As I Ponder'd in Silence
As I ponder'd in silence, / Returning upon my poems, considering, lingering long,
A noiseless patient spider,
I mark'd where on a little promontory it stood isolated,
Mark'd how to explore the vacant vast surrounding,
It launch'd forth filament, filament, filament out of itself,
Ever unreeling them, ever tirelessly speeding them.
And you O my soul where you stand,
Surrounded, detached, in measureless oceans of space,
Ceaselessly musing, venturing, throwing, seeking the spheres to
connect them,
Till the bridge you will need be form'd, till the ductile anchor hold,
Till the gossamer thread you fling catch somewhere, O my soul.
As I ponder'd in silence, / Returning upon my poems, considering, lingering long,
Not heat flames up and consumes, / Not sea-waves hurry in and out,
To thee old cause! / Thou peerless, passionate, good cause,
Darest thou now O soul, / Walk out with me toward the unknown region,