94
MODERN BOHEMIAN POETRY
THE BURDEN OF ETERNITY
Gloom, the mute spinner, grief weaved in my yearning,
When in the dead waste quailed the hope that lies,
Till suddenly at night my eyes were turning
Unto the bluish mirror of the skies.
Like stars, as path I chose eternity—
Age mars them not, for them no change is wrought;
In azure space, calm, crystal-cold, they flee,
Who would be deathless, solitude has sought.
Silent sonata, 'mid stars' dreary way,
How burden'st thou the soul, that fain would lay
Amid a dream of molten gold, its wings!
As from a dozing cup, where joy makes rife
Hot passion, rather would I drink of life,
Than 'mid vain beams reach deathless lonely things.
"Endymion" (1909).
