Section 10 of 24 - Table of Contents
XVIII. THE SHOW. The show is not the show, But they that go. Menagerie to me My neighbor be. Fair play -- Both went to see. XIX. Delight becomes pictorial When viewed through pain, -- More fair, because impossible That any gain. The mountain at a given distance In amber lies; Approached, the amber flits a little, -- And that 's the skies! XX. A thought went up my mind to-day That I have had before, But did not finish, -- some way back, I could not fix the year, Nor where it went, nor why it came The second time to me, Nor definitely what it was, Have I the art to say. But somewhere in my soul, I know I 've met the thing before; It just reminded me -- 't was all -- And came my way no more. XXI. Is Heaven a physician? They say that He can heal; But medicine posthumous Is unavailable. Is Heaven an exchequer? They speak of what we owe; But that negotiation I 'm not a party to. XXII. THE RETURN. Though I get home how late, how late! So I get home, 't will compensate. Better will be the ecstasy That they have done expecting me, When, night descending, dumb and dark, They hear my unexpected knock. Transporting must the moment be, Brewed from decades of agony! To think just how the fire will burn, Just how long-cheated eyes will turn To wonder what myself will say, And what itself will say to me, Beguiles the centuries of way! XXIII. A poor torn heart, a tattered heart, That sat it down to rest, Nor noticed that the ebbing day Flowed silver to the west, Nor noticed night did soft descend Nor constellation burn, Intent upon the vision Of latitudes unknown. The angels, happening that way, This dusty heart espied; Tenderly took it up from toil And carried it to God. There, -- sandals for the barefoot; There, -- gathered from the gales, Do the blue havens by the hand Lead the wandering sails. XXIV. TOO MUCH. I should have been too glad, I see, Too lifted for the scant degree Of life's penurious round; My little circuit would have shamed This new circumference, have blamed The homelier time behind. I should have been too saved, I see, Too rescued; fear too dim to me That I could spell the prayer I knew so perfect yesterday, -- That scalding one, "Sabachthani," Recited fluent here. Earth would have been too much, I see, And heaven not enough for me; I should have had the joy Without the fear to justify, -- The palm without the Calvary; So, Saviour, crucify. Defeat whets victory, they say; The reefs in old Gethsemane Endear the shore beyond. 'T is beggars banquets best define; 'T is thirsting vitalizes wine, -- Faith faints to understand. XXV. SHIPWRECK. It tossed and tossed, -- A little brig I knew, -- O'ertook by blast, It spun and spun, And groped delirious, for morn. It slipped and slipped, As one that drunken stepped; Its white foot tripped, Then dropped from sight. Ah, brig, good-night To crew and you; The ocean's heart too smooth, too blue, To break for you. XXVI. Victory comes late, And is held low to freezing lips Too rapt with frost To take it. How sweet it would have tasted, Just a drop! Was God so economical? His table 's spread too high for us Unless we dine on tip-toe. Crumbs fit such little mouths, Cherries suit robins; The eagle's golden breakfast Strangles them. God keeps his oath to sparrows, Who of little love Know how to starve! XXVII. ENOUGH. God gave a loaf to every bird, But just a crumb to me; I dare not eat it, though I starve, -- My poignant luxury To own it, touch it, prove the feat That made the pellet mine, -- Too happy in my sparrow chance For ampler coveting. It might be famine all around, I could not miss an ear, Such plenty smiles upon my board, My garner shows so fair. I wonder how the rich may feel, -- An Indiaman -- an Earl? I deem that I with but a crumb Am sovereign of them all. XXVIII. Experiment to me Is every one I meet. If it contain a kernel? The figure of a nut Presents upon a tree, Equally plausibly; But meat within is requisite, To squirrels and to me. XXIX. MY COUNTRY'S WARDROBE. My country need not change her gown, Her triple suit as sweet As when 't was cut at Lexington, And first pronounced "a fit." Great Britain disapproves "the stars;" Disparagement discreet, -- There 's something in their attitude That taunts her bayonet. XXX. Faith is a fine invention For gentlemen who see; But microscopes are prudent In an emergency! XXXI. Except the heaven had come so near, So seemed to choose my door, The distance would not haunt me so; I had not hoped before. But just to hear the grace depart I never thought to see, Afflicts me with a double loss; 'T is lost, and lost to me. XXXII. Portraits are to daily faces As an evening west To a fine, pedantic sunshine In a satin vest. XXXIII. THE DUEL. I took my power in my hand. And went against the world; 'T was not so much as David had, But I was twice as bold. I aimed my pebble, but myself Was all the one that fell. Was it Goliath was too large, Or only I too small? XXXIV. A shady friend for torrid days Is easier to find Than one of higher temperature For frigid hour of mind. The vane a little to the east Scares muslin souls away; If broadcloth breasts are firmer Than those of organdy, Who is to blame? The weaver? Ah! the bewildering thread! The tapestries of paradise So notelessly are made! XXXV. THE GOAL. Each life converges to some centre Expressed or still; Exists in every human nature A goal, Admitted scarcely to itself, it may be, Too fair For credibility's temerity To dare. Adored with caution, as a brittle heaven, To reach Were hopeless as the rainbow's raiment To touch, Yet persevered toward, surer for the distance; How high Unto the saints' slow diligence The sky! Ungained, it may be, by a life's low venture, But then, Eternity enables the endeavoring Again. XXXVI. SIGHT. Before I got my eye put out, I liked as well to see As other creatures that have eyes, And know no other way. But were it told to me, to-day, That I might have the sky For mine, I tell you that my heart Would split, for size of me. The meadows mine, the mountains mine, -- All forests, stintless stars, As much of noon as I could take Between my finite eyes. The motions of the dipping birds, The lightning's jointed road, For mine to look at when I liked, -- The news would strike me dead! So safer, guess, with just my soul Upon the window-pane Where other creatures put their eyes, Incautious of the sun.Prev Next All
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