I did not reach Thee But my feet slip nearer every day Three Rivers and a Hill to cross One Desert and a Sea I shall not count the journey one When I am telling thee. Two deserts, but the Year is cold So that will help the sand One desert crossed - The second one Will feel as cool as land Sahara is too little price To pay for thy Right hand. The Sea comes last - Step merry, feet, So short we have to go - To play together we are prone, But we must labor now, The last shall be the lightest load That we have had to draw. The Sun goes crooked - That is Night Before he makes the bend. We must have passed the Middle Sea - Almost we wish the End Were further off - Too great it seems So near the Whole to stand. We step like Plush, We stand like snow, The waters murmur new. Three rivers and the Hill are passed - Two deserts and the sea! Now Death usurps my Premium And gets the look at Thee | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...ON BRODSKY'S COLLECTED by MICHAEL S. HARPER A DIM DOORWAY by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON PEACE (1) by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON THE AUDACIOUS by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON NOBODY'S LOOKIN' BUT DE OWL AND DE MOON (A NEGRO SERENADE) by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON STREET-CRIES: 2. THE SHIP OF EARTH by SIDNEY LANIER TO WHISTLER, AMERICAN; ON LOAN EXHIBIT OF PAINTINGS AT TATE GALLERY by EZRA POUND |