In Classic Shades, and Other Poems (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1890 edition. Excerpt: ...that loved her last and best. Around and around in her watery world, Down under the boughs where the bank hung steep, And cypress-trees kneeled all gnarly and curled, Where woods were dark as the waters were deep, Where strong, swift waters were swept and swirled, Where the whirlpool sobbed and sucked in its breath, As some great monster that is choking to death: Where sweeping and swirling around and around That whirlpool eddied so dark and so deep That even a populous world might have drowned, So surging, so vast, and so swift its sweep--She rode on the wave. And the trees that weep, The solemn gray cypresses leaning o'er; The roots ran blood as they leaned from the shore She surely was drowned But she should have been still; She should have been dead as the dead under ground; She should have been still as the dead on the hill But ever and ever she eddied around, And so nearer and nearer she drew me there Till her eyes met mine in their cold dead stare. Then she looked, and she looked as to look me through; And she came so close to my feet on the shore. And her large eyes, larger than ever before, They never grew weary as dead men's do. And her hair as long as the moss that swept From the cypress-trees as they leaned and wept. Then the moon rose up, and she came to see, Her long white fingers slow pointing there; Why, shoulder to shoulder the moon with me On the bank that night, with her shoulders bare, Slow pointing and pointing that white face out, As it swirled and it swirled, and it swirled about. There ever and ever, around and around, Those great sad eyes that refused to sleep Reproachful sad eyes that had ceased to weep And the great whirlpool with its gurgling sound The reproachful dead that was not yet dead The long strong hair...