Poems (Tree)/Islands

by Iris Tree

ISLANDS

AS launched upon the loneliness of timeWe float and dream of what the waves conceal,Each like a thought that rolls with rapid zealSucceeded by a breaker of fierce crime,Or curling passion, or a rhythm of rhyme,Or indolent ripple sighing at the keel—Beyond us, though our fretted longings reel,The lulled horizon sleeps, the still hours climb—So toss our weary ships, till from afarOur visioned island rises suddenly,Where palaces like cloudy colours are,With scented gardens terraced to the sea,The silver steps to our appointed starWhere gleam the spires that pierce eternity.

1917