Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, NOON: AMAGANSETT BEACH, by JOHN HALL WHEELOCK


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

NOON: AMAGANSETT BEACH, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Glory -- glory to god in the highest -- and on earth
Last Line: Upon the everlasting waters, upon the everlasting ways.
Subject(s): Amagansett, New York; Seashore; Beach; Coast; Shore


Glory -- glory to God in the highest -- and on earth
Glory! The everlasting sun
Has laid his hand upon the harp-string, with the music of his mirth
Heaven and ocean are one chord, in unison.

He has spoken -- he has spoken -- from his midmost throne
In the blue hollow of noon he has spoken! Heaven has heard
The sound of the song of his shining; he has made known
To listening space his wonder, and revealed his word --

Who sheds his light upon the earth, and upon the dark place,
Light! And upon the waters of the sea,
Light! O Father, pour down thy light upon me -- touch my face!
Hallow me, my Father -- even me.

Here, where the long ranges of the dunes roll
Their tawny billows to the south and to the north, and against the sky
Flutters the pale sea-grass, fresh is the wind -- and the whole
Clear hollow of heaven is full of the wine of thy glory, even as I.

The waves curve upward -- they fail -- they fall,
Dragging, dragging along the dim sea-reach
The heavy hem of the garments of the waters; rhythmical, rhythmical
Is the rustle of the sea's robe upon the beach.

Along the shallows, along the far shore-line
They burst in thunder and light -- where the gray shingles gleam
The tongue of the foam is a tongue of fire: the hollows of the breakers shine,
Darken -- and are shattered as a dream.

But out where the further waters have their sleep,
On the pale meadows of ocean, on the barren fields and bare
That the sea-bird wanders, that the sea-wind wanders -- on the illimitable Deep.
Silence. The silence of the immensity is like a prayer.

Interminable -- interminable -- interminable -- the void sea,
The many ways, the many waves. In the huge round
Of the sorrowful heavens, in the hushed vacancy,
No voice . . . Vastness without bound.

This is my heart's country. These lonely lands
Are one with my wild, lonely heart; these winds and waves that roam
Old, desolate ways forever -- they are one with me -- these sterile sands
And bitter waters. Here is my heart's home.

Amid these large horizons and spaces that she loves
My spirit's thought, on lorn adventurings
And inconsolable quests intent, endlessly moves --
And spreads upon the eternal solitude her fleeting wings:

Even as a sea-bird on the changless, changing
Pale pastures lost, as a sea-bird on the wild waste astray,
Searching the everlasting reaches -- failing -- faltering -- like a sea-bird
ranging,
Wandering, wandering the wide way.

. . . . . .

Loneliness -- loneliness forever. Dune beyond dune
Stretches the infinite loneliness -- pale sand and pale sea-grass,
Pale beaches, mile upon mile. In the immensity of noon
A hawk moves upon the wind. Clouds darken, and pass . . .

The sound of the breathing of the sea is hushed, on the far shore
Her robe lies fallen; the white waves, one by one,
Subside into slumber, and cease into slumber: from the blue vault to the blue
floor
Heaven is a shining room filled full of the sun.

He hallows the waters. The benediction of his light is shed
Upon the proud waters. Emerald -- turquoise -- chrysoprase
Glitter the waters! The garment of his glory is spread
Upon the everlasting waters, upon the everlasting ways.





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