I SAW from the beach, when the morning was shining, A bark o'er the waters move gloriously on; I came when the sun o'er that beach was declining, The bark was still there, but the waters were gone. And such is the fate of our life's early promise, So passing the spring-tide of joy we have known; Each wave, that we danced on at morning, ebbs from us, And leaves us, at eve, on the bleak shore alone. Ne'er tell me of glories serenely adorning The close of our day, the calm eve of our night: -- Give me back, give me back the wild freshness of Morning, Her clouds and her tears are worth Evening's best light. Oh, who would not welcome that moment's returning, When passion first waked a new life through his frame, And his soul -- like the wood that grows precious in burning -- Gave out all its sweets to love's exquisite flame! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE SEA-GRAVE by SARA TEASDALE FOR ONCE, THEN, SOMETHING by ROBERT FROST SONNET - REALITIES: 1 by EDWARD ESTLIN CUMMINGS THE HIPPOPOTAMUS by THOMAS STEARNS ELIOT THE MASK OF ANARCHY; WRITTEN ON OCCASION OF MASSACRE AT MANCHESTER by PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY ON A YOUNG BRIDE DROWNED IN THE BOSPHORUS by AGATHIAS SCHOLASTICUS |