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diff --git a/78702-h/78702-h.htm b/78702-h/78702-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..55748ad --- /dev/null +++ b/78702-h/78702-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,2172 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html> +<html lang="en"> +<head> + <meta charset="UTF-8"> + <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> + <meta name="format-detection" content="telephone=no,date=no,address=no,email=no,url=no"> + <title> + Archways of life | Project Gutenberg + </title> + <link rel="icon" href="images/cover.jpg" type="image/x-cover"> +<style> + +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + font-family: serif; +} + +h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; +} + +h2 { margin-top: 4em; } + +p { + margin-top: .5em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .5em; +} + +.mt3 {margin-top: 3em;} + +.mb3 { margin-bottom: 3em; } + +.fs80 { font-size: 80%; } +.fs110 { font-size: 110%; } +.fs150 { font-size: 150%; } + +.cursive { font-family: cursive; } + +hr { + width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: 33.5%; + margin-right: 33.5%; + clear: both; +} + +hr.chap {width: 65%; margin-left: 17.5%; margin-right: 17.5%;} +@media print { hr.chap {display: none; visibility: hidden;} } + +div.chapter {page-break-before: always;} +h2.nobreak {page-break-before: avoid;} + + +table { + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; +} +table.autotable { border-collapse: collapse; } +table.autotable td, +table.autotable th { padding: 0.25em; } + +.autotable a { text-decoration: none; } + +.tdl {text-align: left;} +.tdr {text-align: right;} + +.pagenum { + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: small; + text-align: right; + font-style: normal; + font-weight: normal; + font-variant: normal; + text-indent: 0; +} + + +.center {text-align: center; text-indent: 0;} +.right {text-align: right;} +.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + +figcaption {font-weight: bold;} +figcaption p {margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: .2em; text-align: inherit;} + +/* Images */ + +img { + max-width: 100%; + height: auto; +} +img.w100 {width: 100%;} + + +.figcenter { + margin: auto; + text-align: center; + page-break-inside: avoid; + max-width: 100%; +} + + +/* Poetry */ +.poetry-container {display: flex; justify-content: center;} +.poetry-container {text-align: center;} +.poetry {text-align: left; margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 5%;} +.poetry .stanza {margin: 1em auto;} +.poetry .verse {text-indent: -3em; padding-left: 3em;} + +/* Poetry indents */ +.poetry .indent0 {text-indent: -3.0em;} +.poetry .indent2 {text-indent: -2.0em;} + +.box-right { + margin: 4em 0 4em 0; +} + +.title-box { +border: 2px solid black; +padding: 2em; +} + +.t0 { font-size: 200%; word-spacing: .2em; } +.t1 { margin-top: 3em; } + +.mw20 { max-width: 20em; } + +.half-title { + font-size: 200%; + margin: 4em auto; + text-align: center; + text-indent: 0; + font-weight: bold; +} + + +/* Illustration classes */ +.illowp48 {width: 48%;} + </style> +</head> + +<body> +<div style='text-align:center'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78702 ***</div> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp48" id="cover" style="max-width: 104.75em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/cover.jpg" alt="Book cover"> +</figure> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_1">[1]</span></p> +</div> +<div class='box-right'> +<div class='poetry-container'> +<h1> +ARCHWAYS<br> +OF LIFE +</h1> +</div></div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_2"></a><a id="Page_3"></a>[3]</span></p> +</div> + +<div class='poetry-container'> +<div class='title-box'> + +<p class="center t0">ARCHWAYS OF LIFE</p> + +<p class="center t1"><i>by</i></p> + +<p class="center"><i>Mercedes de Acosta</i></p> + +<p class="center fs80"><i>Author of “Moods,” etc.</i></p> + +<div class='mt3 mb3'> +<figure class="figcenter" id="colophon" style="width: 100px;"> + <img src="images/colophon.jpg" width="100" height="133" alt="Moffat, Yard and Company Colophon"> +</figure> +</div> + +<p class="center">NEW YORK</p> +<p class='center fs110'>MOFFAT, YARD AND COMPANY</p> +<p class='center'>1921</p> +</div></div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_4">[4]</span></p> + +<p class='center mt3 mb3'> + <span class="smcap">Copyright, 1921, by</span><br> + MOFFAT, YARD & COMPANY +</p> +</div> + + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">[5]</span></p> +</div> + +<div class='mt3 mb3'> +<p class='center'> + <span class='fs150 cursive'><i>To</i></span><br> + A. P. +</p></div> + + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_6"></a><a id="Page_7"></a>[7]</span></p> +<div class='poetry-container'> +<div class='mw20 mt3 mb3'> + <p> + <i>Acknowledgment is made to “Poetry: A + Magazine of Verse,” for permission to + reprint some of the poems in this volume.</i> +</p> +</div></div> + +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_8"></a><a id="Page_9"></a>[9]</span></p> + <h2 class="nobreak" id="CONTENTS"> + CONTENTS + </h2> +</div> + + +<table class="autotable"> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +</td> +<th class="tdr"> +PAGE +</th> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="smcap"><a href='#FADED_PETALS'>Faded Petals</a></span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +13 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="smcap"><a href='#SOILED_HANDS'>Soiled Hands</a></span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +14 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="smcap"><a href='#REFLECTION'>Reflection</a></span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +15 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="smcap"><a href='#LUMBERMEN'>Lumbermen</a></span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +16 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="smcap"><a href='#SONNET'>Sonnet</a></span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +17 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="smcap"><a href='#UNPOSSESSED'>Unpossessed</a></span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +18 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="smcap"><a href='#UNREALITY'>Unreality</a></span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +19 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="smcap"><a href='#MAGIC'>Magic</a></span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +20 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="smcap"><a href='#PLATITUDES'>Platitudes</a></span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +21 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="smcap"><a href='#A_DREAM'>A Dream</a></span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +22 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="smcap"><a href='#TO_VOULETTI'>To Vouletti</a></span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +23 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="smcap"><a href='#OCTOBER_28th'>October 28th</a></span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +24 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="smcap"><a href='#LIFES_MIRAGE'>Life’s Mirage</a></span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +25 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="smcap"><a href='#WIND'>Wind</a></span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +26 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="smcap"><a href='#GODS_HAND'>God’s Hand</a></span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +27 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="smcap"><a href='#WORDS'>Words</a></span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +29 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="smcap"><a href='#BLINDNESS'>Blindness</a></span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +30 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="smcap"><a href='#SPRING_AND_YOU'>Spring and You</a></span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +31 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="smcap"><a href='#WALT_WHITMAN'>Walt Whitman</a></span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +32 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="smcap"><a href='#SURRENDER'>Surrender</a></span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +33 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="smcap"><a href='#WE_THREE'>We Three</a></span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +34 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="smcap"><a href='#IN_THE_WINGS'>In the Wings</a></span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +38 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="smcap"><a href='#INFATUATION'>Infatuation</a></span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +39 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="smcap"><a href='#ALL_I_ASK'>All I Ask</a></span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +40 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">[10]</span> +<span class="smcap"><a href='#SYMBOL'>Symbol</a></span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +41 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="smcap"><a href='#MISUNDERSTANDING'>Misunderstanding</a></span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +42 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="smcap"><a href='#ENDING'>Ending</a></span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +44 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="smcap"><a href='#POETRY'>Poetry</a></span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +46 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="smcap"><a href='#ATLANTIC_CITY'>Atlantic City</a></span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +48 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="smcap"><a href='#YOUR_FACE'>Your Face</a></span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +49 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="smcap"><a href='#ILLUSION'>Illusion</a></span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +50 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="smcap"><a href='#FESTA_DEL_REDENTORE_IN_VENICE'>Festa del Redentore in Venice</a></span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +51 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="smcap"><a href='#COLOR_SYMPHONY'>Color Symphony</a></span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +52 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="smcap"><a href='#TO_ONE_WHO_LOVES_JEWELS'>To One Who Loves Jewels</a></span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +53 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="smcap"><a href='#FOOTPRINTS'>Footprints</a></span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +54 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="smcap"><a href='#LIFE_AND_YOUTH'>Life and Youth</a></span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +55 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="smcap"><a href='#POOR_FOOLS'>Poor Fools</a></span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +58 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="smcap"><a href='#LONGING'>Longing</a></span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +59 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="smcap"><a href='#MUSIC'>Music</a></span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +60 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="smcap"><a href='#FLOWERS_AND_STARS'>Flowers and Stars</a></span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +61 +</td> +</tr> +</table> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">[11]</span></p> + + + <p class='half-title' id="ARCHWAYS_OF_LIFE"> + ARCHWAYS OF LIFE + </p> +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">[12]</span></p> +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0"><i>I am a part of all that I have met.</i></div> + <div class="verse indent0"><i>Yet all experience is an arch wherethro’</i></div> + <div class="verse indent0"><i>Gleams that untravelled world, whose margin fades</i></div> + <div class="verse indent0"><i>Forever and forever when I move.</i></div> +<p class="right"> + “<span class="smcap">Ulysses.</span>” +</p> + </div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">[13]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="FADED_PETALS"> + FADED PETALS + </h2> +</div> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Come! Let us be friends.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Throw off the cloak of passion</div> + <div class="verse indent0">(You wear it far too much)</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And though your slightest touch</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Has ceased to make me tremble,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">There is no reason why—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">We still cannot</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Climb our hill together,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And, at twilight’s end,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Call each other “friend.”</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The rose tree fades but has its spring and autumn,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And so with love.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">But with a rose—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">We gather its faded petals</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And in a box of precious metals</div> + <div class="verse indent0">We store its fragrance.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Why not with love?</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And which is more beautiful—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Who can say?</div> + <div class="verse indent0">A rose in bloom or the fragrance of its petals</div> + <div class="verse indent0">In decay!</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">[14]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="SOILED_HANDS"> + SOILED HANDS + </h2> +</div> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">After everyone had left,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">It was always so wonderful sitting in the dark theatre with you.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">There was a mystery about it,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">As though the echo of many plays</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Still lingered in the folds of the curtain,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">While phantom figures crouched low in the chairs,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Beating suppressed applause with vapor hands.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Do you remember how we always sat silently?</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I would shut my eyes to feel your closeness nearer.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Then slowly and like a ritual</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I would take your hand,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And you would laugh a little and say,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">“My hands are awfully sticky”—or</div> + <div class="verse indent0">“I can’t seem to keep my hands clean in this theatre,”</div> + <div class="verse indent0">As if that mattered ... as if that mattered....</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">[15]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="REFLECTION"> + REFLECTION + </h2> +</div> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">I, with my back to the window,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Can see bending and swinging trees,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">A gay blue patch of the sky</div> + <div class="verse indent0">With the corner of a cloud looking in</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And you, with your face buried in a rose.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Thus, I have my whole world,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">In just this little mirror</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Which I hold in the hollow of my hand.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">[16]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="LUMBERMEN"> + LUMBERMEN + </h2> +</div> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">I watch the lumbermen</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Winding up the mountain</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Between the autumn branches.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I see</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Leaves gold, red, flame and green,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">With flashes of faded blue between</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Of their overalls.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Straining and pulling</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Horses brown and soiled white</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Stagger up the mountain side</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Before them</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Dragging huge and heavy timber.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Down in the valley</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I can hear the echo</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Of the men’s muffled curses,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And the quick snap</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Of long thin whips.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">[17]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="SONNET"> + SONNET + </h2> +</div> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">I could not wish all pain and grief and fears</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Should leave my life and let my heart go free;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">For then true love could never stay with me,—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">That deepest love that had its birth in tears.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Smiles come in eyes, while often joy appears</div> + <div class="verse indent0">When lovers meet—but deeper than the sea,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">With strength that could a thousand chains tear free,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Is love that from gray tragic sorrow rears.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">So, love, but one rare bliss I would aspire:</div> + <div class="verse indent0">If you would let me share your grief on earth,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Bear all your loss and take your pain entire—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Guide your dark way. Let others share your mirth,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I know your gay laughter is not for me—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">But lean on me in grief, when tears flow free.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">[18]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="UNPOSSESSED"> + UNPOSSESSED + </h2> +</div> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Never shall I be all subdued,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Nor the real secret of me understood;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Passionately and violently my body may be possessed,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">But my spirit</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Always a virgin,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Will wander on forever</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Unpossessed!</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">[19]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="UNREALITY"> + UNREALITY + </h2> +</div> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">From out the window pane I see your face,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Its outline a little vague</div> + <div class="verse indent0">In the dimness of the shadow.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">But the whiteness of your skin</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Is like a clean ship’s sail,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Standing out in the darkness of a night.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And your eyes,—I see them like two golden bowls,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">With the rays of a thousand moonbeams sweeping over them.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">As I pass out into the blackness,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I wonder if I have ever really known you—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Or, if you exist at all—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And are not but a twisted, fevered, silver creation of my brain,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And the unreality of you comes over me,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Like a mist upon a lonely sea.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">[20]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="MAGIC"> + MAGIC + </h2> +</div> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">We, who yesterday were spring, and wine, and flame, to each other,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Today are only two human beings,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Commonplace, and tired;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">You vaguely jealous, and I slightly bored....</div> + <div class="verse indent0">But tomorrow—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Or the next day—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The Magic may come back again,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And with it Spring, and Wine, and Flame.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">It is for this that I live.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">[21]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="PLATITUDES"> + PLATITUDES + </h2> +</div> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Tonight for a second</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I almost thought I could love you.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The mystery of the night</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And stillness of the wind</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Seemed to speak of love</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And draw us closer.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">There was something sublime</div> + <div class="verse indent0">About our silence,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">With only the sound of dripping water</div> + <div class="verse indent0">As it splashed and fingered the bow of our boat.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I seemed to see you differently,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And for a brief instant</div> + <div class="verse indent0">My love wanted to creep down</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And kneel at your feet.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Just then you turned and said:</div> + <div class="verse indent0">“Isn’t the moon wonderful tonight!” and</div> + <div class="verse indent0">“It all seems like a stage setting,”</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Then I knew I never could love you!</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">[22]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="A_DREAM"> + A DREAM + </h2> +</div> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">I remember when the moon cast down a flood</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Of gold across my floor and you came through</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And held my hand and brought me hope like silver dew.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I remember when your touch stirred my blood</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And taught me in a flash to dream of you,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And recklessly I poured your face into my heart</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And lodged you there—and you were a part</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Of me, before I knew.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Then we became comrades, we two,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Even before this dream so strange and new</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Fastened itself upon my wakeful life,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And from out the chaos and maddening strife</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I called to you....</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">And now you do not answer.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">[23]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="TO_VOULETTI"> + TO VOULETTI + </h2> +</div> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">There is not a leaf grown,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Not a breeze that’s blown,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Not a sweet fragrant tree</div> + <div class="verse indent0">That is not you, to me.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">In the sunlight I feel your smile,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">In the moonlight the whole long while,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I feel the pressure of your hand,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And feeling this I understand.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">I understand all sacred things,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The depths of Life, the secret wings</div> + <div class="verse indent0">That carry beyond the dreary way,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Turning dark to light, and night to day.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">All things fine, and straight, and true,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I know better because of you,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">While your sweetness is like a warm fresh shower,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And your face and soul like a sun-kissed flower.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">[24]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="OCTOBER_28th"> + <span class="smcap">OCTOBER 28th</span> + </h2> +</div> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Today is your birthday.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Many people will come to you with offerings,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">While I,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Who seemingly know you so slightly,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Yet who truly know you so well,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Must stand aside with empty hands.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">If love could make this day perfect,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">My love would weave for you</div> + <div class="verse indent0">A web enmeshed with all your desires.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">On your pathway</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I would fling stars for pebbles</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And tear down the moon</div> + <div class="verse indent0">So that you might wear</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The radiance of its silver</div> + <div class="verse indent0">In your hair.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">But instead—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I stand outside like a wall</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And quite powerless</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I send no gift at all.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">[25]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="LIFES_MIRAGE"> + LIFE’S MIRAGE + </h2> +</div> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">I have seen happiness. I have seen a slim figure steal</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Across my path, and gathering flowers, laughingly kneel</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And strew them on my way....</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Then, but for one brief day,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I have seen them bloom beneath my feet, and fade away.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">I have heard happiness. I have heard its voice, blown through the trees,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Calling and whispering in soft minor keys;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I have heard the voice of heart’s desire, the voice of Hope,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Chanting melodiously and luring me up the slope</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Of Life.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">I have held happiness. Like a grain of sand,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Golden and beautiful, and gathered in my hand.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">There, one second—then gone again:</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Elusive, transient: all in vain</div> + <div class="verse indent0">To try and hold it.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">[26]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="WIND"> + WIND + </h2> +</div> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">If I should die,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I would be buried air-tight beneath the ground.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">While you—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Your gold hair blowing in the breeze—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Would still feel the caress of the wind,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And on your face would steal</div> + <div class="verse indent0">A smile.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">If I should die,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">My body would be buried air-tight beneath the ground,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">But my spirit will wander in the wind</div> + <div class="verse indent0">That touches and circles about your face.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Perhaps you will know this—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And recognizing my touch</div> + <div class="verse indent0">For this reason, you will smile....</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">The smile I know and love.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">[27]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="GODS_HAND"> + GOD’S HAND + </h2> +</div> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Let me wander back over the mountains,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And facing the sea</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Live under the open sky—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Too long have I been encumbered</div> + <div class="verse indent0">With the deceit of man</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And his spoken lie.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I wish to die,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Away from petty thoughts</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And treacherous ways,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And end my days</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Alone.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">I shall sing no sad lament</div> + <div class="verse indent0">That no hand guides me;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">But rather shall the vision I once have been</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Through solitude, make me again the thing I might have been.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The self I lost because I trusted, loved and hoped,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And blinded my eyes with the dust of faith and groped</div> + <div class="verse indent0">My way to truth.</div> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">[28]</span> </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">There is no truth in man—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Only shall I find it</div> + <div class="verse indent0">In grasping God’s Hand</div> + <div class="verse indent0">That leads my way to hill and tree,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And stamps His Truth upon the sea.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">In nature shall I find my life,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Through nature lose the poisoned knife,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">That tried to slay me.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">In solitude I shall breathe life’s breath,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And breathing life I shall welcome death.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">[29]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="WORDS"> + WORDS + </h2> +</div> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Words—words—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Why are you forever fencing?</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And if you must fence</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Cannot you use something else</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Besides words!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Do you remember the last night?</div> + <div class="verse indent0">We talked so madly—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Words again</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And then more words.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">It all seemed a tangled net of words.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">You were trying to convince me of something</div> + <div class="verse indent0">(God knows what)</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And I was trying to answer intelligently</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And keep my end up.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">But somehow and suddenly</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Our words meant so little;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Then you leaned forward</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And your knee touched mine</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And after that my thoughts blurred</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And our words meant nothing.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">[30]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="BLINDNESS"> + BLINDNESS + </h2> +</div> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Perhaps you are not much—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And maybe you are heartless</div> + <div class="verse indent0">As they say you are—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And yet,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I shall always try to believe</div> + <div class="verse indent0">That you are all the things</div> + <div class="verse indent0">That I would have you,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">So, that in the end,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I shall not have to know</div> + <div class="verse indent0">My love and dreams of you</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Have been all in vain</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And wasted.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">[31]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="SPRING_AND_YOU"> + SPRING AND YOU + </h2> +</div> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Today there is a smell of Spring in the air—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">That sad restless note that makes one stretch forth longing hands</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Into the heart of Life.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I who used to hate Spring,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Can never hate it again,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Because it has brought me you.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Now, Love and April, and the gold of your hair,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Are all mingled together</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Like the blending of an exotic dream plant</div> + <div class="verse indent0">With the fragrant perfume of a strange, frail flower.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">[32]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="WALT_WHITMAN"> + WALT WHITMAN + </h2> +</div> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">I would dare say that you are a superman.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Would fling the words out to the world</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And dare him who dares to question it.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I would satiate myself with the art of you;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Would fling aside the talent of the many,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">For the gift of the few</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Whom you have touched.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">In your hands you hold a torch of light,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">A message in your being,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">While in your eyes—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Far seeing vision clear and bright.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">There is power in your poise,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And magic</div> + <div class="verse indent0">In your rhythm, advance and wait.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Drinking in your greatness,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I, myself, am great.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">[33]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="SURRENDER"> + SURRENDER + </h2> +</div> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">I will offer all my love</div> + <div class="verse indent2">Recklessly, without rest,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And give myself completely</div> + <div class="verse indent2">Upon my darling’s breast—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Our pulses shall beat as one pulse,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">And in that sacred breath</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I shall feel the touch of Life</div> + <div class="verse indent2">Yet know the truth of Death!</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">[34]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="WE_THREE"> + WE THREE + </h2> +</div> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">There is something that from between us has slipped away and left me chill,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Something that by its loss has made the world less warm</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And made me feel as though the sun rising o’er the purple dew-touched hill,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Finds its rays cold as it touches the face of dawn.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Although we kiss and meet the same each day,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">You speak my name and I yours and we clasp hands,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Yet from somewhere, I do not know which way,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Stealing between us a lurking figure stands.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">A figure clad in gray....</div> + <div class="verse indent0">To me a dream, a phantom come to steal</div> + <div class="verse indent0">My starlight quite away.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">To you a gay figure, not strange but real.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">And all the while it lurks and turns,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And from every cell and corner of my brain</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I feel its presence and the burns</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Even of your kisses cannot make me sane.</div> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">[35]</span> </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Why should this figure strange and sinister</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Keep on coming? Why should she in the night</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Breathe words of comfort and administer</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Balm to my soul, pointing the way to light?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">While when we meet in the day a dread silence lingers,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">A silence chill which with no kindness blends</div> + <div class="verse indent0">A word of cheer, or kind touch for my trembling fingers;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">No look to prove that we are even friends.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Sometimes when you call my name I hear a tone</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Of her voice within yours, and you say</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Things which she will say at night and when alone,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Or what she’s said before just that way.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">They say we dream in sleep, but I must dream by day,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Because on waking she is a dream child, nor seems less fair,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Though more cruel than when I left her in my sleep sitting there.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">If I could brush away this vision and start once again,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">If I could see sunlight and feel less sad,</div> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">[36]</span> <div class="verse indent0">If I could only steady the confusion of my brain,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Somewhere, somehow I might again be glad.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And by a laugh or carefree jest,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I might once more call your love from out the past</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And hold you closely to my side—lest,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Again between us the figure stand and fast</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Would bind my hands and from me turn your face away,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Making once more my day a night and my night a day.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Ah, love, if we could turn Spring into last Spring again,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Or if I could toss my heart away and make it new;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">If I could drink deeply of some draught to ease the pain,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Or become more callous, less kind and far, far less true....</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Less true to ideals, to love and you.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Perhaps I will, then my brain will cease to ache,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And this sad frenzied chaos I will not prolong;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Then for yours, or mine or hers or each one’s sake,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I will wave farewell to you, singing Love’s Swan Song.</div> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">[37]</span> <div class="verse indent0">Singing Love’s Swan Song, so that this may truly be,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">That never again will false love take hold of me;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I may be mad, but which is the maddest of we three,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Is it you? Or I? Or is it she?</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">[38]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="IN_THE_WINGS"> + IN THE WINGS + </h2> +</div> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Back in the wings</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I remember how I used to stand by your side until you went on.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I remember the darkness and the slow beat of the music—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And the mad desire in me to hold you always near me.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I remember the weird reflection of the colored spot as it circled round,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And you gazing intensely at the dancers,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">While I watched only the curve of your neck and the way your hair grew.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">You seemed to be always thinking of the dancers,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Or, as you said yourself so often,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">“Of nothing at all.”</div> + <div class="verse indent0">But I, while standing with my shoulder touching yours,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Or holding your hand—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Would dream great, wonderful dreams that carried far beyond the horizon!</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">[39]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="INFATUATION"> + INFATUATION + </h2> +</div> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">It is not that I shall ever forget</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The charm of your face, this I do not fear,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Or the rhythmic sway of your form, nor yet</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The melody of the voice I loved to hear.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">These things I shall remember.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I shall remember, too, the beauty of your eyes</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And the stirring curves of your crimson mouth,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Like lightning storms and wind-swept flaming skies</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Set on fire by the hot sun of the South.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I can recall all the words you promised and said,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Your seductive caressing ways and the false kisses you gave to me;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Remembering these I cannot help harboring the dread</div> + <div class="verse indent0">That some day I will return, remembering no longer your cruelty.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">[40]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="ALL_I_ASK"> + ALL I ASK + </h2> +</div> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Not caresses, nor the touch of your hand, nor the sweet savor</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Of your love, I ask; nor the flavor</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Of your lips against mine day by day;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">(These joys I could not hope to stay).</div> + <div class="verse indent0">They will pass and naught remain,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Except sweet memories, or perhaps the pain</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Of their departure.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I could not hope that you would give these things forever,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Nor that our lives in one long dream could pass together;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">But when love’s tide has ebbed and after you quite forget,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">May there come to you no sad remorse or deep regret</div> + <div class="verse indent0">For the things that you have given.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">[41]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="SYMBOL"> + SYMBOL + </h2> +</div> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">You are a symbol to me</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Of all the better things I might have been,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Of all the best things I still might be,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Of all the wonderful things that are not</div> + <div class="verse indent0">But exist somewhere in the God Mind</div> + <div class="verse indent0">As yet unborn and unfulfilled—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">These things you are to me.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Then you are Truth and Silence—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Both the Divine Force and the Great Strength,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And being all these things</div> + <div class="verse indent0">You cannot help—being Love!</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">[42]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="MISUNDERSTANDING"> + MISUNDERSTANDING + </h2> +</div> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">You have so completely misunderstood me—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Vainly I have tried to reach you</div> + <div class="verse indent0">But always you have turned away.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And yet,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Like a blue flame</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Burning hot and fiercely</div> + <div class="verse indent0">My faith has ever burned for you.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Through the darkness</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Of my loneliness</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I have prayed for even small gleams</div> + <div class="verse indent0">From the candle of your thoughts—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I would not pray for love;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">But all the while</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I would gladly have worn my soul out</div> + <div class="verse indent0">To bring you joy.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And more than that....</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Had you asked—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">For you I would have made a plaything</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Of my dreams.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">But what does it all matter—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Why should I care</div> + <div class="verse indent0">That you do not love me,</div> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">[43]</span> <div class="verse indent0">Or that you turn away and despise me?</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Since through you I have found inspiration</div> + <div class="verse indent0">(All unworthy that you are)</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And quite unknowingly you have shown me</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The pathway to a star!</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">[44]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="ENDING"> + ENDING + </h2> +</div> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Life! I am broken, tired,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I have drunk too deep and wandered far—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And coveted a star.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I have been a rebel</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And fought against your laws. I was bent</div> + <div class="verse indent0">On wielding you ... but you had me in your firmament</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And I never knew.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Now I know—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I know I cannot beat you,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And he who wants to meet you</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Must go <i>your</i> way</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Or Perish.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Life! I am weary, spent,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The sun you gave me was only lent</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And now at the end of my day</div> + <div class="verse indent0">It has faded and gone away.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I am lonely and grown cold;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Youth is on my brow, yet I am old,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And darkness falls around me.</div> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">[45]</span> </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Life! I am finished, ended,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">But before my way from you I’ve wended,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I only ask one thing. I, who used to ask so much!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">(The music has stopped and I feel no touch),</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Life! I falter because the way is far too steep</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And so in pity just send me ... Sleep!</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">[46]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="POETRY"> + POETRY + </h2> +</div> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Like a beautiful, frail, seductive woman</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Who flings herself across her lover’s couch</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And wets his lips with desire—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">So you, too,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Fling and stretch your long, lean, white-limbed body,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Across the couch of Life</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And with your lips alluring,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">You chant your rhythmic, undulating, euphonious, melodious song,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Into the heart of me.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Vainly I try to tear myself</div> + <div class="verse indent0">From the bondage of your voice,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And cast you off—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">But from far away,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And deep down in the long unlived-in and barren valleys of my soul,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I feel the breath of you.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">You are like pastures green,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">When one has lived forever with face pressed to the sand;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">You are like cool, moist rocks with moss between;</div> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">[47]</span> <div class="verse indent0">You are like shadows of thin cypress trees</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Across a moonlit stream—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Like rippling, twisting, sprays of foam</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Across the dark unfathomable sea.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">These things you seem to me.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">In you, Oh, Poetry,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Lies the power to lift me up,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And mad with frenzied exaltation</div> + <div class="verse indent0">To bear my spirit beyond the need of any mortal want.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">In you the power</div> + <div class="verse indent0">To beat upon my heart strings,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And quivering, with your music,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">To toss for me weird, flaming words across my brain,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And hear your rhythm in my soul beat back again.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">In you the power to dash me down—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">For in my desire to create a child of yours;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And after infinite toil and labor pain,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">To find it deformed, weak, and not worthy of your name.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">[48]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="ATLANTIC_CITY"> + ATLANTIC CITY + </h2> +</div> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Vulgar houses</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And large grotesque hotels,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Thousands of swarming people,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Overfed, disgusting, and fat,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Or pale and sickly;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Creeping along the boardwalk</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Or being pushed by sweating niggers</div> + <div class="verse indent0">In pigmy houses built on wheels.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Shops filled with gaudy finery—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Cheap laces, false jewelry, and pink and blue sea salt candy....</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And then more shops,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And million dollar piers</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Stretching their sordid hands out toward the horizon,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And reaching down into the depths and sacred blueness of the ocean,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Which, in the face of all such man-built hideousness,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Remains forever, mysterious,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Sublime and beautiful!</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">[49]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="YOUR_FACE"> + YOUR FACE + </h2> +</div> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">How glorious is the coming back to your face</div> + <div class="verse indent0">After I have seen so many others</div> + <div class="verse indent0">All missing something,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And failing me completely.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Faces filled with lust and hatred,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">With joy, hope and despair;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Some dripping with greed and others fresh with love—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">But in your face,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I find the consummation or possibility of all these things,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Both good and evil—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Like a well</div> + <div class="verse indent0">With no man capable of measuring its depth.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Mysterious, pathetic, sensitive, strong and weak;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">But always exquisite</div> + <div class="verse indent0">With a beauty that creates in my heart an aching thing</div> + <div class="verse indent0">That penetrates and fires my soul forever.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">How glorious is the coming back to your face</div> + <div class="verse indent0">After I have seen so many others.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">[50]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="ILLUSION"> + ILLUSION + </h2> +</div> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Last year</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Within this door</div> + <div class="verse indent0">We stood and dreamed</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Great dreams.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I remember the light</div> + <div class="verse indent0">In your face,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And the odor of my lilies,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Suffocating and strange.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">This year—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">You have gone</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And I have ceased to dream.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">But my lilies are flowering once more,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And their odor,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">In the dusk’s wane,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Creates you,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And our dreams,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">All over again.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">[51]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="FESTA_DEL_REDENTORE_IN_VENICE"> + FESTA DEL REDENTORE IN VENICE + </h2> +</div> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Deep blue water,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Like a dark sapphire;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">A thousand swinging lanterns</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Reflected in its depths,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And hung from gondolas</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Whose blackness makes them forever</div> + <div class="verse indent0">True comrades of the night.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Fireworks with spark and light;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Dripping from the skies,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Like thirsty stars</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Bending to cool their lips</div> + <div class="verse indent0">On Venetian waters.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Near by and far</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The echo of a carefree laugh,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The plaintive voices of violins,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And clear songs of living men;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">While deep in the shadows</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Of beauty and old palaces,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Crouch the ghosts of tears and crime,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And men long centuries dead.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">[52]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="COLOR_SYMPHONY"> + COLOR SYMPHONY + </h2> +</div> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Open wings of sea gulls</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And snow peaks are white;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Deep water in ancient slime-lined wells</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Is black—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Great cities are gray,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">With dark, gloomy smoke rising to kill the day.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Sunsets are gold</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And sometimes red,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">While the moon glows silver,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And then instead</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Its face seems rose.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">But love—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Love is all colors,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Sometimes black and sometimes red,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Seldom white but again gold—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Colors of youth and colors old;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Faded colors.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Lavender, green,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">With stretches of orange in between.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Love is often a deep rich blue,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Or crimson for blood</div> + <div class="verse indent0">With a dark brown hue.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Love is gray</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Like twilight’s breath—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Love—all color symbols of life</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Yet, in reality, Death!</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">[53]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="TO_ONE_WHO_LOVES_JEWELS"> + TO ONE WHO LOVES JEWELS + </h2> +</div> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">I gave you verses of mine</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Telling of my sadness</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And praising your beauty,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">But you tossed the beautiful white sheets</div> + <div class="verse indent0">That bore my poems</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Disdainfully away from you.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">I gave you my love—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And more than that,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I gave my dreams by night and day,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">But you understood neither</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And turned your face away.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Then I gave you a jewel,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">A dark sapphire like the night</div> + <div class="verse indent0">With depths in it like the sea,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And for that sapphire alone</div> + <div class="verse indent0">You smiled at me.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">[54]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="FOOTPRINTS"> + FOOTPRINTS + </h2> +</div> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Stretching before me the ever-moving but never-changing sea,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Looking so wild and dark with mad white blotches of foam across its face—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">While I,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">A mere grain of sand in the turmoil and winds of Time,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Stand alert and tense,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Gazing forward and wondering and peering into the Future....</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Across the depths of the sea hundreds of centuries roll past,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And along its shores I follow the worn and faded footprints</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Of men long since dead.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">[55]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="LIFE_AND_YOUTH"> + LIFE AND YOUTH + </h2> +</div> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Through the archways of Life I tread,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Nor do I walk with much less dread,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Because I know</div> + <div class="verse indent0">That where I go,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Millions have walked before me.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">I do not feel less pain because ’tis said,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">That saints and martyrs and soldiers have bled</div> + <div class="verse indent0">For what they gave.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I am not brave</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Because of this.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">I weep not less,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Because in distress</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Others, perhaps being stronger, have not wept as much;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">For Stoics, and tearless people, and because of such</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Restraint, I hold not back my tears.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">I borrow not my courage from the crowd.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">My heart is heavy and my head is bowed—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">But were I to raise my head high,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And cast my eyes up to the sky,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">A star might guide me.</div> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">[56]</span> </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">I cannot be what has been,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I cannot see what’s been seen.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I shape my course,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And gather force,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">From what’s to come.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">The future is my golden star,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">My inspiration—and from afar,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I see the deeds that may be done,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I watch a race that may be run,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And hold my breath in ecstasy.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Away! Black shadows of the past,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Stale traditions that hold us fast.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Because they were,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Must we not stir</div> + <div class="verse indent0">From off their worn out path?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">I take up the spade of Youth and of Life,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And fling new pebbles on the path, where strife</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Has worn the old ones out.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I dig and put to rout,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Old fancies and old doubt.</div> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">[57]</span> </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Across the world I hear a clear, new note;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The locks are shattered and the chains are smote,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And a moonbeam has fallen across life’s shoulder.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I raise my sword, and like a pioneer soldier,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I sharpen it on the Shield of Hope.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">[58]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="POOR_FOOLS"> + POOR FOOLS + </h2> +</div> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">The war is over—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Once more they think that they may dance,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And make the old-time gilded show,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And drink behind closed doors</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Their forbidden, hoarded wine,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And pin jewels upon their breasts.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Dance on,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Poor fools,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Because you do not know</div> + <div class="verse indent0">That marching</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Over the face of the world</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Another Great Army is sweeping!</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">[59]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="LONGING"> + LONGING + </h2> +</div> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">All night long I used to wish that I were dead,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">“May I never see another dawn,” I said.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Now I long for dawn the whole night through</div> + <div class="verse indent2">Because on waking it brings me—you!</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">[60]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="MUSIC"> + MUSIC + </h2> +</div> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Forever, they are telling me</div> + <div class="verse indent0">How futile are your words.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And yet—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">It seems strange the spell you created when you spoke to me.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I would never listen much to what you were saying,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Because I was always hearing just the song in your voice.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Quite ordinary things you would say,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Such as:</div> + <div class="verse indent0">“I am really very tired tonight”—or</div> + <div class="verse indent0">“I wonder why the curtain is so late?”</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Or sometimes you would talk of simple things done during the day.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">But to me—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">To me it was all wonderful</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Because your voice</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Was mellow and low,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And sounded like the muffled pealing</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Of some distant old church bell.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">[61]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="FLOWERS_AND_STARS"> + FLOWERS AND STARS + </h2> +</div> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Flowers are the stars of earth,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Stars, the flowers of the sky;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">But you are both in my heart—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Flowers and stars till I die.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> +<div style='text-align:center'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78702 ***</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/78702-h/images/colophon.jpg 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