DREAM'ST @3thou@1 of heaven? What dreams are thine? Fair child, fair gladsome child? With eyes that like the dewdrop shine, And bounding footsteps wild! Tell me what hues th' immortal shore Can wear, my bird! to thee? Ere yet one shadow hath passed o'er Thy glance and spirit free? "Oh! beautiful is heaven, and bright With long, long summer days; I see its lilies gleam in light Where many a fountain plays. "And there unchecked, methinks, I rove, And seek where young flowers lie, In vale and golden-fruited grove -- Flowers that are not to die!" Thou poet of the lonely thought, Sad heir of gifts divine! Say with what solemn glory fraught Is heaven in dreams of thine? "Oh! where the living waters flow Along that radiant shore, My soul, a wanderer here, shall know The exile-thirst no more. "The burden of the stranger's heart Which here alone I bear, Like the night-shadow shall depart, With my first wakening @3there@1. "And borne on eagle wings afar, Free thought shall claim its dower, From every realm, from every star, Of glory and of power." O woman! with the soft sad eye, Of spiritual gleam, Tell me of those bright worlds on high, How doth @3thy@1 fond heart dream? By the sweet mournful voice I know, On thy pale brow I see, That thou hast loved, in fear, and woe -- Say what is heaven to thee? "Oh! heaven is where no secret dread May haunt love's meeting hour, Where from the past no gloom is shed O'er the heart's chosen bower: "Where every severed wreath is bound -- Where none have heard the knell That smites the heart with that deep sound -- @3Farewell, beloved! -- farewell!@1" | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...CHANSON INNOCENTE: 2 by EDWARD ESTLIN CUMMINGS I SIT AND LOOK OUT by WALT WHITMAN THE SODA-WATER SLOT-MACHINE by BELLA AKHMADULINA PRINCE ALDFRITH'S ITINERARY THROUGH IRELAND by ALDFRITH TO BESSIE HAWES, MAY QUEEN by ANNA EMILIA BAGSTAD TWO SONNETS: 2 by GEORGE BARLOW (1847-1913) URANIA; THE WOMAN IN THE MOON: THE THIRD CANTO, OR FULL MOON by WILLIAM BASSE |