Expectancy.
All is so still that I could hear the breath1
Ev’n of a bird ; the petal of a flower2
Dropping to Earth would rouse me as from Death ;3
The lightest feather falling would have power4
(Unrecognized till this enchanted hour)5
To break some magic spell, above, beneath ...6
Whilst, only in mid-air, an insect shower7
Proclaims its little life on this wide heath.8
This is not life, nor death, nor sleep ;— I wait9
For that which cometh not ; some voice or token10
From the Divine Unseen. ’Twixt Earth and Heaven11
My spirit hovers expectant. Ah ! too late12
’Twill be for wisdom, once my heart has striven13
In that hard world wherein all spells are broken !14