Bliss Carman, et al., eds. The World’s Best Poetry. 1904.
Poems of Sentiment: VI. Labor and RestA Womans Wish
Mary Ashley Townsend (18361901)W
Of clover cool and soft, and soft and sweet,
With dusky clouds on deep skies hanging over,
And scented silence at my head and feet.
In eager haste, from Thought’s impatient neck,
And watch it coursing, in its heedless hurry
Disdaining Wisdom’s call or Duty’s beck!
And daisies hiding, so to hide and rest;
No sound except my own heart’s steady beating,
Rocking itself to sleep within my breast;—
That comes of listening to a wild bird’s song!
Our souls require at times this full unsheathing,—
All swords will rust if scabbard-kept too long:
So tired of all my tired hands find to do!
I yearn, I faint, for some of life’s free beauty,
Its loose beads with no straight string running through.
But women sometimes die of such a greed,—
Die for the small joys held beyond their reach,
And the assurance they have all they need!