For works with similar titles, see Wonderings.
4648446Poems — WonderingsFrances M. Sharpless
WONDERINGS
I wonder why there comes so oft
A certain mild, bewitching spell,
That binds me in its bonds so soft,—
Ah! who can tell?

I wonder why each bird that sings,
Each flower that meets my gladdened eye,
A dream of fairy rapture brings,—
I wonder why?

The sunlight quivering in the grass,
The murmur of a water-fall,
The shadows that so lightly pass,
Where bright beams fall,—

The thousand sights and wordless sounds
Thrill all my heart with pleasure wild,
Till with a painful joy it bounds,
Like a thralled child.

Dim visions of a higher life
Come thronging o'er my panting soul,
These lives of mine wage woful strife
Beyond control.

I only know, I only feel,
This silent joy, the ecstasy
That words are powerless to reveal:—
I wonder why?