Read "Nike" by Bliss Carman online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
What do men give thanks for? / I give thanks for one, / Lovelier than morning, / Dearer than the sun.
Such a head the victors / Must have praised and known, / With that breast and bearing, / Nike's very own --
As superb, untrammeled, / Rhythmed and poised and free / As the strong pure sea-wind / Walking on the sea;
Such a hand as Beauty / Uses with full heart, / Seeking for her freedom / In new shapes of art;
Soft as rain in April, / Quiet as the days / Of the purple asters / And the autumn haze;
With a soul more subtle / Than the light of stars, / Frailer than a moth's wing / To the touch that mars;
Wise with all the silence / Of the waiting hills, / When the gracious twilight / Wakes in them and thrills;
With a voice more tender / Than the early moon / Hears among the thrushes / In the woods of June;
Delicate as grasses / When they lift and stir -- / One sweet lyric woman -- / I give thanks for her.