Wild Nights - Wild Nights!
Were I with thee
Wild Nights should be
Our luxury!
Futile - the Winds -
To a Heart in port -
Done with the Compass -
Done with the Chart!
Rowing in Eden -
Ah, the Sea!
Might I but moor - Tonight -
In Thee!
Why - do they shut Me out of Heaven?
Did I sing - too loud?
But - I can say a little "Minor"
Timid as a Bird!
Would'nt the Angels try me -
Just - once - more -
Just - see - if I troubled them -
But dont - shut the door!
Oh, if I - were the Gentleman
In the "White Robe" -
And they - were the little Hand - that knocked -
Could - I - forbid?
What would I give to see his face?
I'd give - I'd give my life - of course -
But that is not enough!
Stop just a minute - let me think!
I'd give my biggest Bobolink!
That makes two - Him - and Life!
You know who "June" is -
I'd give her -
Roses a day from Zenzibar -
And Lily tubes - like Wells -
Bees - by the furlong -
Straits of Blue
Navies of Butterflies - sailed thro' -
And dappled Cowslip Dells -
Then I have "shares" in Primrose "Banks" -
Daffodil Dowries - spicy "Stocks" -
Dominions - broad as Dew -
Bags of Doubloons - adventurous Bees
Brought me - from firmamental seas -
And Purple - from Peru -
Now - have I bought it -
"Shylock"? Say!
Sign me the Bond!
"I vow to pay
To Her - who pledges this -
One hour - of her Sovereign's face"!
Extatic Contract!
Niggard Grace!
My Kingdom's worth of Bliss!
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!
I held a Jewel in my fingers -
And went to sleep -
The day was warm, and winds were prosy -
I said "'Twill keep" -
I woke - and chid my honest fingers,
The Gem was gone -
And now, an Amethyst remembrance
Is all I own.
I've known a Heaven, like a Tent -
To wrap it's shining Yards -
Pluck up it's stakes, and disappear -
Without the sound of Boards
Or Rip of Nail - Or Carpenter -
But just the miles of Stare -
That signalize a Show's Retreat -
In North America -
No Trace - no Figment of the Thing
That dazzled, Yesterday,
No Ring - no Marvel -
Men, and Feats -
Dissolved as utterly -
As Bird's far Navigation
Discloses just a Hue -
A plash of Oars, a Gaiety -
Then swallowed up, of View.
Quando staremo sulla sommità del Tutto -
E come gli Alberi, guarderemo giù -
Il fumo si sarà del tutto dissipato -
E Specchi sulla scena -
A spargere luce - nessun'anima strizzerà gli occhi
Eccetto quelle che hanno peccato -
Quelle Oneste, come le Colline - staranno -
Nessuna Luce, le mette in fuga -
I Perfetti, in nessun luogo hanno paura -
Essi spingono le loro impavide Fronti,
Dove altri, non oserebbero andare a Mezzogiorno,
Protetti dai loro atti -
Le Stelle osano brillare talvolta
Su un Mondo punteggiato -
E i Soli, vanno sicuri, alla Prova,
Come se un Asse, possedessero.
Ah, Moon - and Star!
You are very far -
But were no one
Farther than you -
Do you think I'd stop
For a Firmament -
Or a Cubit - or so?
I could borrow a Bonnet
Of the Lark -
And a Chamois' Silver Boot -
And a stirrup of an Antelope -
And be with you - Tonight!
But, Moon, and Star,
Though you're very far -
There is one - farther than you -
He - is more than a firmament - from Me -
So I can never go!
"Heaven" - is what I cannot reach!
The Apple on the Tree -
Provided it do hopeless - hang -
That - "Heaven" is - to Me!
The Color, on the Cruising Cloud -
The interdicted Land -
Behind the Hill - the House behind -
There - Paradise - is found!
Her teazing Purples - Afternoons -
The credulous - decoy -
Enamored - of the Conjuror -
That spurned us - Yesterday!
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"!