Classic Poem

Between two elements you float,
O white and golden melilote,
Emerging by a Cyprian birth
The loveliest flower assoiled of earth!
You float, becalming leaves between,
Like sunborn patines turned to green,
Where, by the lake's tree-sheltered shores,
Stem-anchored floats a fleet of flowers.
I fold the oars along the boat
To lean and, like you, dream and float.

The windy mountains, ledge on ledge,
Neighbour your lake by ocean's edge;
And breakers crash not far beyond,
Yet nothing moves the quiet pond
Whereon you float like some unheard,
Ineffable and perfect word,
As if the lake's still spirit drew
Out of the depths to bloom in you,
And gather all that depths may tell
Into one perfect syllable.

There is no sound. Your golden glow—
A sky above, a sky below—
Is now the centre of a sphere;
All else is waived nor enters here;
Nothing offends the fairest bud
That lifts from immemorial mud
Its parted lips as if to say:
“There is no dubious mystery,
No answer and no antidote:
Between two worlds I bloom and float.”