One day, I mind me, now that she is dead, When nothing warned us of the dark decree, I crooned, to lull her, in a minor key, Such fancies as first came into my head. I crooned them low, beside her little bed; And the refrain was somehow "Come with me, And we will wander by the purple sea"; I crooned it, and -- God help me! -- felt no dread. O Purple Sea, beyond the stress of storms, Where never ripple breaks upon the shore Of Death's pale Isles of Twilight as they dream, Give back, give back, O Sea of Nevermore, The frailest of the unsubstantial forms That leave the shores that are for those that seem! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...WRITTEN IN EMERSON'S ESSAYS by MATTHEW ARNOLD MORITURI SALUTAMUS [WE WHO ARE TO DIE SALUTE YOU] by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW BALLADE OF MYSELF AND MONSIEUR RABELAIS by LEONARD BACON (1887-1954) TO MRS. MARISSAL by ANNA LETITIA BARBAULD PSALM 101 by OLD TESTAMENT BIBLE A MARINER'S SONG by JOHN GARDINER CALKINS BRAINARD |