George Willis Cooke, comp. The Poets of Transcendentalism: An Anthology. 1903.
Saadis ThinkingJohn Weiss (18181879)
S
In my soul no spot of shade;
Least and greatest lying plain,
Hope of mystery was vain.
To its game my daylight went;
Water hid beneath the sod
Sooner ’scapes divining rod.
Sight must hie to shelter soon;
From the drooping lid must creep
Forth the outer edge of sleep.
And the headlands gather haze,
Blushes through the clearness creep,
Showing it is also deep.
Like the diver from a sea,
Purpled with the shells he had,—
Tired and faint, but purple-clad.
Stirred by thoughts less palpably,—
Noontide broken into stars,
Vision checked by twilight bars.
And in miracle believe,
Wading out until some sea
Lifts the heart and sets it free,—
Put on daylight for its wear—
Colorless and limpid laws:
In them stars and twilights pause.