Classic Poem

Tides that encroach and make the plain a sea;
Tides that recede and make the sea a plain;
Loud cities that, where once waved grass and grain,
Send up your towers and flags; ye tendrils free—
Ivy and vine—that unrebukedly
The stones that once were cities clasp and chain,
Preach, if ye will, that all things change and wane,
And that man's spirit soon no more shall be;
But though the world from which Columbus sailed,
The world he sailed to and the seas between,
Should cry—the dreams of life to come deceive;
I, sweet, remembering thy faith serene
And quenchless love, should there find countervailed
The witness of both worlds, and still believe.