Song [Thy face I have seen as one seeth]

Thy face I have seen as one seeth
A face in a dream,
Soft drifting before me as drifteth
A leaf on the stream:
A face such as evermore fleeth
From following feet,
A face such as hideth and shifteth
Evasive and sweet.

Thy voice I have heard as one heareth
Afar and apart,
The wood-thrush that rapturous poureth
The song of his heart;
Who heedeth is blest, but who neareth
In wary pursuit,
May see where the singer upsoareth,
The forest is mute.

Credit

Author

Sophie Jewett

Sophie Jewett, a poet, translator, and professor, was born on June 3, 1861, in Moravia, New York, to Dr. Charles Carroll Jewett, a country physician, and Ellen Ransom Burroughs. Jewett’s father died during her childhood, prompting the family, including her two sisters and brother, to move to Buffalo, New York. Around age twenty, she traveled to England and Italy, usually in the company of one of her sisters, who was an artist. Her sojourns in the latter country inspired what became Italian Sketches (Suburban Press, 1917).

Date Published

02/01/1910