Poem by Vachel Lindsay

The Empty Boats

Why do I see these empty boats, sailing on airy seas? 
One haunted me the whole night long, swaying with every breeze, 
Returning always near the eaves, or by the skylight glass: 
There it will wait me many weeks, and then, at last, will pass. 
Each soul is haunted by a ship in which that soul might ride 
And climb the glorious mysteries of Heaven’s silent tide 
In voyages that change the very metes and bounds of Fate — 
O empty boats, we all refuse, that by our windows wait!

1. Sweet Briars of the Stairways
2. The Haughty Snail-King
3. Upon Returning to the Country Road
4. The Master of the Dance
5. The Leaden-Eyed

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