* * As you climb to reach the stars, O white * The ladder sways, * You stand, surprised, strapped in the cage of night, * Aghast and praying. * And should you fall, you scream, and waking * See the dull earth beneath you where it lay, * The grey tide creeping out, while slowly breaking * Over bleached sands, its long waves roll away. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE LOST MISTRESS by ROBERT BROWNING THE BIRTHNIGHT: TO F by WALTER JOHN DE LA MARE THE COMING AMERICAN by SAM WALTER FOSS LONDON VOLUNTARIES: 3. SCHERZANDO by WILLIAM ERNEST HENLEY SNOWFLAKES by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW THE MORAL FABLES: THE TALE OF THE COCK, AND THE JEWEL by AESOP REMINISCENCE by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH LINES WRITTEN TO A TRANSLATOR OF GREEK POETRY by MARGARET STEELE ANDERSON |