The Rejection

I saw how beautiful your mansions are —

Your lakes and valleys and your peopled plain,

But thought of  all that loss with all that gain,

And one geography is not enough.

One world, one world to loose the spirit in,

Will not contain a continental ghost.

I have a dream of   islands drunk and lost,

Of   cities shining with a ripe decay

Where old ships feed about their harbors' knees,

— Far, far beyond your small and private seas.