American Poetry, 1922 Part 9

SARA TEASDALE

WISDOM

It was a night of early spring, The winter-sleep was scarcely broken; Around us shadows and the wind Listened for what was never spoken.

Though half a score of years are gone, Spring comes as sharply now as then-- But if we had it all to do It would be done the same again.

It was a spring that never came; But we have lived enough to know That what we never have, remains; It is the things we have that go.

PLACES

I

~Twilight~

(_Tucson_)

Aloof as aged kings, Wearing like them the purple, The mountains ring the mesa Crowned with a dusky light; Many a time I watched That coming-on of darkness Till stars burned through the heavens Intolerably bright.

It was not long I lived there, But I became a woman Under those vehement stars, For it was there I heard For the first time my spirit Forging an iron rule for me, As though with slow cold hammers Beating out word by word:

"Take love when love is given, But never think to find it A sure escape from sorrow Or a complete repose; Only yourself can heal you, Only yourself can lead you Up the hard road to heaven That ends where no one knows."

II

Full Moon

(_Santa Barbara_)

I listened, there was not a sound to hear In the great rain of moonlight pouring down, The eucalyptus trees were carved in silver, And a light mist of silver lulled the town.

I saw far off the gray Pacific bearing A broad white disk of flame, And on the garden-walk a snail beside me Tracing in crystal the slow way he came.

III

Winter Sun

(_Lenox_)

There was a bush with scarlet berries, And there were hemlocks heaped with snow, With a sound like surf on long sea-beaches They took the wind and let it go.

The hills were s.h.i.+ning in their samite, Fold after fold they flowed away; "Let come what may," your eyes were saying, "At least we two have had to-day."

IV

Evening

(_Nahant_)

There was an evening when the sky was clear, Ineffably translucent in its blue; The tide was falling, and the sea withdrew In hushed and happy music from the sheer Shadowy granite of the cliffs; and fear Of what life may be, and what death can do, Fell from us like steel armor, and we knew The beauty of the Law that holds us here.

It was as though we saw the Secret Will, It was as though we floated and were free; In the south-west a planet shone serenely, And the high moon, most reticent and queenly, Seeing the earth had darkened and grown still, Misted with light the meadows of the sea.

WORDS FOR AN OLD AIR

Your heart is bound tightly, let Beauty beware; It is not hers to set Free from the snare.

Tell her a bleeding hand Bound it and tied it; Tell her the knot will stand Though she deride it.

One who withheld so long All that you yearned to take, Has made a snare too strong For Beauty's self to break.

THOSE WHO LOVE

Those who love the most Do not talk of their love; Francesca, Guenevere, Dierdre, Iseult, Heloise In the fragrant gardens of heaven Are silent, or speak, if at all, Of fragile, inconsequent things.

And a woman I used to know Who loved one man from her youth, Against the strength of the fates Fighting in lonely pride, Never spoke of this thing, But hearing his name by chance, A light would pa.s.s over her face.

TWO SONGS FOR SOLITUDE

I

~The Crystal Gazer~