On the Beach in November / Edward Cracroft Lefroy

On the Beach in November

My heart's Ideal, that somewhere out of sight
Art beautiful and gracious and alone,–
Haply, where blue Saronic waves are blown
On shores that keep some touch of old delight,–
How welcome thy memory, and how bright,
To one who watches over leagues of stone
These chilly northern waters creep and moan
From weary morning unto weary night.
O Shade-form, lovelier than the living crowd,
So kind to votaries, yet thyself unvowed,
So free to human fancies, fancy-free,
My vagrant thought goes out to thee, to thee,
As wandering lonelier than the Poet's cloud,
I listen to the wash of this dull sea.

~~
Edward Cracroft Lefroy (1855-1891)
from Sonnets of this Century, 1887

[Poem is in the public domain worldwide]

Edward Cracroft Lefroy biography