Fire and Sleet and Candlelight
For this you've striven Daring, to fail: Your sky is riven Like a tearing veil. For this, you've wasted Wings of your youth; Divined, and tasted Bitter springs of truth. From sand unslakèd Twisted strong cords, And wandering naked Among trysted swords. There's a word unspoken, A knot untied. Whatever is broken The earth may hide. The road was jagged Over sharp stones: Your body's too ragged To cover your bones. The wind scatters Tears upon dust; Your soul's in tatters Where the spears thrust.
Elinor Wylie’s other poems:
884
