 | Leaves of life |  |
46
UNDER CONVOY.
Too many the questions, too subtle
The doubts that bewilder my brain!
Too strong is the strength of old custom
For iron convention's cold reign;
Too doubtful the issue of conflict,
Too leafless the crown and too vain!
The doubts that bewilder my brain!
Too strong is the strength of old custom
For iron convention's cold reign;
Too doubtful the issue of conflict,
Too leafless the crown and too vain!
Driven blindly by wind and by current,
Too weak to be strong as I would,
Too good to be bad as my promptings,
Too bad to be valued as good,
I would do the work that I cannot—
And will not, the work that I could.
Too weak to be strong as I would,
Too good to be bad as my promptings,
Too bad to be valued as good,
I would do the work that I cannot—
And will not, the work that I could.
As a swimmer alone in mid-ocean
Breasts wave after green wave, until
He sees the horizon unbroken
By any coast-line—so I still
Swam blindly through life, not perceiving
The infinite stretch of life's ill.
Breasts wave after green wave, until
47
By any coast-line—so I still
Swam blindly through life, not perceiving
The infinite stretch of life's ill.
But wave after wave crowds upon me—
I am tired, I can face them no more—
Let me sink—or not sink—you receive me,
And I rest in your arms as before,
Which were waiting, O Love, to receive me,
Fulfilling the troth that you swore.
I am tired, I can face them no more—
Let me sink—or not sink—you receive me,
And I rest in your arms as before,
Which were waiting, O Love, to receive me,
Fulfilling the troth that you swore.
And so you are left me—what matters
Of Freedom, or Duty, or Right?
Let my chance of a life-work be ended,
End my chance of a soul's worthy fight!
End my chance to oppose—ah, how vainly!—
Vast wrong with its mass and its might!
Of Freedom, or Duty, or Right?
Let my chance of a life-work be ended,
End my chance of a soul's worthy fight!
End my chance to oppose—ah, how vainly!—
Vast wrong with its mass and its might!
Hold me fast—kiss me close—and persuade me
'Tis better to lean upon you
Than to play out my part unsupported,
My share in the world's work to do.
'Tis better be safe and ignoble
Than be free, and be wretched, and true.
'Tis better to lean upon you
Than to play out my part unsupported,
My share in the world's work to do.
'Tis better be safe and ignoble
Than be free, and be wretched, and true.
48
And you think that you offer a haven,
As you do, for the storm-blown and tossed,
And you know not how under your kisses
The soul of me shrinks and is lost:
And you save me my ease as a woman,
—And the life of a soul is the cost!
As you do, for the storm-blown and tossed,
And you know not how under your kisses
The soul of me shrinks and is lost:
And you save me my ease as a woman,
—And the life of a soul is the cost!
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