Classic Poem

I LONG to see the solan-goose
Wing over Ailsa Craig
At dusk again—or Girvan gulls at dawn
To see the osprey greyly glide
The winds of Kamasaig:
For greyness now my heart is set upon.

The greyness of sea-spaces where
There's loneliness alone,
Save for the wings that sweep it with unrest,
Save for the hunger-cries that sound
And die into a moan,
Save for the moaning hunger in my breast.

For greyness is the hue of all
In life that is not lies.
A thousand years of tears are in my heart,
And only in their mystery
Can I be truly wise:
From light and laughter follies only start.

I long to see the mists again
Above the tumbling tide
Of Ailsa, at the coming of the night.
There's weariness and emptiness
And soul unsatisfied
For ever in the places of delight.