- THE POPLAR-LEAVES
WHY do they, all of them, lean one way.
The poplar-leaves of your heart's sad tree?
Why do they shiver and tremble so
When the wild sea-winds have ceased to blow
And the wild sea-swallows have flown away
From the edge of the bitter and lonely sea?
If I call them to me from over the hill —
The other swallows — the swallows that fly
O'er the cool, fresh streams of a clearer sky —
Would those leaves lean the same way still?
Ah! they must all of them lean one way
Whatever wind the other follows,
However swiftly fly the swallows;
For the sea-born can only the sea obey.
But if from the sea itself should blow —
From the sea itself, from the lonely sea,
A strange new wind; then I should know, —
And — perhaps — those leaves would turn to me!
This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1929.
The longest-living author of this work died in 1963, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 60 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse