DREAMER! and wouldst thou know If love goes with us to the viewless bourns? Wouldst thou bear hence th' unfathomed source of woe In thy beart's lonely urn? What hath it been to thee, That power, the dweller of thy secret breast? A dove sent forth across a stormy sea, Finding no place of rest: A precious odour cast On a wild stream, that recklessly swept by; A voice of music uttered to the blast, And winning no reply. Even were such answer thine, Wouldst thou be bless'd? Too sleepless, too profound, Are the soul's hidden springs; there is no line Their depth of love to sound. Do not words faint and fail When thou wouldst fill them with that ocean's power? As thine own cheek, before high thoughts grows pale In some o'erwhelming hour. Doth not thy frail form sink Beneath the chain that binds thee to one spot, When thy heart strives, held down by many a link, Where thy beloved are not? Is not thy very soul Oft in the gush of powerless blessing shed, Till a vain tenderness, beyond control, Bows down thy weary head? And wouldst thou bear all @3this@1 -- The burden and the shadow of thy life -- To trouble the blue skies of cloudless bliss With earthly feelings' strife? Not thus, not thus -- oh, no! Not veiled and mantled with dim clouds of care, That spirit of my soul should with me go To breathe celestial air. But as the skylark springs To its own sphere, where night afar is driven, As to its place the flower-seed findeth wings, So must love mount to heaven! Vainly it shall not strive There on weak words to pour a stream of fire; Thought unto thought shall kindling impulse give, As light might wake a lyre. And oh! its blessings @3there,@1 Showered like rich balsam forth on some dear head, Powerless no more, a gift shall surely bear, A joy of sunlight shed. Let me, then -- let me dream That love goes with us to the shore unknown; So o'er its burning tears a heavenly gleam In mercy shall be thrown! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...TWO SONGS OF A FOOL: 2 by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS INDIAN WOMAN'S DEATH-SONG by FELICIA DOROTHEA HEMANS GRANDMOTHER'S STORY OF BUNKER HILL BATTLE by OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES THE SUPPLIANT by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON THE BAYADERE by FRANCIS SALTUS SALTUS A SUMMER SUMMARY by FRANKLIN PIERCE ADAMS |