Explore "Wherefore?" by Ella Wheeler Wilcox on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
Wherefore in dreams are sorrows borne anew, / A healed wound opened, or the past revived? / Last night in my deep sleep I dreamed of you; / Again the old love woke in me, and thrived / On looks of fire, and kisses, and sweet words / Like silver waters purling in a stream, / Or like the amorous melodies of birds: / A dream -- a dream!
Again upon the glory of the scene / There settled that dread shadow of the cross / That, when hearts love too well, falls in between; / That warns them of impending woe and loss. / Again I saw you drifting from my life, / As barques are rudely parted in a stream; / Again my heart was torn with awful strife: / A dream -- a dream!
Again the deep night settled on me there, / Alone I groped, and heard strange waters roll, / Lost in that blackness of supreme despair / That comes but once to any living soul. / Alone, afraid, I called your name aloud -- / Mine eyes, unveiled, beheld white stars agleam, / And lo! awake, I cried, "Thank God, thank God! / A dream -- a dream! "