Carrier Doves by Marie Van Vorst
The speaker addresses a beloved friend, declaring that all thought flows steadily toward that person as a stream runs to the sea. Were the world’s hidden wonders and mysteries attainable, the speaker’s eager love would gather them into an amulet to charm the friend. Instead, the speaker openly releases carrier doves, trained to find their way to the friend, as messengers of this devotion.
By Marie Van Vorst · First published 1909 · Genre: Lyric Poetry, Love Poetry, Friendship Poetry · 113 words
First lines
Friend, unto thee I bend my constant thought; / Its current running as a stream to sea, / From hidden sources of my being brought, / Friend, unto thee.
If the wise wonders of the world could be / Found by a spell, sure my quick love had sought / Each potent and elusive mystery.
Into an amulet together wrought / To charm thee! With this full confession free -- / I loose my doves to-day, their ways are taught, / Friend, unto thee!
Similar titles
- Amor In Excelsis by Marie Van Vorst
- The Apostrophe by Marie Van Vorst
- Amor Victrix by Marie Van Vorst
- Dead Love by Marie Van Vorst
- Winter by Marie Van Vorst
- The Kingdom by Marie Van Vorst
Genres
- Lyric Poetry — The work is a brief, highly musical personal poem focused on concentrated emotion, imagery, and rhythmic language rather than narrative development.
- Love Poetry — Its speaker addresses a beloved friend with devoted affection, imagining love as a force that seeks wisdom, mysteries, and charms for the addressee.
- Friendship Poetry — The repeated direct address, "Friend, unto thee," makes intimate friendship and constant thought for another person the poem's central subject.
- Devotional Poetry — The speaker's language of constancy, confession, mystery, amulets, and offering released doves gives the affection a reverent, quasi-devotional character.
Tags
early 20th-century fiction · American literature · romantic fiction · social drama · literary fiction · love and relationships · marriage · family conflict · wealth and class · society life · emotional drama · personal secrets
What this Textopian page supports
Carrier Doves is listed on Textopian as a poem by Marie Van Vorst, dated 1909 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Poem
- Author: Marie Van Vorst
- Date: 1909 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Lyric Poetry, Love Poetry, Friendship Poetry, Devotional Poetry, Villanelle
- Length: 113 words
- Structure: 1 section, 3 paragraphs
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- Work identity for Carrier Doves by Marie Van Vorst
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
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