Sara Teasdale
29 quotes
Biography
Sara Trevor Teasdale was an American lyric poet. She was born in St.
"Stephen kissed me in the spring,Robin in the fall,But Colin only looked at meAnd never kissed at all.Stephen’s kiss was lost in jest,Robin’s lost in play,But the kiss in Colin’s eyesHaunts me night and day."
"It is strange how often a heart must be broken Before the years can make it wise."
"You will recognize your own path when you come upon it because you will suddenly have all the energy and imagination you will ever need."
"I thought of you and how you love this beauty,And walking up the long beach all aloneI heard the waves breaking in measured thunderAs you and I once heard their monotone.Around me were the echoing dunes, beyond meThe cold and sparkling silver of the sea --We two will pass through death and ages lengthenBefore you hear that sound again with me."
"I am not yours, not lost in you,Not lost, although I long to beLost as a candle lit at noon,Lost as a snowflake in the sea.You love me, and I find you stillA spirit beautiful and bright,Yet I am I, who long to beLost as a light is lost in light."
"I shall have peace, as leafy trees are peaceful When rain bends down the bough; And I shall be more silent and cold-hearted Than you are now."
"WisdomWhen I have ceased to break my wings Against the faultiness of things, And learned that compromises wait Behind each hardly opened gate, When I can look Life in the eyes, Grown calm and very coldly wise, Life will have given me the Truth, And taken in exchange -- my youth."
"Autumn DuskI saw above a sea of hillsA solitary planet shine,And there was no one, near or far,to keep the world from being mine."
"At NightLove said, "Wake still and think of me,"Sleep, "Close your eyes till break of day,"But Dreams came by and smilinglyGave both to Love and Sleep their way."
"There Will Be StarsThere will be stars over the place forever;Though the house we loved and the street we loved are lost,Every time the earth circles her orbitOn the night the autumn equinox is crossed,Two stars we knew, poised on the peak of midnightWill reach their zenith; stillness will be deep;There will be stars over the place forever,There will be stars forever, while we sleep."
"In my heart's most secret place,I pity them as angels do."
"No one worth possessing Can be quite possessed."
"Oh who can tell the range of joy or set the bounds of beauty?"
"Though I know he loves me, tonight my heart is sad his kiss was not so wonderful as all the dreams I had."
"Though I know he loves me, tonight my heart is sad his kiss was not so wonderful as all the dreams I had."
"When I can look life in the eyes, grown calm and very coldly wise, life will have given me the truth, and taken in exchange - my youth."
"When I can look life in the eyes, grown calm and very coldly wise, life will have given me the truth, and taken in exchange - my youth."
"Wisdom is not acquired save as the result of investigation."
"I have no riches but my thoughts, Yet these are wealth enough for me"
"Child, child, love while you can The voice and the eyes and the soul of a man; Never fear though it break your heart-Out of the wound new joy will start; Only love proudly and gladly and well, Though love be heaven or love be hell.Child, child, love while you may, For life is short as a happy day; Never fear the thing you feel-Only by love is life made real; Love, for the deadly sins are seven, Only through love will you enter heaven."
"This is the spot where I will lie When life has had enough of me, These are the grasses that will blow Above me like a living sea.These gay old lilies will not shrink To draw their life from death of mine, And I will give my body's fire To make blue flowers on this vine."O Soul," I said, "have you no tears? Was not the body dear to you?" I heard my soul say carelessly, "The myrtle flowers will grow more blue."
"I would not have a god come in To shield me suddenly from sin, And set my house of life to rights; Nor angels with bright burning wings Ordering my earthly thoughts and things; Rather my own frail guttering lights Wind blown and nearly beaten out; Rather the terror of the nights And long, sick groping after doubt; Rather be lost than let my soul Slip vaguely from my own control -- Of my own spirit let me be In sole though feeble mastery."
"From my spirit's gray defeat, From my pulse's flagging beat, From my hopes that turned to sand Sifting through my close-clenched hand, From my own fault's slavery, If I can sing, I still am free.For with my singing I can make A refuge for my spirit's sake, A house of shining words, to be My fragile immortality."
"Though I know he loves me tonight my heart is sad his kiss was not so wonderful as all the dreams I had."
"It was a night of early spring,The winter-sleep was scarcely broken;Around us shadows and the windListened for what was never spoken.Though half a score of years are gone,Spring comes as sharply now as then—But if we had it all to doIt would be done the same again.It was a spring that never came;But we have lived enough to knowThat what we never have, remains;It is the things we have that go."