Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, REMINISCENCE, by OLIVER MURRAY EDWARDS


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

REMINISCENCE, by                    
First Line: There are tales to be told of the land and the sea
Last Line: The soul's eternity.
Subject(s): Future Life; Sea Voyages; Retribution; Eternity; After Life


There are tales to be told of the land and the sea,
Of strange countries, and cities, and peoples that be,
Of tombs, and of shrines, and of temples galore,
Of tropical islands with coral reefed shore.

When memory is turning the pages, I see
Old Egypt enshrouded in deep mystery;
Though pyramid crumble, and eye fail to see,
Through the silence of ages the Sphinx speaks to me.

Now India looms through the mists of the sea
With beauty and horror to fascinate me;
Men groping in darkness and fear of the night,
With eyes ever strained for the dawning of light

In the silence of night, with setting of stars,
Soft moonlight illumines the wonderful Taj;
Alight with the glory of Heaven, appears
Love's beautiful tribute that lives through the years.

In the filth of the Ganges hordes of bathers appear,
On the shore burning Ghats, holy men sitting near:
The Parsee Towers of Silence where, perched on the walls,
The vultures await with their raucous calls.

And now a red Devil with horns I see,
Turning the page of Burma for me;
Ye Gods! Men and women—a barefooted throng,
Ascending the steps of the Shwe Dagon.

Now China, the olden, casts her charm over me,
Land where men wait for the Fates to decree;
Walled cities and towers, within walls and the sea,
God only doth know what her future will be.

A vista of islands rises out of the sea,
With blossoms of cherry and gardens for tea,
With Geisha girls bowing and serving to me,
Their charm will live ever in fond memory.

And oft and anon there comes back to me
The boom of the surf at far Tahiti;
The song and the dance from the isles of Fiji,
The lure and the charm of the great southern sea.

There are islands of dreams set in sapphire of sea,
There are ships that pass by in the night,
There are worlds unknown, there are stars unseen,
There are those who seek the light.

Some have ears to hear who do not hear,
Eyes to see who do not see,
The hand of God above, beneath,
The soul's Eternity.





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