The Window Overlooking The Harbour

A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904)

Sad is the Evening: all the level sand

Lies left and lonely, while the restless sea,

Tired of the green caresses of the land,

Withdraws into its own infinity.

But still more sad this white and chilly Dawn

Filling the vacant spaces of the sky,

While little winds blow here and there forlorn

And all the stars, weary of shining, die.

And more than desolate, to wake, to rise,

Leaving the couch, where softly sleeping still,

What through the past night made my heaven, lies;

And looking out across the window sill

See, from the upper window’s vantage ground,

Mankind slip into harness once again,

And wearily resume his daily round

Of love and labour, toil and strife and pain.

How the sad thoughts slip back across the night:

The whole thing seems so aimless and so vain.

What use the raptures, passion and delight,

Burnt out; as though they could not wake again.

The worn-out nerves and weary brain repeat

The question: Whither all these passions tend;–

This curious thirst, so painful and so sweet,

So fierce, so very short-lived, to what end?

Even, if seeking for ourselves, the Race,

The only immortality we know,–

Even if from the flower of our embrace

Some spark should kindle, or some fruit should grow,

What were the use? the gain, to us or it,

That we should cause another You or Me,–

Another life, from our light passion lit,

To suffer like ourselves awhile and die.

What aim, what end indeed? Our being runs

In a closed circle. All we know or see

Tends to assure us that a thousand Suns,

Teeming perchance with life, have ceased to be.

Ah, the grey Dawn seems more than desolate,

And the past night of passion worse than waste,

Love but a useless flower, that soon or late,

Turns to a fruit with bitter aftertaste.

Youth, even Youth, seems futile and forlorn

While the new day grows slowly white above.

Pale and reproachful comes the chilly Dawn

After the fervour of a night of love.

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• Dews of Silence by Raju Baruah by Poetry In English
• Catching the Rain by Raj Napal by Poetry In English
• Blame by Raj Napal by Poetry In English
• Better Be by Raj Napal by Poetry In English
• Be Prepared by Raj Napal by Poetry In English
• An empty photo album by Raj Napal by Poetry In English
• Your Dog Dies by Raymond Carver by Poetry In English
• Written Manna by Rangam Chiru by Poetry In English
• What The Doctor Said by Raymond Carver by Poetry In English
• Tyburn by Ramesh Anand by Poetry In English
• The Scratch by Raymond Carver by Poetry In English
• The Passing Cloud by Rashmi Sreekumar by Poetry In English
• The Mountain Crumbles by Rashmi by Poetry In English
• The Moon’s Truth (before the war) by Reena Ribalow by Poetry In English
• The Heart Chirps by Ramesh Anand by Poetry In English
• The Current by Raymond Carver by Poetry In English
• The Cobweb by Raymond Carver by Poetry In English
• The Best Time Of The Day by Raymond Carver by Poetry In English
• Stupid by Raymond Carver by Poetry In English
• Still Life by Reena Ribalow by Poetry In English

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