Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


THE MEETING WATERS by ELIZABETH H. WHITTIER

First Line: CLOSE BESIDE THE MEETING WATERS
Last Line: FLASHING FROM A STRONGER TIDE!

CLOSE beside the meeting waters,
Long I stood as in a dream,
Watching how the little river
Fell into the broader stream.

Calm and still the mingled current
Glided to the waiting sea;
On its breast serenely pictured
Floating cloud and skirting tree.

And I thought, "O human spirit!
Strong and deep and pure and blest,
Let the stream of my existence
Blend with thine, and find its rest!"

I could die as dies the river,
In that current deep and wide;
I would live as live its waters,
Flashing from a stronger tide!



Home: PoetryExplorer.net