IF there were in my kalendar No Emma, Florence, Mary, What would be my existence now - A hermit's? - wanderer's weary? - How should I live, and how Near would be death, or far? Could it have been that other eyes Might have uplit my highway? That fond, sad, retrospective sight Would catch from this dim byway Prized figures different quite From those that now arise? With how strange aspect would there creep The dawn, the night, the daytime, If memory were not what it is In song-time, toil, or pray-time. - O were it else than this, I'd pass to pulseless sleep! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE SEALS IN PENOBSCOT BAY by KAREN SWENSON THE OLD SANTA FE TRAIL by RICHARD EUGENE BURTON FEARS IN SOLITUDE by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE THE HILL WIFE: HOUSE FEAR by ROBERT FROST CARRION COMFORT by GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS THE REVENGE OF RAIN-IN-THE-FACE by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW |