Poems (Cromwell)/By the Sea
For works with similar titles, see By the Sea.
BY THE SEA
O Friend, we meet and feel as free As two young children. By the sea We sift the sand. From where we sit The line of shore seems infinite. The landward little dunes that lie In drifted shapes against the sky, Divide and sever and seclude Us from the scenes that could intrude Upon our chosen time of pleasure: In the ocean's louder measure, Speech is tempered add we dare To voice perplexities the air Transmutes to clearer truth for us. Our love is new and venturous, Permits veiled intervals and termsOf silence; in each pause affirms Implicit sympathies. Our words Take wing, float seaward, like the birds Upon the wind. The birds and love Are free to soar to climes above. .......But there are white waves tethered under Wanton wings. Are those, I wonder, Like our thoughts,—less fugitive, Less free than love is,—tentative And groping, lest they touch and stir, On memories' mystic barrier, An unforgotten pain? Are we Then fettered, we who feel so free? We sift the sand. From where we sit The line of shore seems infinite. But waves into their tidal fold Obedient fall. Unto what mould Of wonted pain must you comply? O tell me, are you bound as I With links of your own failure? Tell Me, do the crowded years compelAnd hinder you? What tyranny Distorted life, like an oak tree The wind has twisted? Long ago Youth was rebellious. Now we know Our thought is tethered like a wave, And strong compelling tides enslaveOur spirits. No, we are not free. And still we almost seem to be—For since we newly love, our words Take wing, float seaward like the birds.