Lyric

On the coast of stars, magnets lure

The spars of ships. But now ages

Have passed-for in the morning air

Of blue, they are gone! But with you,

I retread the beauty of this old way.

And is it strange I love to meet

Your open eyes? They so nourish

And quicken you! And how, if eyes

Are the light of the soul, is your

Face still so bright when they are closed?

You could give life to the Valley

Of Dead Limbs. You have given life

To dead nations. And if men can

Make folly of their lives, and can

Swiftly sell their blood for a song

Or a laugh, could I not for you

Break a star in glistening halves,

Or a ship? But you have made whole

My heart. And I am glad to watch

The stars and ships: They must go on!

But I stop at the Tryst of Life.

With the forge and anvil at my

Beating heart, a sick man had been

Fashioned years ago. But now you

Have healed and betrothed my sad strength!

And I shall bind you as a sign

Upon my hand, and as a frontlet

Upon my forehead. And oh, my heart

And soul like kith and kin shall unite,

While I have life, and keep you.

Emanuel Zausmer

STARS IN THE SEA