THE top of the hill was dark and clear. Six little stars came out, And silver grasses held their breath To hear sky whisperings about. For I had come to talk with the wind At the crystal rim of the night, To learn the way of hidden things Like wild grey geese in flight. To ask if honeysuckle scent Made the yellow moon's pale gold, And what the wood dove's sad note meant, And if scarlet clouds are cold; And if the song of the mockingbird Is caught in the mad brook's rill, Or whether the shimmering tune I heard Was an echoing daffodil; These were the secret things to ask In the night where none could see Dark mystery shining in my eyes When the wind had answered me. But the wind was sullen that night on the hill Where I stood with my arms outspread, And I called in vain through the dark until My lover came instead. For something told me who it was That ran with eager feet And held my face against his breast To hear his swift heart beat. I offered him my cool young mouth: He drank as from a cup Till in the thirsty soul of him My own was lifted up ... And all at once within me deep The radiant knowledge burned— But, oh, I cannot bear to tell The wisdom I have learned. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...INDEPENDENCE DAY, 1956, A FAIRY TALE by JAMES GALVIN TO MARY CHURCH TERRELL - LECTURER by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON TRIFLE by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON VOLUPTAS by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON ON THE PROPOSAL TO ERECT A MONUMENT IN ENGLAND TO LORD BYRON by EMMA LAZARUS SYMPHONIC STUDIES (AFTER ROBERT SCHUMANN) by EMMA LAZARUS |