Memory! thou hidest from me far, Hidest behind some twinkling star Which peers o'er Pindus, or whose beam Crosses that broad and rapid stream Where Zeus in wily whiteness shone And Leda left her virgin zone. Often I catch thy glimpses still By that clear river, that lone hill, But seldom dost thou softly glide To take thy station at my side, When later friends and forms are near; From these thy traces disappear, And scarce a name can I recall Of those I value most of all. At times thou hurriest me away, And, pointing out an earlier day, Biddest me listen to a song I ought to have forgotten long: Then, looking up, I see above The plumage of departing Love, And when I cry, @3Art thou too gone?@1 He laughs at me and passes on. Some images (alas how few!) Still sparkle in the evening dew Along my path: and must they quite Vanish before a deeper night? Keep one, O Memory! yet awhile, And let me think I see it smile. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...INFANT JOY, FR. SONGS OF INNOCENCE by WILLIAM BLAKE THE IRISH SPINNING-WHEEL by ALFRED PERCEVAL GRAVES HE FELL AMONG THIEVES by HENRY JOHN NEWBOLT THE MIRROR by THEODORE AUBANEL SEVEN HONEST MEN by MARTIN BENSON |