I sing to use the Waiting
I sing to use the Waiting My Bonnet but to tie And shut the Door unto my House No more to do have I Till His best step approaching We journey to the Day
Sweet Mountains Ye tell Me no lie
Sweet Mountains Ye tell Me no lie Never deny Me Never fly Those same unvarying Eyes Turn on Me when I fail or feign, Or take the Royal names in vain Their far slow
So I pull my Stockings off
So I pull my Stockings off Wading in the Water For the Disobedience’ Sake Boy that lived for “or’ter” Went to Heaven perhaps at Death And perhaps he didn’t Moses wasn’t fairly used Ananias
I showed her Heights she never saw
I showed her Heights she never saw “Would’st Climb,” I said? She said “Not so” “With me ” I said With me? I showed her Secrets Morning’s Nest The Rope the Nights were put
I rose because He sank
I rose because He sank I thought it would be opposite But when his power dropped My Soul grew straight. I cheered my fainting Prince I sang firm even Chants I helped his Film
A Shade upon the mind there passes
A Shade upon the mind there passes As when on Noon A Cloud the mighty Sun encloses Remembering That some there be too numb to notice Oh God Why give if Thou must take
I did not reach Thee
I did not reach Thee But my feet slip nearer every day Three Rivers and a Hill to cross One Desert and a Sea I shall not count the journey one When I am
The nearest Dream recedes unrealized
The nearest Dream recedes unrealized The Heaven we chase, Like the June Bee before the School Boy, Invites the Race Stoops to an easy Clover Dips evades teases deploys Then to the Royal Clouds
The Soul unto itself
The Soul unto itself Is an imperial friend Or the most agonizing Spy An Enemy could send Secure against its own No treason it can fear Itself its Sovereign of itself The Soul should
Crumbling is not an instant's Act
Crumbling is not an instant’s Act A fundamental pause Dilapidation’s processes Are organized Decays. ‘Tis first a Cobweb on the Soul A Cuticle of Dust A Borer in the Axis An Elemental Rust Ruin
Given in Marriage unto Thee
Given in Marriage unto Thee Oh thou Celestial Host Bride of the Father and the Son Bride of the Holy Ghost. Other Betrothal shall dissolve Wedlock of Will, decay Only the Keeper of this
As the Starved Maelstrom laps the Navies
As the Starved Maelstrom laps the Navies As the Vulture teased Forces the Broods in lonely Valleys As the Tiger eased By but a Crumb of Blood, fasts Scarlet Till he meet a Man
No Man can compass a Despair
No Man can compass a Despair As round a Goalless Road No faster than a Mile at once The Traveller proceed Unconscious of the Width Unconscious that the Sun Be setting on His progress
The Truth is stirless
The Truth is stirless Other force may be presumed to move This then is best for confidence When oldest Cedars swerve And Oaks untwist their fists And Mountains feeble lean How excellent a Body,
The Sunrise runs for Both
The Sunrise runs for Both The East Her Purple Troth Keeps with the Hill The Noon unwinds Her Blue Till One Breadth cover Two Remotest still Nor does the Night forget A Lamp for