Perched on my city office-stool, I watched with envy, while a cool And lucky carter handled ice.... And I was wandering in a trice, Far from the grey and grimy heat Of that intolerable street, O'er sapphire berg and emerald floe, Beneath the still, cold ruby glow Of everlasting Polar night, Bewildered by the queer half-light, Until I stumbled, unawares, Upon a creek where big white bears Plunged headlong down with flourished heels And floundered after shining seals Through shivering seas of blinding blue. And as I watched them, ere I knew, I'd stripped, and I was swimming, too, Among the seal-pack, young and hale, And thrusting on with threshing tail, With twist and twirl and sudden leap Through crackling ice and salty deep -- Diving and doubling with my kind, Until, at last, we left behind Those big, white, blundering bulks of death, And lay, at length, with panting breath Upon a far untravelled floe, Beneath a gentle drift of snow -- Snow drifting gently, fine and white, Out of the endless Polar night, Falling and falling evermore Upon that far untravelled shore, Till I was buried fathoms deep Beneath that cold white drifting sleep -- Sleep drifting deep, Deep drifting sleep.... The carter cracked a sudden whip: I clutched my stool with startled grip, Awakening to the grimy heat Of that intolerable street. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY: YEE BOW by EDGAR LEE MASTERS THE POET (2) by ISAAC ROSENBERG THE FOUNTAIN (1) by SARA TEASDALE REASONS FOR DRINKING by HENRY ALDRICH A DEATH IN THE DESERT by ROBERT BROWNING A QUOI BON DIRE by CHARLOTTE MEW |