Page:New poems and variant readings, Stevenson, 1918.djvu/56

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36
STEVENSON'S POEMS

From your frail ark of lies, I flee
I know not where, like Noah's raven.
Full to the broad, unsounded sea
I swim from your dishonest haven.


Alone on that unsounded deep,
Poor waif, it may be I shall perish,
Far from the course I thought to keep,
Far from the friends I hoped to cherish.
It may be that I shall sink, and yet
Hear, thro' all taunt and scornful laughter,
Through all defeat and all regret,
The stronger swimmers coming after.

SWALLOWS TRAVEL TO AND FRO

Swallows travel to and fro,
And the great winds come and go,
And the steady breezes blow,
Bearing perfume, bearing love.
Breezes hasten, swallows fly,
Towered clouds forever ply,
And at noonday, you and I
See the same sunshine above.


Dew and rain fall everywhere,
Harvests ripen, flowers are fair,
And the whole round earth is bare

To the moonshine and the sun;