How Near to Fairyland
The spring warmth steals into me, drying up all the tears of my soul,
And gives me a flight into the vastness,—into a floorless, unroofed reverie-hall.
Lo, such greenness, such velvety greenness, such a heaven without heaven above!
Lo, again, such grayness, such velvety grayness, such an earth without earth below!
My soul sails through the waveless mirror-seas.
Oh, how near to Fairyland!
Blow, blow, gust of wind!
Sweep away my soul-boat against that very shore!
Credit
This poem is in the public domain. Published in Poem-a-Day on May 16, 2021, by the Academy of American Poets.
About this Poem
“How Near to Fairyland” appeared in Selected Poems of Yone Noguchi (The Four Seas Company, 1921).
Author
Yone Noguchi
Yone Noguchi, the first Japanese-born writer to publish poetry in English, was born in 1875 in Tsushima. He lived and worked in San Francisco, and was the author of numerous books of poetry and prose. He died Toyooka-mura on July 13, 1947.
Date Published
01/01/1921