Selections from the American Poets/A Wish (Sargent)

by Epes Sargent

For works with similar titles, see A Wish.

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A WISH.

That I were in some forest's green retreat, Beneath a towering arch of proud old elms.Where a clear streamlet gurgled at my feet, Its wavelets glittering in their tiny helms! Thick, clustering vines, in many a rich festoon, From the high, rustling branches should depend,Weaving a net through which the sultry noon Might stoop in vain its fiery darts to send.There, prostrate on some rock's gray sloping side, Upon tinted moss the dew yet lay,Would I catch glimpses of the clouds that ride Athwart the sky, and dream the hours away;While, through the alleys of the sunless wood,The fanning breeze might steal, with wild flowers' breath imbued.