A Dewdrop.
I dream’d that my soul was a dewdrop,1
As a dewdrop I fell to the ground ;2
And here, in the hearts of the flowers,3
A grave of sweet odour I found :4
But my sisters, the other drops drew me5
With them, in a silvery throng,6
To their sweet source, dancing round me,7
And, drawing me, danced me along.8
Where my sisters and I went dancing,9
Gay flowers on the green banks grew ;10
And the flowers I kiss’d, and with kisses11
I greeted the gold sand too :12
Till down, with the brooklet, I bounded,13
On the wheel of the water-mill,14
And whirl’d it ; and wander’d, and water’d,15
The thirsty young corn on the hill.16
Thence, over the hill-top headlong,17
As I fell to the hollows below,18
“ Here,” I thought, “ is the end of my journey,19
And my life, too, is ended now.”20
But the current drew me, and drew me,21
By forest, and dale, and down,22
And under the turrets and bridges,23
And into the roaring town.24
Onward, and onward, and never25
Any moment of perfect bliss,26
And, with lips that sought love everlasting,27
I snatch’d but a fleeting kiss.28
Onward, and onward, till falling29
Into the infinite main,30
In its fathomless waters I buried31
My love, and my hope, and pain.32
And “ here,” I thought, “ all ends surely,”33
As the great billow bore me away,34
“ Here my spirit shall rest, and for ever,35
“ From its longing, and labour, and play.”36
But anew to the azure of heaven37
Was my being upborne ; and anew38
From the heaven to the earth I descended39
In a drop of celestial dew.40