I Am Not Yours / Sara Teasdale

I Am Not Yours

I am not yours, not lost in you,
Not lost, although I long to be
Lost as a candle lit at noon,
Lost as a snowflake in the sea.

You love me, and I find you still
A spirit beautiful and bright,
Yet I am I, who long to be
Lost as a light is lost in light.

Oh plunge me deep in love — put out
My senses, leave me deaf and blind,
Swept by the tempest of your love,
A taper in a rushing wind.

---
Sara Teasdale (1884-1933)
from Rivers to the Sea, 1915


[Poem is in the public domain in Canada, the United States, and the European Union]

Sara Teasdale biography