Page:The Dream of Pythagoras and Other Poems.djvu/33

 Into the depths of ocean; then I dived

Down to the coral citadels, and roved

Through crystal mazes, among pearls and gems,

And lovely buried creatures, who had sunk

To find the jewel of eternal life.

Sweet babes I saw clasp'd in their mothers' arms;

Kings of the north, each with his oozy crown;

Pale maidens, with their golden streaming hair

Floating in solemn beauty, calm and still,

In the deep, silent, tideless wave; I saw

Young beauteous boys wash'd down from reeling masts

By sudden storm; and brothers sleeping soft,

Lock'd in each others' arms; and countless wealth,

And curling weed, and treasur'd knots of hair,,

And mouldering masts, and giant hulls that sank

With thunder sobbing; and blue palaces

Where moonbeams, hand in hand, did dance with me

To the soft music of the surging shells.

Where all else was at rest. Calm, calm, and hush'd.

And stormless, were those hidden deeps, and clear

And pure as crystal. There I wander'd long

In speechless dreamings, and well nigh forgot

My corporeal nature, for it seem'd

Melting into the silent infinite