“If I Must Go” by Sara Teasdale
IF I must go to heaven’s end Climbing the ages like a stair, Be near me and forever bend With the same eyes above me there; Time will fly past us like leaves flying, We shall not heed, for we shall be Beyond living, beyond dying, Knowing and known unchangeably. ————— The End And that’s […]
I Would Live In Your Love by Sara Teasdale
I would live in your love as the sea-grasses live in the sea, Borne up by each wave as it passes, drawn down by each wave that recedes; I would empty my soul of the dreams that have gathered in me, I would beat with your heart as it beats, I would follow your soul […]
“I Know The Stars” by Sara Teasdale
I KNOW the stars by their names, Aldebaran, Altair, And I know the path they take Up heaven’s broad blue stair. I know the secrets of men By the look of their eyes, Their gray thoughts, their strange thoughts Have made me sad and wise. But your eyes are dark to me Though they seem […]
Helen Of Troy by Sara Teasdale
Wild flight on flight against the fading dawn The flames’ red wings soar upward duskily. This is the funeral pyre and Troy is dead That sparkled so the day I saw it first, And darkened slowly after. I am she Who loves all beauty – yet I wither it. Why have the high gods made […]
Grandfather’s Love by Sara Teasdale
They said he sent his love to me, They wouldn’t put it in my hand, And when I asked them where it was They said I couldn’t understand. I thought they must have hidden it, I hunted for it all the day, And when I told them so at night They smiled and turned their […]
In A Garden by Sara Teasdale
THE world is resting without sound or motion, Behind the apple tree the sun goes down Painting with fire the spires and the windows In the elm-shaded town. Beyond the calm Connecticut the hills lie Silvered with haze as fruits still fresh with bloom, The swallows weave in flight across the zenith On an aerial […]
Galahad In The Castle Of The Maidens by Sara Teasdale
(To the maiden with the hidden face in Abbey’s painting) The other maidens raised their eyes to him Who stumbled in before them when the fight Had left him victor, with a victor’s right. I think his eyes with quick hot tears grew dim; He scarcely saw her swaying white and slim, And trembling slightly, […]
From The Woolworth Tower by Sara Teasdale
Vivid with love, eager for greater beauty Out of the night we come Into the corridor, brilliant and warm. A metal door slides open, And the lift receives us. Swiftly, with sharp unswerving flight The car shoots upward, And the air, swirling and angry, Howls like a hundred devils. Past the maze of trim bronze […]
From The North by Sara Teasdale
The northern woods are delicately sweet, The lake is folded softly by the shore, But I am restless for the subway’s roar, The thunder and the hurrying of feet. I try to sleep, but still my eyelids beat Against the image of the tower that bore Me high aloft, as if thru heaven’s door I […]
For The Anniversary Of John Keats’ Death by Sara Teasdale
At midnight, when the moonlit cypress trees Have woven round his grave a magic shade, Still weeping the unfinished hymn he made, There moves fresh Maia, like a morning breeze Blown over jonquil beds when warm rains cease. And stooping where her poet’s head is laid, Selene weeps, while all the tides are stayed, And […]
Eight O’Clock by Sara Teasdale
SUPPER comes at five o’clock, At six, the evening star, My lover comes at eight o’clock- But eight o’clock is far. How could I bear my pain all day Unless I watched to see The clock-hands laboring to bring Eight o’clock to me. ————— The End And that’s the End of the Poem © Poetry Monster, […]
Effigy Of A Nun by Sara Teasdale
Infinite gentleness, infinite irony Are in this face with fast-sealed eyes, And round this mouth that learned in loneliness How useless their wisdom is to the wise. In her nun’s habit carved, carefully, lovingly, By one who knew the ways of womenkind, This woman’s face still keeps its cold wistful calm, All the subtle pride […]
Dusk In War Time by Sara Teasdale
A half-hour more and you will lean To gather me close in the old sweet way- But oh, to the woman over the sea Who will come at the close of day? A half-hour more and I will hear The key in the latch and the strong quick tread- But oh, the woman over the […]
Dusk In June by Sara Teasdale
Evening, and all the birds In a chorus of shimmering sound Are easing their hearts of joy For miles around. The air is blue and sweet, The few first stars are white,- Oh let me like the birds Sing before night. ————— The End And that’s the End of the Poem © Poetry Monster, 2021. Poems […]
Dusk In Autumn by Sara Teasdale
The moon is like a scimitar, A little silver scimitar, A-drifting down the sky. And near beside it is a star, A timid twinkling golden star, That watches like an eye. And thro’ the nursery window-pane The witches have a fire again, Just like the ones we make, – And now I know they’re having […]
Deep In The Night by Sara Teasdale
Deep in the night the cry of a swallow, Under the stars he flew, Keen as pain was his call to follow Over the world to you. Love in my heart is a cry forever Lost as the swallow’s flight, Seeking for you and never, never Stilled by the stars at night. ————— The End […]
Central Park At Dusk by Sara Teasdale
Buildings above the leafless trees Loom high as castles in a dream, While one by one the lamps come out To thread the twilight with a gleam. There is no sign of leaf or bud, A hush is over everything- Silent as women wait for love, The world is waiting for the spring. ————— The […]
At Sea by Sara Teasdale
IN the pull of the wind I stand, lonely, On the deck of a ship, rising, falling, Wild night around me, wild water under me, Whipped by the storm, screaming and calling. Earth is hostile and the sea hostile, Why do I look for a place to rest? I must fight always and die fighting […]
At Night by Sara Teasdale
We are apart; the city grows quiet between us, She hushes herself, for midnight makes heavy her eyes, The tangle of traffic is ended, the cars are empty, Five streets divide us, and on them the moonlight lies. Oh are you asleep, or lying awake, my lover? Open your dreams to my love and your […]
Alchemy by Sara Teasdale
I lift my heart as spring lifts up A yellow daisy to the rain; My heart will be a lovely cup Altho’ it holds but pain. For I shall learn from flower and leaf That color every drop they hold, To change the lifeless wine of grief To living gold. ————— The End And that’s […]
Advice To A Girl by Sara Teasdale
No one worth possessing Can be quite possessed; Lay that on your heart, My young angry dear; This truth, this hard and precious stone, Lay it on your hot cheek, Let it hide your tear. Hold it like a crystal When you are alone And gaze in the depths of the icy stone. Long, look […]
A Winter Night by Sara Teasdale
My window-pane is starred with frost, The world is bitter cold to-night, The moon is cruel, and the wind Is like a two-edged sword to smite. God pity all the homeless ones, The beggars pacing to and fro. God pity all the poor to-night Who walk the lamp-lit streets of snow. My room is like […]
A Winter Bluejay by Sara Teasdale
Crisply the bright snow whispered, Crunching beneath our feet; Behind us as we walked along the parkway, Our shadows danced, Fantastic shapes in vivid blue. Across the lake the skaters Flew to and fro, With sharp turns weaving A frail invisible net. In ecstasy the earth Drank the silver sunlight; In ecstasy the skaters Drank […]
A Song Of The Princess by Sara Teasdale
The princess has her lovers, A score of knights has she, And each can sing a madrigal, And praise her gracefully. But Love that is so bitter Hath put within her heart A longing for the scornful knight Who silent stands apart. And tho’ the others praise and plead, She maketh no reply, Yet for […]
A Prayer by Sara Teasdale
When I am dying, let me know That I loved the blowing snow Although it stung like whips; That I loved all lovely things And I tried to take their stings With gay unembittered lips; That I loved with all my strength, To my soul’s full depth and length, Careless if my heart must break, […]
A Minuet Of Mozart’s by Sara Teasdale
Across the dimly lighted room The violin drew wefts of sound, Airily they wove and wound And glimmered gold against the gloom. I watched the music turn to light, But at the pausing of the bow, The web was broken and the glow Was drowned within the wave of night. ————— The End And that’s […]
A Maiden by Sara Teasdale
Oh if I were the velvet rose Upon the red rose vine, I’d climb to touch his window And make his casement fine. And if I were the little bird That twitters on the tree, All day I’d sing my love for him Till he should harken me. But since I am a maiden I […]
A Little While by Sara Teasdale
A little while when I am gone My life will live in music after me, As spun foam lifted and borne on After the wave is lost in the full sea. A while these nights and days will burn In song with the bright frailty of foam, Living in light before they turn Back to […]
A Fantasy by Sara Teasdale
Her voice is like clear water That drips upon a stone In forests far and silent Where Quiet plays alone. Her thoughts are like the lotus Abloom by sacred streams Beneath the temple arches Where Quiet sits and dreams. Her kisses are the roses That glow while dusk is deep In Persian garden closes Where […]
A Boy by Sara Teasdale
OUT of the noise of tired people working, Harried with thoughts of war and lists of dead, His beauty met me like a fresh wind blowing, Clean boyish beauty and high-held head. Eyes that told secrets, lips that would not tell them, Fearless and shy the young unwearied eyes- Men die by millions now, because […]
A Ballad Of The Two Knights by Sara Teasdale
Two knights rode forth at early dawn A-seeking maids to wed, Said one, “My lady must be fair, With gold hair on her head.” Then spake the other knight-at-arms: “I care not for her face, But she I love must be a dove For purity and grace.” And each knight blew upon his horn And […]
Tides by Sara Teasdale
Love in my heart was a fresh tide flowing Where the starlike sea gulls soar; The sun was keen and the foam was blowing High on the rocky shore. But now in the dusk the tide is turning, Lower the sea gulls soar, And the waves that rose in resistless yearning Are broken forevermore. ————— […]
The Years by Sara Teasdale
To-night I close my eyes and see A strange procession passing me — The years before I saw your face Go by me with a wistful grace; They pass, the sensitive, shy years, As one who strives to dance, half blind with tears. The years went by and never knew That each one brought me […]
The Mystery by Sara Teasdale
Your eyes drink of me, Love makes them shine, Your eyes that lean So close to mine. We have long been lovers, We know the range Of each other’s moods And how they change; But when we look At each other so Then we feel How little we know; The spirit eludes us, Timid and […]
The Ghost by Sara Teasdale
I went back to the clanging city, I went back where my old loves stayed, But my heart was full of my new love’s glory, My eyes were laughing and unafraid. I met one who had loved me madly And told his love for all to hear — But we talked of a thousand things […]
The Fountain by Sara Teasdale
Oh in the deep blue night The fountain sang alone; It sang to the drowsy heart Of a satyr carved in stone. The fountain sang and sang But the satyr never stirred– Only the great white moon In the empty Heaven heard. The fountain sang and sang And on the marble rim The milk-white peacocks […]
Spring Rain by Sara Teasdale
I thought I had forgotten, But it all came back again To-night with the first Spring thunder In a rush of rain. I remembered a darkened doorway Where we stood while the storm swept by, Thunder gripping the earth And lightning scrawled on the sky. The passing motor busses swayed, For the street was a […]
Sleepless by Sara Teasdale
If I could have your arms tonight- But half the world and the broken sea Lie between you and me. The autumn rain reverberates in the courtyard, Beating all Night against the barren stone, The sound of useless rain in the desolate courtyard Makes me more alone. If you were here, if you were only […]
On A March Day by Sara Teasdale
Here in the teeth of this triumphant wind That shakes the naked shadows on the ground, Making a key-board of the earth to strike From clattering tree and hedge a separate sound, Bear witness for me that I loved my life, All things that hurt me and all things that healed, And that I swore […]
Oh You Are Coming by Sara Teasdale
Oh you are coming, coming, coming, How will hungry Time put by the hours till then? — But why does it anger my heart to long so For one man out of the world of men? Oh I would live in myself only And build my life lightly and still as a Dream — Are […]