by Sara Teasdale

Dew

AS dew leaves the cobweb lightly

     Threaded with stars,

Scattering jewels on the fence

     And the pasture bars;

As dawn leaves the dry grass bright

     And the tangled weeds

Bearing a rainbow gem

     On each of their seeds;

So has your love, my lover,

     Fresh as the dawn,

Made me a shining road

     To travel on,

Set every common sight

     Of tree or stone

Delicately alight

     For me alone.

To-Night

THE moon is a curving flower of gold,

     The sky is still and blue;

The moon was made for the sky to hold,

     And I for you.

The moon is a flower without a stem,

     The sky is luminous;

Eternity was made for them,

     To-night for us.

Ebb-Tide

WHEN the long day goes by

     And I do not see your face,

The old wild, restless sorrow

     Steals from its hiding place.

My day is barren and broken,

     Bereft of light and song,

A sea beach bleak and windy

     That moans the whole day long.

To the empty beach at ebb tide,

     Bare with its rocks and scars,

Come back like the sea with singing,

     And light of a million stars.

Because

OH, because you never tried

To bow my will or break my pride,

And nothing of the cave-man made

You want to keep me half afraid,

Nor ever with a conquering air

You thought to draw me unaware --

Take me, for I love you more

Than I ever loved before.

And since the body's maidenhood

Alone were neither rare nor good

Unless with it I gave to you

A spirit still untrammeled, too,

Take my dreams and take my mind

That were masterless as wind;

And "Master!" I shall say to you

Since you never asked me to.

The Tree of Song

I SANG my songs for the rest,

     For you I am still;

The tree of my song is bare

     On its shining hill.

For you came like a lordly wind,

     And the leaves were whirled

Far as forgotten things

     Past the rim of the world.

The tree of my song stands bare

     Against the blue --

I gave my songs to the rest,

     Myself to you.

The Wanderer

I SAW the sunset-colored sands,

     The Nile like flowing fire between,

     Where Rameses stares forth serene,

And Ammon's heavy temple stands.

I saw the rocks where long ago,

     Above the sea that cries and breaks,

     Swift Perseus with Medusa's snakes           [Bright Perseus with Medusa's snakes]

Set free the maiden white like snow.

And many skies have covered me,

     And many winds have blown me forth,

     And I have loved the green, bright north,

And I have loved the cold, sweet sea.

But what to me are north and south,

     And what the lure of many lands,

     Since you have leaned to catch my hands

And lay a kiss upon my mouth.

Enough

IT is enough for me by day

     To walk the same bright earth with him;

Enough that over us by night

     The same great roof of stars is dim.

I do not hope to bind the wind           [I have no care to bind the wind ]

     Or set a fetter on the sea --

It is enough to feel his love

     Blow by like music over me.

Riches

I HAVE no riches but my thoughts,

     Yet these are wealth enough for me;

My thoughts of you are golden coins

     Stamped in the mint of memory;

And I must spend them all in song,

     For thoughts, as well as gold, must be

Left on the hither side of death

     To gain their immortality.

Dusk in War Time

A HALF-HOUR more and you will lean

     To gather me close in the old sweet way --

But oh, to the woman over the sea

     Who will come at the close of day?

A half-hour more and I will hear

     The key in the latch and the strong, quick tread --

But oh, the woman over the sea

     Waiting at dusk for one who is dead!

Peace

PEACE flows into me

     As the tide to the pool by the shore;

     It is mine forevermore,

It will not ebb like the sea.           [It ebbs not back like the sea.]

I am the pool of blue

     That worships the vivid sky;

     My hopes were heaven-high,

They are all fulfilled in you.

I am the pool of gold

     When sunset burns and dies --

     You are my deepening skies;

Give me your stars to hold.

House of Dreams

YOU took my empty dreams

     And filled them every one

With tenderness and nobleness,

     April and the sun.

The old empty dreams

     Where my thoughts would throng

Are far too full of happiness

     To even hold a song.

Oh, the empty dreams were dim

     And the empty dreams were wide,

They were sweet and shadowy houses

     Where my thoughts could hide.

But you took my dreams away

     And you made them all come true --

My thoughts have no place now to play,

     And nothing now to do.

Lights

WHEN we come home at night and close the door,

     Standing together in the shadowy room,

     Safe in our own love and the gentle gloom,

Glad of familiar wall and chair and floor,

Glad to leave far below the clanging city;

     Looking far downward to the glaring street

     Gaudy with light, yet tired with many feet,

In both of us wells up a wordless pity;

Men have tried hard to put away the dark;

     A million lighted windows brilliantly

          Inlay with squares of gold the winter night,

But to us standing here there comes the stark

          Sense of the lives behind each yellow light,

     And not one wholly joyous, proud, or free.

Doubt

MY soul lives in my body's house,

     And you have both the house and her --

But sometimes she is less your own

     Than a wild, gay adventurer;

A restless and an eager wraith,

     How can I tell what she will do --

Oh, I am sure of my body's faith,

     But what if my soul broke faith with you?

Morning

I WENT out on an April morning

     All alone, for my heart was high,

I was a child of the shining meadow,

     I was a sister of the sky.

There in the windy flood of morning

     Longing lifted its weight from me,

Lost as a sob in the midst of cheering,

     Swept as a sea-bird out to sea.

Other Men

WHEN I talk with other men

     I always think of you --

Your words are keener than their words,

     And they are gentler, too.

When I look at other men,

     I wish your face were there,

With its gray eyes and dark skin

     And tossed black hair.

When I think of other men,

     Dreaming alone by day,

The thought of you like a strong wind

     Blows the dreams away.

Embers

I SAID, "My youth is gone

     Like a fire beaten out by the rain,

That will never sway and sing

     Or play with the wind again."

I said, "It is no great sorrow

     That quenched my youth in me,

But only little sorrows

     Beating ceaselessly."

I thought my youth was gone,

     But you returned --

Like a flame at the call of the wind

     It leaped and burned;

Threw off its ashen cloak,

     And gowned anew

Gave itself like a bride

     Once more to you.

The Lamp

IF I can bear your love like a lamp before me,

When I go down the long steep Road of Darkness,

I shall not fear the everlasting shadows,

     Nor cry in terror.

If I can find out God, then I shall find Him,

If none can find Him, then I shall sleep soundly,

Knowing how well on earth your love sufficed me,

     A lamp in darkness.