As one who strives from some fast steamer's side To note amid the backward-spinning foam And keep in view some separate wreath therefrom, That cheats him even the while he views it glide (Merging in other foam-tracks stretching wide), So strive we to keep clear that day our home First saw you riven -- a memory thence to roam, A shatter'd blossom on the eternal tide! O broken promises that show'd so fair! O morning sun of wit set in despair! O brows made smooth as with the Muse's chrism! O Oliver! ourselves Death's cataclysm Must soon o'ertake -- but not in vain -- not where Some vestige of your thought outspans the abysm! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SECOND OPINION by STEPHEN CUSHMAN SWEET MEETING OF DESIRES by COVENTRY KERSEY DIGHTON PATMORE OLD SAUGATUCK MILL by GRACE JEWETT AUSTIN HINTS OF AN HISTORICAL PLAY TO BE CALLED WILLIAM RUFUS by RICHARD HARRIS BARHAM THE FOURFOLD ASPECT by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING SUBSTITUTE FOR AN EPITAPH by GEORGE GORDON BYRON THE HARMLESS LUXURY by PHOEBE CARY |