CHAPTER II Day and Night
In Warsaw in Poland Half the world away, The one I love best of all Thought of me to-day; I know, for I went Winged as a bird, In the wide flowing wind His own voice I heard; His arms were round me In a ferny place, I looked in the pool And there was his face -- But now it is night And the cold stars say: "Warsaw in Poland Is half the world away." Compensation I should be glad of loneliness And hours that go on broken wings, A thirsty body, a tired heart And the unchanging ache of things, If I could make a single song As lovely and as full of light, As hushed and brief as a falling star On a winter night. I Remembered There never was a mood of mine, Gay or heart-broken, luminous or dull, But you could ease me of its fever And give it back to me more beautiful. In many another soul I broke the bread, And drank the wine and played the happy guest, But I was lonely, I remembered you; The heart
10 belongs to him who knew it best. "Oh You Are Coming" Oh you are coming, coming, coming, How will hungry Time put by the hours till then? -- But why does it anger my heart to long so For one man out of the world of men? Oh I would live in myself only And build my life lightly and still as a dream -- Are not my thoughts clearer than your thoughts And colored like stones in a running stream? Now the slow moon brightens in heaven, The stars are ready, the night is here -- Oh why must I lose myself to love you, My dear? The Return He has come, he is here, My love has come home, The minutes are lighter Than flying foam, The hours are like dancers On gold-slippered feet, The days are young runners Naked and fleet -- For my love has returned, He is home, he is here, In the whole world no other Is dear as my dear! Gray Eyes It was April when you came The first time to me, And my first look in your eyes Was like my first look at the sea. We have been together Four Aprils now Watching for the green On the swaying willow bough; Yet whenever I turn To your gray eyes over me, It is as though I looked For the first time at the sea.
11 The Net I made you many and many a song, Yet never one told all you are -- It was as though a net of words Were flung to catch a star; It was as though I curved my hand And dipped sea-water eagerly, Only to find it lost the blue Dark splendor of the sea. The Mystery Your eyes drink of me, Love makes them shine, Your eyes that lean So close to mine. We have long been lovers, We know the range Of each other's moods And how they change; But when we look At each other so Then we feel How little we know; The spirit eludes us, Timid and free -- Can I ever know you Or you know me?
In a Hospital IV Open Windows Out of the window a sea of green trees Lift their soft boughs like the arms of a dancer, They beckon and call me, "Come out in the sun!" But I cannot answer. I am alone with Weakness and Pain, Sick abed and June is going, I
12 cannot keep her, she hurries by With the silver-green of her garments blowing. Men and women pass in the street Glad of the shining sapphire weather, But we know more of it than they, Pain and I together. They are the runners in the sun, Breathless and blinded by the race, But we are watchers in the shade Who speak with Wonder face to face. The New Moon Day, you have bruised and beaten me, As rain beats down the bright, proud sea, Beaten my body, bruised my soul, Left me nothing lovely or whole -- Yet I have wrested a gift from you, Day that dies in dusky blue: For suddenly over the factories I saw a moon in the cloudy seas -- A wisp of beauty all alone In a world as hard and gray as stone -- Oh who could be bitter and want to die When a maiden moon wakes up in the sky? Eight O'Clock Supper comes at five o'clock, At six, the evening star, My lover comes at eight o'clock -- But eight o'clock is far. How could I bear my pain all day Unless I watched to see The clock- hands laboring to bring Eight o'clock to me. Lost Things Oh, I could let the world go by, Its loud new wonders and its wars, But how will I give up the sky When winter dusk is set with stars? And I could let the cities go, Their changing customs and their creeds, -- But oh, the summer rains that blow In silver on the jewel-
13 weeds! Pain Waves are the sea's white daughters, And raindrops the children of rain, But why for my shimmering body Have I a mother like Pain? Night is the mother of stars, And wind the mother of foam -- The world is brimming with beauty, But I must stay at home. The Broken Field My soul is a dark ploughed field In the cold rain; My soul is a broken field Ploughed by pain. Where grass and bending flowers Were growing, The field lies broken now For another sowing. Great Sower when you tread My field again, Scatter the furrows there With better grain. The Unseen Death went up the hall Unseen by every one, Trailing twilight robes Past the nurse and the nun. He paused at every door And listened to the breath Of those who did not know How near they were to Death. Death went up the hall Unseen by nurse and nun; He passed by many a door -- But he entered one.
14 A Prayer When I am dying, let me know That I loved the blowing snow Although it stung like whips; That I loved all lovely things And I tried to take their stings With gay unembittered lips; That I loved with all my strength, To my soul's full depth and length, Careless if my heart must break, That I sang as children sing Fitting tunes to everything, Loving life for its own sake.
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