With cassia buds and sandalwood
And Oman pearls like milk.
And bales of Yemen silk,
With cassia buds and sandalwood
And Oman pearls like milk.
And slaves, both men and women,
Most fair to look upon,
Whose chanting made the breeze to blow
That swept the Dream Ships on.
Most fair to look upon,
Whose chanting made the breeze to blow
That swept the Dream Ships on.
I had the pick and taking
Of every cargo there—
The spice and gold, the gems and slaves,
And myrrh and pearls and vair.
Of every cargo there—
The spice and gold, the gems and slaves,
And myrrh and pearls and vair.
But while I stood debating
What thing to take and choose,
A voice cried, “Lo! the good ship Dawn
Draws in across the dews.”
What thing to take and choose,
A voice cried, “Lo! the good ship Dawn
Draws in across the dews.”
And all the Dream Ships vanished,
And left me wide awake
To think of many, many things
It had been mine to take.
And left me wide awake
To think of many, many things
It had been mine to take.
| The Poet and Nature and The Morning Road | |