Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


THE DEEP by GLADYS CROMWELL

First Line: I MUST HAVE PEACE, INCREASING PEACE
Last Line: BE SPUN FROM DUST.
Subject(s): COURAGE; TIDES; WINTER; VALOR; BRAVERY;

I MUST have peace, increasing peace;
Oh, not a brave,
A fleeting interval between
Each breaking wave;

Oh, not a treacherous pause between
The gathering gales;
Nor rest in the white fleece of cloud
Cold winter trails;

Oh, not a temporal winter, not
A fitful sleep;
But such a lasting winter as
Dark oceans keep.

Beneath all tides there sleeps a depth
Of cold fecundity, --
A zone that spins and spins a fine
Transparency.

There must be such a wintry zone
For teeming thought,
Where forms the mildest ray would crush
Are slowly wrought;

Where floating shapes of stars and leaves
Are free to dwell,
And feel the quietude of Life's
Eternal spell.

I must have peace, and so in some
Dark peace I trust,
Where thoughts like stars and leafage can
Be spun from dust.



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