THE
LITTLE NOON
|
|
My life that goes from dark to dark,
From leaping light to lowering
light,
Must have its little noonday spark
Of heat and flame before
the night.
My little noon! How strong it seems,
|
5 |
How
dazzling fair and deep its tide,
And yet a million million beams
Of day have burned before
and died.
Long, long ago—a thousand years—
Was Fear all white and
Rage all red?
|
10 |
Did
Love meet Love with shining tears
That eased the stress of
words unsaid?
Two thousand years ago did Hope
Fly outward with tumultuous
breast?
Youth wake at night to sing? Age grope
|
15 |
| Through
gathering darkness to his rest?
Back in the ages past was sweet
As sweet as now? Did bitterness
Flavor the very drink and meat?
Did Rapture wear her April
dress?
|
20 |
Did strong men give their hands to men,
Their hearts to women? Did
the wife
Joy in her budding secret then?
Did children throng the
doors of life?
Ah, these had all their little noons,
|
25 |
Yet
cradled in the earth they lie,
And still beside them Ocean croons
Her immemorial lullaby.
[Page 33]
My little noon! How pale it seems!
Weak as a wave, faint
as a sigh;
|
30 |
It
looks the very stuff of dreams,
Seen in the light of noons
gone by. [Page 34]
|
|
|
