The Inlander

I never climb a high hill
Or gaze across the lea,
But, Oh, beyond the two of them,
Beyond the height and blue of them,
I'm looking for the sea.

A blue sea--a crooning sea--
A grey sea lashed with foam--
But, Oh, to take the drift of it,
To know the surge and lift of it,
And 'tis I am longing for it as the homeless long for home.

I never dream at night-time
Or close my eyes by day,
But there I have the might of it,
The wind-whipped, sun-drenched sight of it,
That calls my soul away.

Oh, deep dreams and happy dreams,
Its dreaming still I'd be,
For still the land I'm waking in,
'Tis that my heart is breaking in,
And 'tis far where I'd be sleeping with the blue waves over me.

Theodosia Garrison

Theodosia Garrison was an American poet known for her lyrical and often melancholic verse. Born on May 26, 1874, her poetry often explored themes of love, loss, and introspection. Throughout her career, Garrison contributed to various literary magazines and became a respected figure in the early 20th-century literary circles. She passed away on August 27, 1944, leaving behind a legacy of poignant and expressive poetry.

Theodosia Garrison

Orchards

Theodosia Garrison, Simple Poetry

Unbelief

Theodosia Garrison, Simple Poetry

The Burden

Theodosia Garrison, Simple Poetry

The Awakening

Theodosia Garrison, Simple Poetry

English

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Sea Longing

A thousand miles beyond this sun-steeped wall
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Tho' I am inland far, I hear and know,
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Isabelle And I.

Isabelle has gold, and lands,
Fate gave her a fair lot;
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Her soft hands toil not.
I gaze upon her splendor
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I have no wealth in lands and gold,
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I know the blue sky smiles as bright
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Her violet velvet curtains trail
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She has known such ...

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I must be off where the green boughs beckon--
Why should I linger to barter and reckon?
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I have had enough of the huckster's din,
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I must be off where the brooks are waking,
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Sea-Shore Musings.

How oft I've longed to gaze on thee,
    Thou proud and mighty deep!
Thy vast horizon, boundless, free,
    Thy coast so rude and steep;
And now entranced I breathless stand,
    Where earth and ocean meet,
Whilst billows wash the golden sand,
    And break around my feet.

Lovely thou art when dawn's red light
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And when the moonbeams softly pour
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Night's Phantasies. A Fragment.

I have dreamed sweet dreams of a summer night,
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Strains wafted down from those heavenly spheres
Which may not be warbled in waking ears;
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Than the breeze over beds of violets blowing,
When it stirs the pines, and sultry day
Fans himself cool with their tremulous play.
On the sleeper's ear those rich notes stealing,
Speak of purer and holier feeling
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In the bondage of sin, can ever know.

    I heard in my slumbers the ceaseless roar
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Sea Reverie

Strange Sea! why is it that you never rest?
And tell me why you never go to sleep?
Thou art like one so sad and sin-oppressed --
(And the waves are the tears you weep) --
And thou didst never sin -- what ails the sinless deep?

To-night I hear you crying on the beach,
Like a weary child on its mother's breast --
A cry with an infinite and lonesome reach
Of unutterably deep unrest;
And thou didst never sin -- why art thou so distressed?

But, ah, sad Sea! the mother's breast is warm,
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And soft the arms that shield her own from harm;
And her look is unutterably mild --
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