WHY on a day, half unawares and swift, Rent I the silence-veil 'twixt soul and soul? And flung down recklessly the very whole Of all I was and am, for you to sift The will-work of me out from passion-drift, And know my best and worst, and so enrol Me where I merit place 'tween start and goal; In risk of trust, that justly you would lift My meaning from my madness, shapely still, Not utterly dishevelled nor quite weak; Just one soul's voice the more, elect to speak, Since having known the vale it chose the hill? Why did I pour unbidden in your ear The foolish tale? -- Art's pride, in sooth, was here. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A POEM FOR MAX NORDAU by EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON MY MOTHER LEFT ME by KAREN SWENSON TO A MOSQUITO by WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT CLARE'S DRAGOONS by THOMAS OSBORNE DAVIS CROSSING BROOKLYN FERRY by WALT WHITMAN PERSISTENCY OF POETRY by MATTHEW ARNOLD ODE ENTREATING HIM ... IN THE CONTINUATION OF BRITANNIA'S PASTORALS by NICHOLAS BRETON |