The night that is now past hath been to me
A time of wakeful, sleepful fancies: oft
Have I been whirled aloft and rapt away
By some fierce gale: oft in some garden–plot
Laid, in the scent of woodbine and of lilac,
While the laburnum hung its yellow locks
Above me, prisoning in, with flowery chains,
A slumbrous nook, aglow with golden light
Before that night a weary time had past,
A night of anxious thoughts and frequent prayers:
And they have left their traces on my spirit,
Now that pure calm hath come, and thankful joy.
But most of all, one dream I will relate,
Of import not obscure:–’tis a strange tale–
An errant, broken tale; and as the tale,
The measure wanders. Listen: it ran thus.
The Dream
I.
Light was upon the sea,
The calm unbroken mirror
Of the level sea:
And ye might look around
For many a league each way,
And ye should see no moving thing,
Nor object that had shape:
But light upon the sea,–
The calm unbroken mirror
Of the level sea.
A dimple in the centre of the view:
And then a spreading circle,
One and then another,
Onward, outward spreading:
Even to the verge of heaven
Do those circles calmly roll;
And the sleeping light
Is all disquieted,
And leaps among the shining furrows
Of the waveful sea.
From the centre rising
Is a pillar mist–enwrapt,
A shining chrysalis
Of some being beautiful;
For, lo, the mist is clearing,
And a perfect form
Is hovering o’er the gently swelling waves;
A perfect form, but small
As is some fairy sprite
Of mediaeval tales.
II.
The mighty sea again.
And now the eastern sun
Shone freshly on the water,
That leapt and sparkled bright,
As joyous for the sheen;
Each wavelet had its crest
Of dancing shivering foam;
And far as ye might see
Into the glowing south
They chased each other merrily.
Not as before, unbounded
Was the gladsome sea:
A shore with beetling cliffs
Hung o’er the breaking spray,
And pure white sands beneath
Bordered a breezy bay;
And sporting on those sands
That same fair form I saw.
Now would he lie and gaze
Up to the deep–blue heaven;
Now count the sparkling stones
Within his infant reach;
Now listen the curved shells
Answering the ocean’s roar;
Now would he tempt those waters
Unclothed and beautiful
As is some ancient marble
Of love’s wing
(Henry Alford)
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Based on Topics: Love Poems, Night Poems, Light Poems, Time Poems, Joy & Excitement Poems, Heaven Poems, Fairness Poems, Dreams Poems, Beauty Poems, Sleep Poems, Past PoemsBased on Keywords: disquieted, mediaeval, deep-blue, wavelet, unclothed, prisoning, garden-plot, sleepful