'_Where shall we land you, sweet_?'--Swinburne. <br /> <br />All listlessly we float <br />Out seaward in the boat <br />That beareth Love. <br />Our sails of purest snow <br />Bend to the blue below <br />And to the blue above. <br />Where shall we land? <br /> <br />We drift upon a tide <br />Shoreless on every side, <br />Save where the eye <br />Of Fancy sweeps far lands <br />Shelved slopingly with sands <br />Of gold and porphyry. <br />Where shall we land? <br /> <br />The fairy isles we see, <br />Loom up so mistily-- <br />So vaguely fair, <br />We do not care to break <br />Fresh bubbles in our wake <br />To bend our course for there. <br />Where shall we land? <br /> <br />The warm winds of the deep <br />Have lulled our sails to sleep, <br />And so we glide <br />Careless of wave or wind, <br />Or change of any kind, <br />Or turn of any tide. <br />Where shall we land? <br /> <br />We droop our dreamy eyes <br />Where our reflection lies <br />Steeped in the sea, <br />And, in an endless fit <br />Of languor, smile on it <br />And its sweet mimicry. <br />Where shall we land? <br /> <br />'Where shall we land?' God's grace! <br />I know not any place <br />So fair as this-- <br />Swung here between the blue <br />Of sea and sky, with you <br />To ask me, with a kiss, <br />'Where shall we land?'<br /><br />James Whitcomb Riley<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/where-shall-we-land/
