AY - there it is! it wakes to-night Deep feelings I thought dead; Strong in the blast-quick gathering light, The heart's flame kindles red. Now I can tell by thine altered cheek, And by thine eyes' full gaze, And by the words thou scarce dost speak, How wildly fancy plays. Yes-I could swear that glorious wind Has swept the world aside, Has dashed its memory from thy mind Like foam-bells from the tide: And thou art now a spirit pouring Thy presence into all: The thunder of the tempest's roaring, The whisper of its fall: An universal influence, From thine own influence free; A principle of life, intense, Lost to mortality Thus truly, when that breast is cold, Thy prisoned soul shall rise; The dungeon mingle with the mould The captive with the skies. Nature's deep being thine shall hold, Her spirit all thy spirit fold, Her breath absorb thy sighs. Mortal! though soon life's tale is told; Who once lives, never dies! " *POET'S NOTE: "In these stanzas a louder gale has roused the sleeper on her pillow; the wakened soul struggles to blend with the storm by which it is swayed. " | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...COVERING WINGS by KATHERINE MANSFIELD THE MIDDLETON PLACE by AMY LOWELL THE ASSAULT HEROIC by ROBERT RANKE GRAVES SONNET: 110 by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE THE TENT ON THE BEACH: 3. THE GRAVE BY THE LAKE by JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER |