Page:Poems Curwen.djvu/38

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30
the soul's quest.

   I sought the Light—
Sought it in childhood's hours
'Mid the sunshine and the flow'rs,
Though I did not understand
Why the voices of the wood
Wooed me to their solitude;
Why I left the childish band,
And preferred the silent shade,
Where the feathered songsters made
Sweet music as I lay
Pondering the question—Why
We had to live and die?
And in the peaceful night
Strange fancies stirred my soul,
As Luna's bright beams stole
In with their silvery light;
And I wept, and knew not why,
But sought unconsciously
   The Infinite.

   I sought the Light—
Sought it while still a child,
By the ocean dark and wild—
For the voices of the sea
Drew me like a mystic spell,
And my breast would heave and swell,
When they whispered unto me.
But their meaning was not plain,
And I listened then in vain—