Verses (Shorter)/Seeking

by Dora Sigerson Shorter

SEEKING.

There I cannot find thee, O my love!
In the city’s clamour,
In its pleasure’s glamour;
’Mid the multitude of faces
Or the wilderness of places,
There I cannot find thee, O my love!

There I cannot find thee, O my love!
Where corn groweth yellow,
Where luscious fruits come mellow.
Where ’neath the roses swinging
Hide birds that wake to singing.
There I cannot find thee, O my love!

There I cannot find thee, O my love!
Where sweeps the snowy pinion
O’er the seamew’s wide dominion;
Where the gull unceasingly
Screams a chorus to the sea,
There I cannot find thee, O my love!

There I cannot find thee, O my love!
Blind in the dark my seeking,
I stand with lone heart breaking,
With hushed and listening breath
I gaze through the gates of death—
There I cannot seek thee, O my love!