 | [Poems by Cary in] The poems of Alice and Phoebe Cary |  |
PARTING WITH A POET.
All the sweet summer that is gone,
Two paths I sighed to mark—
One brightly leading up and on,
One downward to the dark.
Two paths I sighed to mark—
One brightly leading up and on,
One downward to the dark.
No prophecy enwrapt my heart,
No Vala's gifts were mine;
Yet knew I that our paths must part—
The loftier one be thine.
No Vala's gifts were mine;
Yet knew I that our paths must part—
The loftier one be thine.
For not a soul inspiredly thrills,
Whose wing shall not be free
To sweep across the eternal hills,
Like winds across the sea.
Whose wing shall not be free
To sweep across the eternal hills,
Like winds across the sea.
And, wheresoe'er thy lot may be,
As all the past has proved,
Love shall abide and be with thee,
For genius must be loved.
As all the past has proved,
Love shall abide and be with thee,
For genius must be loved.
While I, the heart's vain yearning stilled,
The heart that vexed me long,
Essay with my poor hands to build
The silvery walls of song.
The heart that vexed me long,
Essay with my poor hands to build
The silvery walls of song.
Still, through the nights of wild unrest,
That softer joyance bars,
Winding about my vacant breast
The tresses of the stars.
That softer joyance bars,
Winding about my vacant breast
The tresses of the stars.
While at the base of heights sublime,
Dim thoughts forevermore
Lie moaning, like the waves of time
Along the immortal shore.
Dim thoughts forevermore
Lie moaning, like the waves of time
Along the immortal shore.
| [Poems by Cary in] The poems of Alice and Phoebe Cary | |