Loch A’an, Loch A’an, hoo deep ye lie!
Tell nane yer depth and nane shall I.
Bricht though yer deepmaist pit may be,
Ye’ll haunt me till the day I dee.
Bricht, an’ bricht, an’ bricht as air,
Ye’ll haunt me noo for evermair.
1934
So it may be a hill was there,
Blue, tremulous, afar.
I looked and thought the gleam was air,
And thought the morning star
Might tremble thus and thus resolve
Its fire in common light,
Content, while world and sun revolve,
To vanish from the sight.
So hard it was that morn to tell
If earth or heaven I saw,
I knew not how on earth to dwell
Nor how from heaven withdraw.
For vanishing within my thought,
And stealing back to view,
Earth mingled so with heaven, they wrought
One universe from two.
1934
No, love me not: not on my hungry breast,
Nor mouth, nor mouth by your mouth made aware,
Not on my pulses’ tumult, not my hair,
Not on my body be your love confessed.
But still by eager thought be I caressed,
Trouble me still with longing, love from far,
Still be to me the burning of a star
In heaven perceived but yet on earth possessed.
So coward I cried, broken and spent with loving,
Broken and spent with half-fulfilled desire.
I am too weak and mortal for your having
Who fear to flare not burnish in your fire.
O star, O star from utmost heaven removing,
How can I hold you in my arms entire?
1934