Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, ELYSIAN TRAIL, by KATHARINE BROWN BURT


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

ELYSIAN TRAIL, by                    
First Line: Here spreads the salt marsh, here the
Last Line: With a fair today?
Subject(s): Roads; Paths; Trails


Here spreads the salt marsh, here the tide-wed river
Which have spelled my heaven now through many a May,
Here, still, the star-fringed ways of midnight quiver
Linking dead sunset with a fresh-born day.
Say, river, say
Why my tread no more makes merry,
Why my steps less eager tarry
On the trail of yesterday?

Here are the same paths, pungent to remember,
Winding over hilltops not less fair than then
Here, yet, the roadsides, purpled by September,
Lead back to Paradise from a world of men.
Say, spirit, say
Why my feet less swift betake them,
Why should eagerness forsake them,
Tramping through the hot sweet bay?

Here play the west winds, dancing yet laughing
Over the apple-lush ramp of low stone walls,
Still gaily chirping, chattering and chaffing
Swerve flitting swallows when the far rain calls.
Say, my heart, oh, say
May delight no more assuage thee,
Can earth's song no more engage thee
With a fair today?





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