I lived within a world of bloom Starry as pasque-flowers, blue and white, Whose constellations burned the gloom. A little hour, and then the light Was lost. Upon my petulant lips Lingered the wish that stars like these Might burn unhidden by eclipse In the cool firmament of trees. I lived within a world of wings, Watching the oriole and lark, The circling gull, where water sings; The vampire, lover of the dark. I left these for a world of words; Discovered in their boundary, More music than in song of birds, More joy than in spring's constancy. Still seeking for some cloistered place Lovelier than blossom, word or wing, I found a world in one pale face Illumined with love. Brief as the spring, As restless pinions, lyric sound, This beauty proved; and it was just As finite and as firmly bound To brief and crumbling worlds of dust. Uncertain, swift and glamorous Words come and go. Only the cold Enduring and miraculous, Flowers at the thought of God. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...CONTRA MORTEM: THE CHILD'S BEING by HAYDEN CARRUTH TRANSLUCENT FINGERS by MALCOLM COWLEY ON THE PROPOSAL TO ERECT A MONUMENT IN ENGLAND TO LORD BYRON by EMMA LAZARUS THE MARRIAGE (1) by TIMOTHY LIU CORPORATE ENTITY by ARCHIBALD MACLEISH |