Because the skies were blue, because The sun in fringes of the sea Was tangled, and delightfully Kept dancing on as in a waltz, And tropic trees bowed to the seas And bloomed and bore years through and through, And birds in blended gold and blue Were thick and sweet as swarming bees, And sang as if in Paradise And all that Paradise was spring -- Did I too sing with lifted eyes, Because I could not choose but sing. With garments full of sea winds blown From isles beyond of spice and balm, Beside the sea, beneath her palm, She waits, as true as chiseled stone, My childhood's child, my June in May, So wiser than thy father is, These lines, these leaves, and all of this Are thine -- a loose, uncouth bouquet -- So, wait and watch for sail or sign, A ship shall mount the hollow seas Blown to thy place of blossomed trees, And birds, and song, and summershine. I throw a kiss across the sea, I drink the winds as drinking wine, And dream they are all blown from thee -- I catch the whispered kiss of thine. Shall I return with lifted face, Or head held down as in disgrace To hold thy two brown hands in mine? England, 1871 | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE MAHOGANY TREE by WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY THE LUNCH by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH A THRESHER OF WHEAT TO THE WYNDES by JOACHIM DU BELLAY HE WILL GIVE ME POWER by HARRY RANDOLPH BLYTHE PARADOX by MAGDELEN EDEN BOYLE A LANCASHIRE DIALOGUE, OCCASIONED BY A PREACHER WITHOUT NOTES by JOHN BYROM |