I dread the break when I shall die— Not from my human friends, for they Are shifting shadows such as I And soon must follow me away— But from my earth that still must swing From day to dusk, from dark to dawn, Slow shimmering on from spring to spring Through all the years when I am gone. How many loving clouds will fold The piney peaks in tender mist, What sunsets turn the sky to gold And distant plains to amethyst, What sparkling winter days will loose The chuckle of the chickadee Among the silent, snowy spruce— And I shall not be here to see! An old street dweller's soul may call For that fair City of No Night, Boxed in a four-square echoing wall Of jasper, beryl and chrysolite, But I should wish the endless song Of crashing choirs were just the lark, And close light-weary eyes and long For starry, summer-scented dark. No, when the waning heartbeat fails I ask no heaven but leave to wend, Unseen but seeing, my old trails, With deathless years to comprehend, My Earth, the loveliness of you, From all your gorgeous zodiac Down to a glistening drop of dew. I must come back! I must come back! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...PISGAH SIGHTS by ROBERT BROWNING JOY OF THE MORNING by EDWIN MARKHAM JOHN PELHAM by JAMES RYDER RANDALL WHEN THE FROST IS ON THE PUNKIN by JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY ON KEATS, WHO DESIRED THAT ON HIS TOMB SHOULD BE INSCRIBED: by PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY PHANTOMS ALL by HARRIET PRESCOTT SPOFFORD |