Removed from Accident of Loss

Removed from Accident of Loss
By Accident of Gain
Befalling not my simple Days —
Myself had just to earn —

Of Riches — as unconscious
As is the Brown Malay
Of Pearls in Eastern Waters —
Marked His — What Holiday

Would stir his slow conception —
Had he the power to dream
That but the Dower's fraction —
Awaited even — Him —

Undue Significance a starving man attaches

Undue Significance a starving man attaches
To Food —
Far off — He sighs — and therefore — Hopeless —
And therefore — Good —

Partaken — it relieves — indeed —
But proves us
That Spices fly
In the Receipt — It was the Distance —
Was Savory —

We met as Sparks — Diverging Flints

We met as Sparks — Diverging Flints
Sent various — scattered ways —
We parted as the Central Flint
Were cloven with an Adze —
Subsisting on the Light We bore
Before We felt the Dark —
We knew by change between itself
And that etherial Spark.

It struck me — every Day —

It struck me — every Day —
The Lightning was as new
As if the Cloud that instant slit
And let the Fire through —

It burned Me — in the Night —
It Blistered to My Dream —
It sickened fresh opon my sight —
With every Morn that came —

I thought that Storm — was brief —
The Maddest — quickest by —
But Nature lost the Date of This —
And left it in the Sky —

"Lethe" in my flower,

"Lethe" in my flower,
Of which they who drink,
In the fadeless Orchards
Hear the bobolink!

Merely flake or petal
As the Eye beholds
Jupiter! my father!
I perceive the rose!

Sweet Mountains — Ye tell Me no lie —

Sweet Mountains — Ye tell Me no lie —
Never deny Me — Never fly —
Those same unvarying Eyes
Turn on Me — When I fail — or feign,
Or take the Royal names in vain —
Their far — slow — Violet Gaze —

My Strong Madonnas — Cherish still —
The Wayward Nun — beneath the Hill —
Whose service — is to You —
Her latest Worship — When the Day
Fades from the Firmament away —
To lift Her Brows on You —

I learned — at least — what Home could be —

I learned — at least — what Home could be —
How ignorant I had been
Of pretty ways of Covenant —
How awkward at the Hymn

Round our new Fireside — but for this —
This pattern — of the way —
Whose Memory drowns me, like the Dip
Of a Celestial Sea —

What Mornings in our Garden — guessed —
What Bees — for us — to hum —
With only Birds to interrupt
The Ripple of our Theme —

And Task for Both — When Play be done —
Your Problem — of the Brain —
And mine — some foolisher effect —
A Ruffle — or a Tune —

The Afternoons — together spent —
And Twilight — in the Lanes —
Some ministry to poorer lives —
Seen poorest — thro' our gains —

And then away to You to pass —
A new — diviner — Care —
Till Sunrise take us back to Scene —
Transmuted — Vivider —

This seems a Home — And Home is not —
But what that Place could be —
Afflicts me — as a Setting Sun —
Where Dawn — knows how to be —

Power is a familiar growth —

Power is a familiar growth —
Not foreign — not to be —
Beside us like a bland Abyss
In every company —
Escape it — there is but a chance —
When consciousness and clay
Lean forward for a final glance
Disprove that, and you may —

Suspense — is Hostiler than Death —

Suspense — is Hostiler than Death —
Death — tho'soever Broad,
Is just Death, and cannot increase —
Suspense — does not conclude —

But perishes — to live anew —
But just anew to die —
Annihilation — plated fresh
With Immortality —

A fuzzy fellow, without feet —

A fuzzy fellow, without feet —
Yet doth exceeding run!
Of velvet, is his Countenance —
And his complexion, dun!

Sometime, he dwelleth in the grass!
Sometime, opon a bough,
From which he doth descent in plush
Opon the Passer-by!

All this in summer —
But when winds alarm the Forest Folk,
He taketh Damask Residence —
And struts in sewing silk!

Then, finer than a Lady,
Emerges in the spring!
A Feather on each shoulder!
You'd scarce recognize him!

By men, yclept Caterpillar!
By me! But who am I,
To tell the pretty secret
Of the Butterfly!

Did Our Best Moment last —

Did Our Best Moment last —
'Twould supersede the Heaven —
A few — and they by Risk — procure —
So this Sort — are not given —

Except as stimulants — in
Cases of Despair —
Or Stupor — The Reserve —
These Heavenly moments are —

A Grant of the Divine —
That Certain as it Comes —
Withdraws — and leaves the dazzled Soul
In her unfurnished Rooms —

Faith — is the Pierless Bridge

Faith — is the Pierless Bridge
Supporting what We see
Unto the Scene that We do not —
Too slender for the eye

It bears the Soul as bold
As it were rocked in Steel
With Arms of steel at either side —
It joins — behind the Vail

To what, could We presume
The Bridge would cease to be
To Our far, vascillating Feet
A first Nescessity.

I'll tell you how the Sun rose —

I'll tell you how the Sun rose —
A Ribbon at a time —
The Steeples swam in Amethyst —
The news, like Squirrels, ran —
The Hills untied their Bonnets —
The Bobolinks — begun —
Then I said softly to myself —
"That must have been the Sun"!
But how he set — I know not —
There seemed a purple stile
That little Yellow boys and girls
Were climbing all the while —
Till when they reached the other side —
A Cominie in Gray —
Put gently up the evening Bars —
And led the flock away —

The Lady feeds Her little Bird

The Lady feeds Her little Bird
At rarer intervals —
The little Bird would not dissent
But meekly recognize

The Gulf between the Hand and Her
And crumbless and afar
And fainting, on Her yellow Knee
Fall softly, and adore —

We knew not that we were to live —

We knew not that we were to live —
Nor when we are to die —
Our ignorance our Cuirass is —
We wear Mortality
As lightly as an Option Gown
Till asked to take it off —
By his intrusion, God is known —
It is the same with Life —

Just to be Rich

Just to be Rich
To waste my Guinea
On so broad a Heart!
Just to be Poor,
For Barefoot pleasure
You, Sir, shut me out!

When I hoped I feared —

When I hoped I feared —
Since I hoped I dared
Everywhere alone
As a Church remain —
Spectre cannot harm —
Serpent cannot charm —
He deposes Doom
Who hath suffered him —

One life of so much consequence!

One life of so much consequence!
Yet I — for it — would pay —
My soul’s entire income —
In ceaseless — salary —

One Pearl — to me — so signal —
That I would instant dive —
Although — I knew — to take it —
Would — cost me — just a life!

The Sea is full — I know it!
That — does not blur my Gem!
It burns — distinct from all the row —
Intact — in Diadem!

The life is thick — I know it!
Yet — not so dense a crowd —
But Monarchs — are perceptible —
Far down the dustiest Road!

If the foolish, call them “flowers” —

If the foolish, call them “flowers” —
Need the wiser, tell?
If the Savans “Classify” them
It is just as well!

Those who read the “Revelations”
Must not criticize
Those who read the same Edition —
With beclouded Eyes!

Could we stand with that Old “Moses” —
“Canaan” denied —
Scan like him, the stately landscape
On the other side —

Doubtless, we should deem superfluous
Many Sciences,
Not pursued by learned Angels
In scholastic skies!

Low amid that glad Belles lettres
Grant that we may stand —
Stars, amid profound Galaxies —
At that grand “Right hand”!

He scanned it — Staggered —

He scanned it — Staggered —
Dropped the Loop
To Past or Period —
Caught helpless at a sense as if
His Mind were going blind —
Groped up, to see if God were there —
Groped backward at Himself
Caressed a Trigger absently
And wandered out of Life —

We outgrow love, like others things

We outgrow love, like other things
And put it in the Drawer —
Till it an Antique fashion shows —
Like Costumes Grandsires wore.

A Visitor in Marl —

A Visitor in Marl —
Who influences Flowers —
Till they are orderly as Busts —
And Elegant — as Glass —

Who visits in the Night —
And just before the Sun —
Concludes his glistening interview —
Caresses — and is gone —

But whom his fingers touched —
And where his feet have run —
And whatsoever Mouth he kissed —
Is as it had not been —

Why make it doubt — it hurts it so —

Why make it doubt — it hurts it so —
So sick — to guess —
So strong — to know —
So brave — opon it's little Bed
To tell the very last They said
Unto Itself — and smile — And shake —
For that dear — distant — dangerous — sake —
But — the Instead — the Pinching fear
That Something — it did do — or dare —
Offend the Vision — and it flee —
And They no more remember me —
Nor ever turn to tell me why —
Oh, Master, This is Misery —

Each Second is the last

Each Second is the last
Perhaps, recalls the Man
Just measuring unconsciousness
The Sea and Spar between —

To fail within a chance —
How terribler a thing
Than perish from the chance's list
Before the Perishing!

Lest they should come — is all my fear

Lest they should come — is all my fear
When sweet incarcerated — here

She dwelleth in the Ground —

She dwelleth in the Ground —
Where Daffodils — abide —
Her Maker — Her Metropolis —
The Universe — Her Maid —

To fetch Her Grace — and Hue —
And Fairness — and Renown —
The Firmament's — To pluck Her —
And fetch Her Thee — be mine —

Purple —

         Purple —

The Color of a Queen, is this —
The Color of a Sun
At setting — this and Amber —
Beryl — and this, at Noon —

And when at night — Auroran widths
Fling suddenly on Men —
'Tis this — and Witchcraft — nature keeps
A Rank — for Iodine —

A House opon the Hight —

A House opon the Hight —
That Wagon never reached —
No Dead, were ever carried down —
No Peddler's Cart — approached —

Whose Chimney never smoked —
Whose Windows — Night and Morn —
Caught Sunrise first — and Sunset — last —
Then — held an Empty Pane —

Whose fate — Conjecture knew —
No other neighbor — did —
And what it was — we never lisped —
Because He — never told —

Me from Myself — to banish —

Me from Myself — to banish —
Had I Art —
Invincible My Fortress
Unto All Heart —

But since Myself — assault Me —
How have I peace
Except by subjugating
Consciousness?

And since We're Mutual Monarch
How this be
Except by Abdication —
Me — of Me — ?

Love — thou art high —

Love — thou art high —
I cannot climb thee —
But, were it Two —
Who knows but we —
Taking turns — at the Chimborazo —
Ducal — at last — stand up by thee —

Love — thou art deep —
I cannot cross thee —
But, were there Two
Instead of One —
Rower, and Yacht — some sovreign Summer —
Who knows — but we'd reach the Sun?

Love — thou art Vailed —
A few — behold thee —
Smile — and alter — and prattle — and die —
Bliss — were an Oddity — without thee —
Nicknamed by God —
Eternity —

Had I presumed to hope —

Had I presumed to hope —
The loss had been to Me
A Value — for the Greatness' Sake —
As Giants — gone away —

Had I presumed to gain
A Favor so remote —
The Failure but confirm the Grace
In further Infinite —

'Tis failure — not of Hope —
But Confident Despair —
Advancing on Celestial Lists —
With faint — Terrestrial power —

'Tis Honor — though I die —
For That no Man obtain
Till He be justified by Death —
This — is the Second Gain —

Bloom — is Result — to meet a Flower

Bloom — is Result — to meet a Flower
And casually glance
Would cause one scarcely to suspect
The minor Circumstance

Assisting in the Bright Affair
So intricately done
Then offered as a Butterfly
To the Meridian —

To pack the Bud — oppose the Worm —
Obtain it's right of Dew —
Adjust the Heat — elude the Wind —
Escape the prowling Bee —

Great Nature not to disappoint
Awaiting Her that Day —
To be a Flower, is profound
Responsibility —

Tie the strings to my Life, My Lord,

Tie the strings to my Life, My Lord,
Then, I am ready to go!
Just a look at the Horses —
Rapid! That will do!

Put me in on the firmest side —
So I shall never fall —
For we must ride to the Judgment —
And it's partly, down Hill —

But never I mind the steepest —
And never I mind the Sea —
Held fast in Everlasting Race —
By my own Choice, and Thee —

Good bye to the Life I used to live —
And the World I used to know —
And kiss the Hills, for me, just once —
Then — I am ready to go!

Gratitude — is not the mention

Gratitude — is not the mention
Of a Tenderness,
But it's still appreciation
Out of Plumb of Speech —

When the Sea return no Answer
By the Line and Lead
Proves it there's no Sea, or rather
A remoter Bed?

The Soul has Bandaged moments —

The Soul has Bandaged moments —
When too appalled to stir —
She feels some ghastly Fright come up
And stop to look at her —

Salute her, with long fingers —
Caress her freezing hair —
Sip, Goblin, from the very lips
The Lover — hovered — o'er —
Unworthy, that a thought so mean
Accost a Theme — so — fair —

The soul has moments of escape —
When bursting all the doors —
She dances like a Bomb, abroad,
And swings opon the Hours,

As do the Bee — delirious borne —
Long Dungeoned from his Rose —
Touch Liberty — then know no more —
But Noon, and Paradise —

The Soul's retaken moments —
When, Felon let along,
With shackles on the plumed feet,
And staples in the song,

The Horror welcomes her, again,
These, are not brayed of Tongue —

Had I not This, or This, I said,

Had I not This, or This, I said,
Appealing to Myself,
In moment of prosperity —
Inadequate — were Life —

"Thou has not Me, nor Me" — it said,
In moment of Reverse —
"And yet Thou are industrious —
No need — hadst Thou — of us — "?

My need — was all I had — I said
The need did not reduce —
Because the food — exterminate —
The hunger — does not cease —

But diligence — is sharper —
Proportioned to the chance —
To feed opon the Retrograde —
Enfeebles — the Advance —

Reportless Subjects, to the Quick

Reportless Subjects, to the Quick
Continual addressed —
But foreign as the Dialect
of Danes, unto the rest.

Reportless Measures, to the Ear
Susceptive — stimulus —
But like an Oriental Tale
To others, fabulous —

I've none to tell me to but Thee

I've none to tell me to but Thee
So when Thou failest, nobody —
It was a little tie —
It just held Two, not those it held
Since Somewhere thy sweet Face has spilled
Beyond my Boundary —

If things were opposite — and Me
And Me it were, that ebbed from Thee
On some unanswering Shore —
Would'st Thou seek so — just say
That I the Answer may pursue
Unto the lips it eddied through —
So — overtaking Thee —

Our journey had advanced —

Our journey had advanced —
Our feet were almost come
To that odd Fork in Being's Road —
Eternity — by Term —

Our pace took sudden awe —
Our feet — reluctant — led —
Before — were Cities — but Between —
The Forest of the Dead —

Retreat — was out of Hope —
Behind — a Sealed Route —
Eternity's White Flag — Before —
And God — at every Gate —

My Season's furthest Flower —

My Season's furthest Flower —
I tenderer commend
Because I found Her Kinsmanless —
A Grace without a Friend.

On the World you colored

On the world you colored
Morning painted rose —
Idle his Vermilion
Aimless crept the Glows
Over Realms of Orchards
I the Day before
Conquered with the Robin —
Misery — how fair
Till your wrinkled Finger
Shoved the Sun away
Midnight's awful Pattern
In the Goods of Day —

We grow accustomed to the Dark —

We grow accustomed to the Dark —
When Light is put away —
As when the Neighbor holds the Lamp
To witness her Good bye —

A Moment — We uncertain step
For newness of the night —
Then — fit our Vision to the Dark —
And meet the Road — erect —

And so of larger — Darknesses —
Those Evenings of the Brain —
When not a Moon disclose a sign —
Or Star — come out — within —

The Bravest — grope a little —
And sometimes hit a Tree
Directly in the Forehead —
But as they learn to see —

Either the Darkness alters —
Or something in the sight
Adjusts itself to Midnight —
And Life steps almost straight.

I took my Power in my Hand —

I took my Power in my Hand —
And went against the World —
'Twas not so much as David — had —
But I — was twice as bold —

I aimed my Pebble — but Myself
Was all the one that fell —
Was it Goliah — was too large —
Or was myself — too small?

Conjecturing a Climate

Conjecturing a Climate
Of unsuspended Suns —
Adds poignancy to Winter —
The shivering Fancy turns

To a fictitious Country
To palliate a Cold —
Not obviated of Degree —
Nor eased — of Latitude —

The Birds begun at Four o'clock —

The Birds begun at Four o'clock —
Their period for Dawn —
A Music numerous as space —
But neighboring as Noon —

I could not count their Force —
Their numbers did expend
As Brook by Brook bestows itself
To multiply the Pond.

The Listener — was not —
Except Occasional Man —
In homely industry arrayed —
To overtake the Morn —

Nor was it for applause —
That I could ascertain —
But independent Extasy
Of Universe, and Men —

By Six, the Flood had done —
No tumult there had been
Of Dressing, or Departure —
Yet all the Band — was gone —

The Sun engrossed the East —
The Day Resumed the World —
The Miracle that introduced
Forgotten, as fulfilled.

I felt my life with both my hands

I felt my life with both my hands
To see if it was there —
I held my spirit to the Glass,
To prove it possibler —

I turned my Being round and round
And paused at every pound
To ask the Owner's name —
For doubt, that I should know the sound —

I judged my features — jarred my hair —
I pushed my dimples by, and waited —
If they — twinkled back —
Conviction might, of me —

I told myself, "Take Courage, Friend —
That — was a former time —
But we might learn to like the Heaven,
As well as our Old Home"!

It tossed — and tossed —

It tossed — and tossed —
A little Brig I knew — o'ertook by Blast —
It spun — and spun —
And groped delirious, for Morn —

It slipped — and slipped —
As One that drunken — stept —
It's white foot tripped —
Then dropped from sight —

Ah, Brig — Good Night
To crew and You —
The Ocean's Heart too smooth — too Blue —
To break for You —

Because He loves Her

Because He loves Her
We will pry and see if she is fair
What difference is on her Face
From Features others wear.

It will not harm her magic pace
That we so far behind —
Her Distances propitiate
As Forests touch the Wind

Not hoping for his notice vast
But nearer to adore
'Tis Glory's overtakelessness
That makes our running poor.

A Prison gets to be a friend —

A Prison gets to be a friend —
Between its Ponderous face
And Our's — a Kinsmanship express —
And in it's narrow Eyes —

We come to look with gratitude
For the appointed Beam
It deal us — stated as Our food —
And hungered for — the same —

We learn to know the Planks —
Than answer to Our feet —
So miserable a sound — at first —
Nor even now — so sweet —

As plashing in the Pools —
When Memory was a Boy —
But a Demurer Circuit√
A Geometric Joy —

The Posture of the Key
That interrupt the Day
To Our Endeavor — Not so real
The Cheek of Liberty —

As this Phantasm steel —
Whose features — Day and Night —
Are present to us — as Our Own —
And as escapeless — quite —

The narrow Round — the stint —
The slow exchange of Hope —
For something passiver — Content
Too steep for looking up —

The Liberty we knew
Avoided — like a Dream —
Too wide for any night but Heaven —
If That — indeed — redeem —

Nature — the Gentlest Mother is,

Nature — the Gentlest Mother is,
Impatient of no Child —
The feeblest — or the Waywardest —
Her Admonition mild —

In Forest — and the Hill —
By Traveller — be heard —
Restraining Rampant Squirrel —
Or too impetuous Bird —

How fair Her Conversation —
A Summer Afternoon —
Her Household — Her Assembly —
And when the Sun go down —

Her Voice among the Aisles
Incite the timid prayer
Of the minutest Cricket —
The most unworthy Flower —

When all the Children sleep —
She turns as long away
As will suffice to light Her lamps —
Then bending from the Sky —

With infinite Affection —
And infiniter Care —
Her Golden finger on Her lip —
Wills Silence — Everywhere —

Volcanoes be in Sicily

Volcanoes be in Sicily
And South America
I judge from my Geography
Volcano nearer here
A Lava step at any time
Am I inclined to climb
A Crater I may contemplate
Vesuvius at Home

Four Trees — opon a solitary Acre —

Four Trees — opon a solitary Acre —
Without Design
Or Order, or Apparent Action —
Maintain —

The Sun — opon a Morning meets them —
The Wind —
No nearer Neighbor — have they —
But God —

The Acre — gives them — Place —
They — Him — Attention of Passer by —
Of Shadow, or of Squirrel, haply —
Or Boy —

What Deed is Their's unto the General Nature —
What Plan
They severally — retard — or further —
Unknown —

You taught me Waiting with Myself —

You taught me Waiting with Myself
Appointment strictly kept —
You taught Me fortitude of Fate —
This — also — I have learnt —

An Altitude of Death, that could
No bitterer debar
Than Life — had done — before it —
Yet — there is a Science more —

The Heaven you know — to understand
That you be not ashamed
Of Me — in Christ's bright Audience
Opon the further Hand —

Revolution is the Pod

Revolution is the Pod
Systems rattle from
When the Winds of Will are stirred
Excellent in Bloom

But except it's Russet Base
Every Summer be
The entomber of itself,
So of Liberty —

Left inactive on the Stalk
All it's Purple fled
Revolution shakes it for
Test if it be dead —

Quite empty, quite at rest,

Quite empty, quite at rest,
The Robin locks her Nest, and tries her Wings —
She does not know a Route
But puts her Craft about
For rumored springs —
She does not ask for Noon —
She does not ask for Boon —
Crumbles and homeless, of but one request —
The Birds she lost —

Pigmy seraphs — gone astray —

Pigmy seraphs — gone astray —
Velvet people from Vevay —
Belles from some lost summer day —
Bees exclusive Coterie —

Paris could not lay the fold
Belted down with emerald —
Venice could not show a cheek
Of a tint so lustrous meek —
Never such an ambuscade
As of briar and leaf displayed
For my little damask maid —

I had rather wear her grace
Than an Earl's distinguished face —
I had rather dwell like her
Than be "Duke of Exeter" —
Royalty enough for me
To subdue the Bumblebee.

Not at Home to Callers

Not at Home to Callers
Says the Naked Tree —
Jacket due in April —
Wishing you Good Day —

Me, change! Me, alter!

Me, change! Me, alter!
Then I will, when on the Everlasting Hill
A Smaller Purple grows —
At Sunset, or a lesser glow
Flickers opon Cordillera —
At Day's superior close!

Kill your Balm — and it's Odors bless you —

Kill your Balm — and it's Odors bless you —
Bare your Jessamine — to the storm —
And she will fling her maddest perfume —
Haply — your Summer night to Charm —

Stab the Bird — that built in your bosom —
Oh, could you catch her last Refrain —
Bubble! "forgive" — "Some better" — Bubble!
"Carol for Him — when I am gone"!

How soft this Prison is

How soft this Prison is
How sweet these sullen bars
No Despot but the King of Down
Invented this repose

Of Fate if this is all
Has he no added Realm
A Dungeon but a Kinsman is
Incarceration — Home.

I tie my Hat — I crease my Shawl —

I tie my Hat — I crease my Shawl —
Life's little duties do — precisely —
As the very least
Were infinite — to me —

I put new Blossoms in the Glass —
And throw the Old — away —
I push a petal from my Gown
That anchored there — I weigh
The time 'twill be till six o'clock —
So much I have to do —
And yet — existence — some way back —
Stopped — struck — my ticking — through —

We cannot put Ourself away
As a completed Man
Or Woman — When the errand's done
We came to Flesh — opon —
There may be — Miles on Miles of Nought —
Of Action — sicker far —
To simulate — is stinging work —
To cover what we are

From Science — and from Surgery —
Too Telescopic eyes
To bear on us unshaded —
For their — sake — Not for Our's —

Therefore — we do life's labor —
Though life's Reward — be done —
With scrupulous exactness —
To hold our Senses — on —

Joy to have merited the Pain —

Joy to have merited the Pain —
To merit the Release —
Joy to have perished every step —
To Compass Paradise —

Pardon — to look opon thy face —
With these old fashioned Eyes —
Better than new — could be — for that —
Though bought in Paradise —

Because they looked on thee before —
And thou hast Looked on them —
Prove Me — My Hazel Witnesses
The features are the same —

So fleet thou wert, when present —
So infinite — when gone —
An Orient's Apparition —
Remanded of the Morn —

The Hight I recollect —
'Twas even with the Hills —
The Depth opon my Soul was notched —
As Floods — on Whites of Wheels —

To Haunt — till Time have dropped
His last Decade away,
And Haunting actualize — to last
At least — Eternity —

Guest am I to have

Guest am I to have
Light my northern room
Why to cordiality so averse to come
Other friends adjourn
Other bonds decay
Why avoid so narrowly
My fidelity —

Defrauded I a Butterfly —

Defrauded I a Butterfly
The lawful Heir — for Thee —

As the Starved Maelstrom laps the Navies

As the Starved Maelstrom laps the Navies
As the Vulture teazed
Forces the Broods in lonely Valleys
As the Tiger eased

By but a Crumb of Blood, fasts Scarlet
Till he meet a Man
Dainty adorned with Veins and Tissues
And partakes — his Tongue

Cooled by the Morsel for a moment
Grows a fiercer thing
Till he esteem his Dates and Cocoa
A Nutrition mean

I, of a finer Famine
Deem my Supper dry
For but a Berry of Domingo
And a Torrid Eye —

The Trees like Tassels — hit — and swung —

The Trees like Tassels — hit — and swung —
There seemed to rise a Tune
From Miniature Creatures
Accompanying the Sun —

Far Psalteries of Summer —
Enamoring the Ear
They never yet did satisfy —
Remotest — when most fair

The Sun shone whole at intervals —
Then Half — then utter hid —
As if Himself were optional
And had Estates of Cloud

Sufficient to enfold Him
Eternally from view —
Except it were a whim of His
To let the Orchards grow —

A Bird sat careless on the fence —
One gossipped in the Lane
On silver matters charmed a Snake
Just winding round a stone —

Bright Flowers slit a Calyx
And soared opon a stem
Like Hindered Flags — Sweet hoisted —
With Spices — in the Hem —

'Twas more — I cannot mention —
How mean — to those that see —
Vandyke's Delineation
Of Nature's — Summer Day!

Escaping backward to perceive

Escaping backward to perceive
The Sea opon our place —
Escaping forward, to confront
His glittering Embrace —

Retreating up, a Billow's hight
Retreating blinded down
Our undermining feet to meet
Instructs to the Divine.

Ourselves were wed one summer — dear —

Ourselves were wed one summer — dear —
Your Vision — was in June —
And when Your little Lifetime failed,
I wearied — too — of mine —

And overtaken in the Dark —
Where You had put me down —
By Some one carrying a Light —
I — too — received the Sign —

'Tis true — Our Futures different lay —
Your Cottage — faced the sun —
While Oceans — and the North must be —
On every side of mine

'Tis true, Your Garden led the Bloom,
For mine — in Frosts — was sown —
And yet, one Summer, we were Queens —
But You — were crowned in June —

Up Life's Hill with my little Bundle

Up Life’s Hill with my little Bundle
If I prove it steep —
If a Discouragement withold me —
If my newest step

Older feel than the Hope that prompted —
Spotless be from blame
Heart that proposed as Heart that accepted
Homelessness, for Home —

I could suffice for Him, I knew —

I could suffice for Him, I knew —
He — could suffice for Me —
Yet Hesitating Fractions — Both
Surveyed Infinity —

"Would I be Whole" He sudden broached —
My Syllable rebelled —
'Twas face to face with Nature — forced —
'Twas face to face with God —

Withdrew the Sun — to other Wests —
Withdrew the furthest Star
Before Decision — stooped to speech —
And then — be audibler

The Answer of the Sea unto
The Motion of the Moon —
Herself adjust Her Tides — unto —
Could I — do else — with Mine?

A Clock stopped —

A Clock stopped —
Not the Mantel's —
Geneva's farthest skill
Cant put the puppet bowing
That just now dangled still —

An awe came on the Trinket!
The Figures hunched — with pain —
Then quivered out of Decimals —
Into Degreeless noon —

It will not stir for Doctor's —
This Pendulum of snow —
The Shopman importunes it —
While cool — concernless No —

Nods from the Gilded pointers —
Nods from the Seconds slim —
Decades of Arrogance between
The Dial life —
And Him —

                               in fond memory of Peter Radding

Crisis is a Hair

Crisis is a Hair
Toward which forces creep
Past which — forces retrogade
If it come in sleep

To suspend the Breath
Is the most we can
Ignorant is it Life or Death
Nicely balancing —

Let an instant push
Or an Atom press
Or a Circle hesitate
In Circumference

It may jolt the Hand
That adjusts the Hair
That secures Eternity
From presenting — Here —

The name — of it— is "Autumn" —

The name — of it — is "Autumn" —
The hue — of it — is Blood —
An Artery — opon the Hill —
A Vein — along the Road —

Great Globules — in the Alleys —
And Oh, the Shower of Stain —
When Winds — upset the Basin —
And spill the Scarlet Rain —

It sprinkles Bonnets — far below —
It gathers ruddy Pools —
Then — eddies like a Rose — away —
Opon Vermillion Wheels —

His Mansion in the Pool

His Mansion in the Pool
The Frog forsakes
He rises on a Log
And statements makes —
His Auditors two Worlds
Deducting me —
The Orator of April
Is hoarse Today —
His Mittens at his Feet
No Hand Hath he —
His eloquence a Bubble
As Fame should be —
Applaud him to discover
To your chagrin
Demosthenes has vanished
In Waters Green —

Two Butterflies went out at Noon

Two Butterflies went out at Noon
And waltzed opon a Farm
And then espied Circumference
And caught a ride with him —
Then lost themselves and found themselves
In eddies of the sun
Till Gravitation missed them —
And Both were wrecked in Noon —
To all surviving Butterflies
Be this Fatuity
Example — and monition
To entomology —

Through lane it lay — through bramble —

Through lane it lay — thro' bramble —
Through clearing and thro' wood —
Banditti often passed us
Opon the lonely road.

The wolf came peering curious —
The Owl looked puzzled down —
The serpent's satin figure
Glid stealthily along —

The tempests touched our garments —
The lightning's poinards gleamed —
Fierce from the Crag above us
The hungry Vulture screamed —

The Satyr's fingers beckoned —
The Valley murmured "Come" —
These were the mates —
This was the road
These children fluttered home.

Who occupies this House?

Who occupies this House?
A Stranger I must judge
Since No one knows His Circumstance —
'Tis well the name and age

Are writ opon the Door
Or I should fear to pause
Where not so much as Honest Dog
Approach encourages —

It seems a Curious Town —
Some Houses very old,
Some — newly raised this Afternoon,
Were I compelled to build

It should not be among
Inhabitants so still
But where the Birds assemble
And Boys were possible

Before Myself was born
'Twas settled, so they say,
A Territory for the Ghosts —
And Squirrels, formerly.

Until a Pioneer, as
Settlers often do
Liking the quiet of the Place
Attracted more unto —

And from a Settlement
A Capitol has grown
Distinguished for the gravity
Of every Citizen —

The Owner of this House
A Stranger He must be —
Eternity's Acquaintances
Are mostly so — to me —

What Inn is this

What Inn is this
Where for the night
Peculiar Traveller comes?
Who is the Landlord?
Where the maids?
Behold, what curious rooms!
No ruddy fires on the hearth —
No brimming Tankards flow.
Necromancer! Landlord!
Who are these below?

Behind Me — dips Eternity —

Behind Me — dips Eternity —
Before Me — Immortality —
Myself — the Term between —
Death but the Drift of Eastern Gray,
Dissolving into Dawn away,
Before the West begin —

'Tis Kingdoms — afterward — they say —
In perfect — pauseless Monarchy —
Whose Prince — is Son of none —
Himself — His Dateless Dynasty —
Himself — Himself diversify —
In Duplicate divine —

'Tis Miracle before Me — then —
'Tis Miracle behind — between —
A Crescent in the Sea —
With Midnight to the North of Her —
And Midnight to the South of Her —
And Maelstrom — in the Sky —

The Merchant of the Picturesque

The Merchant of the Picturesque
A Counter has and sales
But is within or negative
Precisely as the calls —
To Children he is small in price
And large in courtesy —
It suits him better than a check
Their artless currency —
Of Counterfeits he is so shy
Do one advance so near
As to behold his ample flight —

A Shade opon the mind there passes

A Shade opon the mind there passes
As when on Noon
A Cloud the mighty Sun encloses
Remembering

That some there be too numb to notice
Oh God
Why give if Thou must take away
The Loved?

The Night was wide, and furnished scant

The Night was wide, and furnished scant
With but a single Star —
That often as a Cloud it met —
Blew out itself — for fear —

The Wind pursued the little Bush —
And drove away the Leaves
November left — then clambered up
And fretted in the Eaves —

No Squirrel went abroad —
A Dog's belated feet
Like intermittent Plush, be heard
Adown the empty street —

To feel if Blinds be fast —
And closer to the fire —
Her Rocking Chair to draw —
And shiver for the Poor —

The Housewife's gentle Task —
How pleasanter — said she
Unto the Sofa opposite —
The Sleet — than May, no Thee —

Forever at His side to walk —

Forever at His side to walk —
The smaller of the two!
Brain of His Brain
Blood of His Blood
Two lives — One Being — now —

Forever of His fate to taste —
If grief — the largest part —
If joy — to put my piece away
For that beloved Heart —

All life — to know each other
Whom we can never learn —
And bye and bye — a Change —
Called Heaven —
Rapt neighborhoods of men —
Just finding out — what puzzled us —
Without the lexicon!

That short — potential stir

That short — potential stir
That each can make but once —
That Bustle so illustrious
'Tis almost Consequence —

Is the eclat of Death —
Oh — thou unknown Renown
That not a Beggar would accept
Had he the power to spurn —

It is dead — Find it —

It is dead — Find it —
Out of sound — Out of sight —
"Happy"? Which is wiser —
You, or the Wind?
"Conscious"? Wont you ask that —
Of the low Ground?

"Homesick"? Many met it —
Even through them — This cannot testify —
Themself — as dumb —

I've dropped my Brain — My Soul is numb —

I've dropped my Brain — My Soul is numb —
The Veins that used to run
Stop palsied — 'tis Paralysis
Done perfecter in stone —

Vitality is Carved and cool —
My nerve in marble lies —
A Breathing Woman
Yesterday — endowed with Paradise.

Not dumb — I had a sort that moved —
A Sense that smote and stirred —
Instincts for Dance — a caper part —
An Aptitude for Bird —

Who wrought Carrara in me
And chiselled all my tune
Were it a witchcraft — were it Death —
I've still a chance to strain

To Being, somewhere — Motion — Breath —
Though Centuries beyond,
And every limit a Decade —
I'll shiver, satisfied.

You've seen Balloons set — Hav'nt You?

You've seen Balloons set — Hav'nt You?
So stately they ascend —
It is as Swans — discarded You,
For Duties Diamond —

Their Liquid Feet go softly out
Opon a Sea of Blonde —
They spurn the Air, as 'twere too mean
For Creatures so renowned —

Their Ribbons just beyond the eye —
They struggle — some — for Breath —
And yet the Crowd applaud, below —
They would not encore — Death —

The Gilded Creature strains — and spins —
Trips frantic in a Tree —
Tears open her imperial Veins —
And tumbles in the Sea —

The Crowd — retire with an Oath —
The Dust in Streets — go down —
And Clerks in Counting Rooms
Observe — "'Twas only a Balloon" —

Escape is such a thankful Word

Escape is such a thankful Word
I often in the Night
Consider it unto myself
No spectacle in sight

Escape — it is the Basket
In which the Heart is caught
When down some awful Battlement
The rest of Life is dropt —

'Tis not to sight the savior —
It is to be the saved —
And that is why I lay my Head
Opon this trusty word —

Somewhat, to hope for

Somewhat, to hope for,
Be it ne'er so far
Is Capital against Despair —

Somewhat, to suffer,
Be it ne'er so keen —
If terminable, may be borne —

A precious — mouldering pleasure — 'tis —

A precious — mouldering pleasure — 'tis —
To meet an Antique Book —
In just the Dress his Century wore —
A privilege — I think —

His venerable Hand to take —
And warming in our own —
A passage back — or two — to make —
To Times when he — was young —

His quaint opinions — to inspect —
His thought to ascertain
On Themes concern our mutual mind —
The Literature of Man —

What interested Scholars — most —
What Competitions ran —
When Plato — was a Certainty —
And Sophocles — a Man —

When Sappho — was a living Girl —
And Beatrice wore
The Gown that Dante — deified —
Facts Centuries before

He traverses — familiar —
As One should come to Town —
And tell you all your Dreams — were true —
He lived — where Dreams were born —

His presence is enchantment —
You beg him not to go —
Old Volumes shake their Vellum Heads
And tantalize — just so —

Let me not mar that perfect Dream

Let me not mar that perfect Dream
By an Auroral stain
But so adjust my daily Night
That it will come again.

Not when we know, the Power accosts —
The Garment of Surprise
Was all our timid Mother wore
At Home — in Paradise.

A Dying Tiger — moaned for Drink —

A Dying Tiger — moaned for Drink —
I hunted all the Sand —
I caught the Dripping of a Rock
And bore it in my Hand —

His mighty Balls — in death were thick —
But searching — I could see
A Vision on the Retina
Of Water — and of me —

'Twas not my blame — who sped too slow —
'Twas not his blame — who died
While I was reaching him —
But 'twas — the fact that He was dead —

Crumbling is not an instant's Act

Crumbling is not an instant's Act
A fundamental pause
Dilapidation's processes
Are organized Decays —

'Tis first a Cobweb on the Soul
A Cuticle of Dust
A Borer in the Axis
An Elemental Rust —

Ruin is formal — Devil's work
Consecutive and slow —
Fail in an instant, no man did
Slipping — is Crashe's law —