Sara Teasdale Quotes

Oh, is it not enough to be Here with this beauty over me? My throat should ache with praise, and I Should kneel in joy beneath the sky. Oh, beauty are you not enough?

She must be rich who can forego
An hour so jewelled with delight,
She must have teasuries of joy
That she can draw on day and night,
She must be very sure of heaven–
Or is it only that she feels
How much more safe it is to lack
A thing that time so often steals.

"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."

Make songs for Death as you would sing to Love — But you will not assuage him. He alone Of all the gods will take no gifts from men.

The ache of empty arms was an old tale to you.

Faults They came to tell your faults to me,
They named them over one by one;
I laughed aloud when they were done,
I knew them all so well before, — Oh, they were blind, too blind to see
Your faults had made me love you more.

As dew leaves the cobweb lightly
Threaded with stars,
Scattering jewels on the fence
And the pasture bars;
As dawn leaves the dry grass bright
And the tangled weeds
Bearing a rainbow gem
On each of their seeds;
So has your love, my lover,
Fresh as the dawn,
Made me a shining road
To travel on,
Set every common sight
Of tree or stone
Delicately alight
For me alone.

Oh I must pass nothing by
Without loving it much,
The raindrop try with my lips,
The grass with my touch;

For how can I be sure
I shall see again
The world on the first of May
Shining after the rain?

I may not speak till Eros' torch is dim, The god is bitter and will have it so.

I try to catch at many a tune Like petals of light fallen from the moon, Broken and bright on a dark lagoon,<p>But they float away — for who can hold Youth, or perfume or the moon's gold?

I gave my first love laughter,
I gave my second tears,
I gave my third love silence
Through all the years.

My first love gave me singing,
My second eyes to see,
But oh, it was my third love
Who gave my soul to me.

If I can find out God, then I shall find Him, If none can find Him, then I shall sleep soundly, Knowing how well on earth your love sufficed me, A lamp in darkness.

Perhaps when all the world is bare And cruel winter holds the land, The Love that finds no place to hide Will run and catch my hand. <p> I shall not care to have him then, I shall be bitter and a-cold — It grows too late for frolicking When all the world is old.<p>Then little hiding Love, come forth, Come forth before the autumn goes, And let us seek thro' ruined paths The garden's last red rose.

Since Death brushed past me once more to-day,
Let me say quickly what I must say:
Take without shame the love I give you,
Take it before I am hurried away.

You are intrepid, noble, kind,
My heart goes to you with my mind,
The plummet of your thought is long
Sunk in deep water, cold with song.
You are all I asked, my dear–
My words are said, my way is clear.

I almost gave my life long ago for a thing
That has gone to dust now, stinging my eyes — It is strange how often a heart must be broken
Before the years can make it wise.