Why do I think of stairways With a rush of hurt surprise? -- Wistful as forgotten love In remembered eyes, And fitful as the flutter Of little draughts of air That linger on a stairway As though they loved it there. New and shining stairways, Stairways worn and old -- Where rooms are prison places And corridors are cold -- You intrigue with fancy, You challenge with a lore Elusive as a moon's light Shadowing a floor. You speak to me not only With the lure of storied art -- For wonder of old footsteps Lies lightly on my heart; More than the reminiscence Of yesterday's renown -- @3Laughter that might have floated up, Echoes that should drift down!@1 | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...TWILIGHT AT THE HEIGHTS by CINCINNATUS HEINE MILLER BEREAVED by JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY TO SIMPLICITY by MATILDA BARBARA BETHAM-EDWARDS ASOLANDO: THE CARDINAL AND THE DOG by ROBERT BROWNING THE WANDERER: 5. IN HOLLAND: KING LIMOS by EDWARD ROBERT BULWER-LYTTON TO MISS FERRIER; ENCLOSING THE ELEGY ON SIR J. H. BLAIR by ROBERT BURNS |