Classic and Contemporary Poetry
RECOLLECTION, by ADA CAMBRIDGE Poet's Biography First Line: A wave-worn boulder, with green sea-moss wrapping Last Line: This sweet world, filled with the peace of god! Alternate Author Name(s): Cross, George, Mrs. Subject(s): Time | ||||||||
A WAVE-WORN boulder, with green sea-moss wrapping A silken mantle o'er its jagged sides; And silvery, seething waters softly lapping Through gulfs and channels hollow'd by the tides: A lime-cliff overhead, o'erhanging grimly, A dash of sunlight on its breast of snow; The white line of the breakers, stretching dimly Along the narrow sea-beach down below: The grey waste of the waters, with one slender, Glimmering, golden ripple far away; The haze of summer twilight, sweet and tender, Veiling the fair face of the dying day: The measured plash of surf upon the shingle, The ceaseless gurgle through the rocks and stones; No sound of struggling human life, to mingle With those mysterious and eternal tones! No sound -- no sound, -- a hungry sea-mew only Breaking the stillness with her little cry; And the low whisper, when 'tis all so lonely, Of soft south breezes as they wander by: -- I see it all; sweet dreams of it are thronging In full floods back upon my weary brain; To-night, in my dark chamber, the old longing Almost fulfils its very self again. The dying sunbeams, on the far waves glinting, Come like warm kisses to my lips and brow, Soothing my spirit -- all its grey thoughts tinting With tender shades of golden colour now. Alone and still, I sit, and think, and listen, Looking out westward o'er the darkening sea; My seat the boulder, where the spray-drops glisten; The tall, white cliffs my regal canopy. And, as I sit, the fretting cares and sorrows, Weighing so heavy when the work is done, The gloomy yesterdays and dim to-morrows, They slip away and vanish one by one, -- Slip backward to the world that lies behind me, Every by sinful footsteps overtrod; And in this unstain'd world leave nought to bind me, This sweet world, filled with the peace of God! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...ELEVEN EYES: FINAL SECTION by LYN HEJINIAN THE FATALIST: COME OCTOBER by LYN HEJINIAN THE FATALIST: HOME by LYN HEJINIAN THE FATALIST: TIME IS FILLED by LYN HEJINIAN SLOWLY: I FREQUENTLY SLOWLY WISH by LYN HEJINIAN ALL THE DIFFICULT HOURS AND MINUTES by JANE HIRSHFIELD A DAY IS VAST by JANE HIRSHFIELD FROM THIS HEIGHT by TONY HOAGLAND |
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