THE SOUL AND THE SEA

Not at the gate of Heaven, nor in the land
Of the soul’s dreams, does your soul pour forth in song,
Lark of the marsh, lark of the rich pastures!
It is enough that you sing in a bright blue sky.
The stilled sea, splashing on the hushed sea sand,
Pauses in the sunlight with uplifted crests
And listens. Always in this noonday dream,
Lie like a lake upon the level shore
And languish, shallow sea! The stately flight
Of gulls with flashing wings shall never fail;
And around the fosses, the dykes, and the meadows,
Ditches or moats.
The martin shall ever call and call and call
With a plaintive note. O, continue to wash over the shore!
Mingle your far-off voice with the
Intricate melodies of winds and birds! Your dim blue line,
Amidst the placid magic of a faint
Heavenly mist upon a silent horizon,
Mixes with the silent sky. O double blue—
The blue of the ocean and the blue of heaven above—
Continue to draw the soul, both on the marsh and the height,
Where rabbits burrow and where the eagle soars.
On the high crests, on the steep crests,
From which torrents plunge to meet you, draw the soul!
Amid the humble walks of daily life,
And on the summits of exalted thought,
Continue to attract her, and give her the wild white wings
That carry your furthest-flying bird over you;
Then she shall remain with you in the
Vastness of your underworld. Until twilight falls,
Possess your splendor and your immensity,
And embrace all your boundaries in loving thought—
Indeed, in adoring thought—and she shall for a while
Be satisfied and believe at last she rests,
Made one with a being as vast as she is.
Yet you shall fail, for twilight shuts you in;
Your strong spell utterly dissolves, and your voice
Grows hoarse and ominous. Cold vapors wrap
Around the shining beauty of your breast,
And when the shifting wind begins to irritate you,
The bitter discontent of your depths
Foams upward; a useless madness passes through
Your barren nature. On the rocks and the beach,
You rage, full of passion and powerless.
You are grand then, yet peace is far from you.
And when the startled moon among the clouds
Begins to hurry, and with flickering lights—