Batalha
IN this still cloister where the roses grow
Waist-high between the arches and the well,
You would have walked a thousand years ago,
So faithful, who are now so infidel;
You would have fancied your wild heart's emotion
Over the beauty of a scene like this,
A mystic piety, a pure devotion
And so, perhaps, it is.
Under the shade of column and of tracing,
Here in the dusk, where swallows dart and fly,
Barefoot and cowled, I think I see you pacing,
Brooding o'er thoughts of subtle mystery;
Fasting and prayer, and music and desire
Weaving a mood that men no longer know -
Oh, yes, my dear, you would have been a friar,
A thousand years ago.
poem by Alice Duer Miller
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
House Pets
THE white cat is sleeping by the fire,
With her paws tucked under her chin,
Very tame and gentle she is sleeping
Whom I saw but now come in,
Come in from the dark night and the wild wood,
A hunter with her prey she came,
And her chin and her little paws were bloody,
And she was not kind and tame,
But wild and strong and cruel with her victim,
For she let it go, and caught it as it ran,
And she tossed it in the air and danced about it,
And once she stood erect like a man.
And I thought, 'What wild things are they that we harbor,
Who bend to the routine of daily life; '
And I looked across the room and by the fire
I saw my sleeping wife.
poem by Alice Duer Miller
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
The Stars
ONLY the stars remain to travelers' eyes
Unalterable; the waters change their hue
Beneath the flattery of alien skies
From jade to silver and from bronze to blue.
Sunrise and sunset spread their lovely light
As slow as solemn music in the North;
But southward, like a dart descends the night,
And like a meteor the day breaks forth.
And faiths and manners vary - friends, they say, -
And even lovers of a constant mind; .
Not the light loves we meet upon our way
But those enchained by vows we left behind.
Only unchanged the patterned stars endure,
As when they first assured or threatened man;
Still Vega glitters, crystalline and pure,
Still like an angry eye Aldebaran.
poem by Alice Duer Miller
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
An Exhortation to Gentleness
You who are strong, and do not know the need
That weaker spirits feel, but do not plead -
The need to lean on someone who is strong -
Oh! see you give their silent want good heed.
Be not so busy with your own career,
However noble, that you cannot hear
The sighs of those who look to you for help,
For this is purchasing success too dear.
Many strong men and good, I see, so bent
Upon their own souls' high development
That they have only scorn or tolerance
To give to those who are not thus intent.
Yet, who can answer that it is not true
That those weak souls who spare, where blame is due,
And smile, because too gentle to be stern,
Are not more needed in the world than you?
poem by Alice Duer Miller
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
The History of a Minute
I saw a lady on the stair,
And she was, oh, so strangely fair,
With a knot of butter-colored hair,
And a waiting, listening, wondering air.
She was tall as a lady ought to be,
And down she looked and smiled at me.
Her eyes were queerly brightly blue
As the bit of sky that last shines through
The gathering clouds, oppressive, gray,
On a chilly windy Autumn day.
There she paused on the stairs and smiled
Like a child who sees another child
With whom it would dearly like to play
If it only could get its nurse away.
And I know not what divine surmise.
Leapt up like fire in my eyes,
But I know her smiling suddenly stopped,
And a curtain between us blankly dropped,
And she passed me by as if I were
A man invisible to her.
poem by Alice Duer Miller
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
The Penintent
'NEVER,' he said, 'nevermore,
In the murmuring stillness of night
Shall I wait for her hand on my door,
Confident, light;
Still is the night as before,
And the stars unforgettably bright.
'Once from the deep woodland calms
At midnight a wild wind broke,
Shaking the cedars and palms
And the silver-gray oak;
And she, who had slept in my arms,
Suddenly woke.
'Pity me then, for it blew
Last night again from the woodlands so deep,
Where mosses and moisture and dew
Verdure eternal keep;
From the brooks and the glades that we knew,
It woke me from sleep.
[...] Read more
poem by Alice Duer Miller
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
To an Old Lady in a Train
HER hair was beautifully white
Beneath her bonnet, black as night,
Which, plainly of New England kin,
Was tied with strings beneath her chin.
And when she spoke I had no choice
But listened to that soft crisp voice;
And when she smiled, I saw the truth,
She had been lovely in her youth,
And with those quick, observing eyes,
Was charming still to all the wise.
And still, in spite of bonnet strings,
She thought keen, quaint, amusing things,
With gaiety that many hold
Remarkable in one so old.
We talked ten minutes in a train,
And when we came to part again,
Good-bye, enjoy yourself,' said she,
I told her that ahead of me
No pleasure beckoned, no, I said,
[...] Read more
poem by Alice Duer Miller
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
How Like a Woman
I WANTED you to come to-day
Or so I told you in my letter
And yet, if you had stayed away,
I should have liked you so much better.
I should have sipped my tea unseen,
And thrilled at every door-bell's pealing,
And thought how nice I could have been
Had you evinced a little feeling.
I should have guessed you drinking tea
With someone whom you loved to madness;
I should have thought you cold to me,
And revelled in a depth of sadness.
But, no! you came without delay
I could not feel myself neglected:
You said the things you always say,
In ways not wholly unexpected.
If you had let me wait in vain,
We should, in my imagination,
[...] Read more
poem by Alice Duer Miller
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
After a Year
YES, you have guessed it. Do not blame me, dear.
Indeed, I did not dream, 0 tender eyes,
When first we met, that in a little year
My words would dim you with pain's dumb surprise.
Do not reproach me, for I suffer too
An agony of shame and self-contempt;
And know that I shall miss, far more than you,
The lost illusions of this dream we've dreamt.
Why did you ever learn to love me, child?
If you had let me only be your friend
Instead of weeping, had you only smiled
Coldly, I might have worshipped to the end.
Worthless and aimless, what I was you knew,
By all the wretched past to you confessed;
The one good in me was my love of you,
And that has proved as fickle as the rest.
[...] Read more
poem by Alice Duer Miller
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
A Dialouge
HE: I am in trouble, give me your advice.
SHE: No, for I'm sure 'twould not be carried out.
HE: It shall, I swear it shall, at any price.
SHE:If that's agreed, what is this all about?
HE:How can I win a woman who is fair
And cold?
SHE:Be colder.
HE:But she's proud as well.
SHE:Be prouder.
HE:But she does not seem to care,
Nor notice when I'm near.
SHE:How can you tell
Whether she does or not, until you've tried
Not being near? Avoid her, let her see
The change, and should chance place you at her side,
Be colder, prouder, civiler than she.
HE: But if she cares...
SHE: Then it will break her heart,
Which will be easier won.
HE: 'Tis too severe
[...] Read more
poem by Alice Duer Miller
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!