Poems (Sharpless)/Wonderings

by Frances M. Sharpless

For works with similar titles, see Wonderings.

WONDERINGS

I wonder why there comes so oft
 A certain mild, bewitching spell,
That binds me in its bonds so soft,—
 Ah! who can tell?

I wonder why each bird that sings,
 Each flower that meets my gladdened eye,
A dream of fairy rapture brings,—
 I wonder why?

The sunlight quivering in the grass,
 The murmur of a water-fall,
The shadows that so lightly pass,
 Where bright beams fall,—

The thousand sights and wordless sounds
 Thrill all my heart with pleasure wild,
Till with a painful joy it bounds,
 Like a thralled child.

Dim visions of a higher life
 Come thronging o'er my panting soul,
These lives of mine wage woful strife
 Beyond control.

I only know, I only feel,
 This silent joy, the ecstasy
That words are powerless to reveal:—
 I wonder why?