Читать книгу The Complete Poetical Works of James Russell Lowell - James Russell Lowell - Страница 36

In his tower sits the poet,

Blisses new and strange to him

Fill his heart and overflow it

With a wonder sweet and dim.

Up the beach the ocean slideth

With a whisper of delight,

And the moon in silence glideth

Through the peaceful blue of night.

Rippling o'er the poet's shoulder

Flows a maiden's golden hair,

Maiden lips, with love grown bolder,

Kiss his moon-lit forehead bare.

'Life is joy, and love is power,

Death all fetters doth unbind,

Strength and wisdom only flower

When we toil for all our kind.

Hope is truth—the future giveth

More than present takes away,

And the soul forever liveth

Nearer God from day to day.'

Not a word the maiden uttered,

Fullest hearts are slow to speak,

But a withered rose-leaf fluttered

Down upon the poet's cheek.