Page:Modern Russian Poetry.djvu/95

Rh

I seek for rhythmic whisperings Where noises bandy— For life I listen wistfully In footless banter.

I cast wide nets and tentative In lakes of sorrow. I go toward final tenderness By pathways sordid.

I look for dewdrops glistering In falsehood's gardens. I save truth's globules glistening, From dust-heaps garnered.

I fain would fathom fortitude Through years of wormwood— And pierce the mortal fortalice, Yet live, a worldling.

My cup, through ways impassable, To bear, untainted; By tenebrous bleak passages To joy attaining.