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The only daily poetry series publishing new work by today’s poets.

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Poem-a-day

A Mystery

I do not know the ocean’s song, 
    Or what the brooklets say; 
At eve I sit and listen long, 
    I cannot learn their lay. 
But as I linger by the sea, 
    And that sweet song comes unto me, 
It seems, my love, it sings of thee.

I do not know why poppies grow, 
    Amid the wheat and rye, 
The lilies bloom as white as snow, 
    I cannot tell you why. 
But all the flowers of the spring, 
    The bees that hum, the birds that sing, 
A thought of you they seem to bring.

I cannot tell why silvery Mars, 
    Moves through the heav’ns at night; 
I cannot tell you why the stars, 
    Adorn the vault with light. 
But what sublimity I see, 
    Upon the mount, the hill, the lea, 
It brings, my love, a thought of thee.

I do not know what in your eyes, 
    That caused my heart to glow, 
And why my spirit longs and cries, 
    I vow, I do not know. 
But when you first came in my sight, 
    My slumbering soul awoke in light, 
And since the day I’ve known no night.

This poem is in the public domain. Published in Poem-a-Day on October 26, 2025, by the Academy of American Poets.

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James Ephraim McGirt

James Ephraim McGirt
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About Poem-a-Day

Poem-a-Day is the original and only daily digital poetry series featuring over 250 new, previously unpublished poems by today’s talented poets each year. Randall Mann is the Guest Editor of August. Read or listen to a Q&A with Mann about his curatorial process, and learn more about the 2025 Guest Editors. Support Poem-a-Day.  

If you have any questions about Poem-a-Day, visit our Poem-a-Day FAQ.

Previous Poems

Title Author Date
A Visit to the Asylum Edna St. Vincent Millay 09/04/2016
The Inward Morning Henry David Thoreau 09/03/2016
The Secret in the Mirror Alberto Ríos 09/02/2016
Letter to the Northern Lights Aimee Nezhukumatathil 09/01/2016
Hoarders: Tara Kate Durbin 08/31/2016
Senior Discount Ali Liebegott 08/30/2016
Ode to Richmond Hill Rajiv Mohabir 08/29/2016
The Dream Lola Ridge 08/28/2016
Poem for Vows Matthew Zapruder 08/26/2016
Endymion Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 08/26/2016

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