I Scarce Believed - Marjory Nicholls

I wondered once, when life, so it did seem,

Was holding to me hands where gifts were laid,

Gifts so long yearned for, that I felt afraid

And, scarce believing, grasped as in a dream.

For I had stood so long beside the stream

Watching the ships with silken sails arrayed

Pass proudly out where the wide sea was made

One with the waiting night, and starlight's gleam—

Would I too sail upon that magic sea

With moon-drenched nights and days of blue serene?

Had God leant down and all my longing seen

And kindly bent his gracious smile on me?

I scarce believed, but laughed away my fears—

And took the proffered gifts. They brought me tears.

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Marjory Nicholls (1890 - 1930) New Zealand

Source: University of Toronto Representative Poetry Online