Anne Whitney

1821-1915

 

I know this spirit bridges unknown space...

by Anne Whitney

I know this spirit bridges unknown space
And half-forgotten centuries, that I
May know I am of royal family,
And live to my high birth. The marble face
Of Destiny grows fluent, as I trace
These arteries of broad being. I can wait
More years than earth allots me, for my state
Is not of time: nor binds me any place,
Since on and on the mazy current tends,
That takes my little thread, a breath might sever,
To mingle it with universal ends; --
And tho' I fail and fall, yet am I still
Most strong; since every high, tho' balked endeavor,
God intertwines with his eternal will.

Source:

Poems
Copyright 1859
346 & 348 Broadway
D. Appleton & Company
New York
 

Recommended Works

To The Ocean - Thomas HoodAnd for that thou art Beauty, and thy name... - Anne WhitneyFor The Fourteenth Of February - Thomas HoodOn Receiving A Gift - Thomas HoodThe Same (Twas then we said...) - Anne WhitneyOn Seeing The Elgin Marbles - John KeatsC. L'E. - Anne WhitneyThis pleasant tale is like a little copse: ... - John KeatsThe Human Seasons - John KeatsTo Fancy - Thomas HoodIt is not death, that sometime in a sigh... - Thomas HoodYet are there sunbeams, though the kingly sun... - Anne WhitneyThe Soul's Expression - Elizabeth Barrett BrowningI cry your mercy -- pity -- love -- ay, love ... - John KeatsTo My Brother - John KeatsBereavement - Elizabeth Barrett BrowningStoop low, dear Night, a little star-breeze wakes - Anne WhitneyAdequacy - Elizabeth Barrett BrowningOf better fortune coming, then, talk not... - Anne WhitneyOn A Portrait Of Wordsworth - Elizabeth Barrett BrowningContinence - Anne WhitneyPain In Pleasure - Elizabeth Barrett BrowningThe world is with me, and its many cares... - Thomas HoodTo Ailsa Rock - John KeatsThe Seraph And Poet - Elizabeth Barrett BrowningO solitude! if I must with thee dwell, - John KeatsCheerfulness Taught By Reason - Elizabeth Barrett BrowningAlas! and yesternight I woke in terror, - Anne WhitneyWithin my life another life runs deep, - Anne WhitneyOn A Dream - John KeatsTO G. A. W. - John KeatsTo The Spirit - Anne WhitneyTo George Sand: A Recognition - Elizabeth Barrett BrowningI dreamed an angel, Angel twice, through death... - Anne WhitneyOn Leaving Some Friends At An Early Hour - John KeatsSubstitution - Elizabeth Barrett BrowningIn the still hours, a stiller strength was born - Anne WhitneySo reed-like fragile, in the world's whirl nought... - Anne WhitneyWork (What are we set on earth for? ...) - Elizabeth Barrett BrowningSonnet To A Sonnet - Thomas HoodTo Kosciusko - John KeatsOn Sitting Down To Read King Lear Once Again. - John KeatsTo A Friend Who Sent Me Some Roses - John KeatsAddressed To Haydon - John KeatsTo The Same - Anne WhitneyTo _. (Time's sea hath been five years at its low ebb, ...) - John KeatsI know this spirit bridges unknown space... - Anne WhitneyWritten On The Day That Mr. Leigh Hunt Left Prison - John KeatsOh! how I love, on a fair summer's eve, ... - John KeatsAddressed To The Same - John KeatsThe day is gone, and all its sweets are gone! ... - John KeatsDark rolling clouds in wild confusion driven... - Caroline Bowles SoutheyTo Homer - John KeatsThe Two Sayings - Elizabeth Barrett BrowningPatience Taught By Nature - Elizabeth Barrett BrowningPerplexed Music - Elizabeth Barrett BrowningTo Sleep - John KeatsInsufficiency - Elizabeth Barrett BrowningO night, a terrible dismay still lurks... - Anne WhitneyAn Apprehension - Elizabeth Barrett BrowningThe Same (Might we make quest ...) - Anne WhitneyRead me a lesson, Muse, and speak it loud - John KeatsTo ____. (My heart is sick with longing, though I feed) - Thomas HoodWhen I have fears that I may cease to be ... - John KeatsWritten In The Cottage Where Burns Was Born - John KeatsGrief - Elizabeth Barrett BrowningFalse Poets And True - Thomas HoodKeats's Last Sonnet - John KeatsIf by dull rhymes our English must be chain'd ... - John KeatsOn The Sea - John KeatsLargess from seven-fold heavens, I pray, descend... - Anne WhitneyTo A Young Lady Who Sent Me A Laurel Crown. - John KeatsOn Leigh Hunt's Poem, The Story Of Rimini. - John KeatsTo George Sand: A Desire - Elizabeth Barrett BrowningIrreparableness - Elizabeth Barrett BrowningHappy is England! I could be content ... - John KeatsPast And Future - Elizabeth Barrett BrowningThree Flowers - Thomas Bailey AldrichOn First Looking Into Chapman's Homer - John KeatsAnswer To A Sonnet Ending Thus: -- - John KeatsTo Haydon - John KeatsNight - Anne WhitneyThou seem'st to solve the eternal unity... - Anne WhitneyOn Fame (How fever'd is the man, who cannot look ...) - John KeatsTo My Brother George - John KeatsHow bravely Autumn paints upon the sky - Thomas HoodAfter dark vapors have oppress'd our plains ... - John KeatsBy every sweet tradition of true hearts,... - Thomas HoodWork And Contemplation - Elizabeth Barrett BrowningTo one who has been long in city pent, ... - John KeatsComfort (Speak low to me, my Saviour, low and sweet ...) - Elizabeth Barrett BrowningTears - Elizabeth Barrett BrowningTo _. (Had I a man's fair form, then might my sighs ...) - John KeatsThe Meaning Of The Look - Elizabeth Barrett BrowningDiscontent - Elizabeth Barrett BrowningO fair mistrust of earth's more solid shows... - Anne WhitneyThe Look - Elizabeth Barrett BrowningHow many bards gild the lapses of time! - John KeatsFuturity - Elizabeth Barrett BrowningExaggeration - Elizabeth Barrett BrowningWhy did I laugh to-night? - John KeatsDarkness surrounds me with its phantom hosts... - Anne WhitneyTo An Enthusiast - Thomas HoodFrom all these mounds, though day blows fresh and warm, - Anne WhitneyLear - Thomas HoodKeen Fitful Gusts Are Whispering Here And There - John KeatsThe Prisoner - Elizabeth Barrett BrowningA Thought For A Lonely Death-Bed - Elizabeth Barrett BrowningThe Passion Flower - Anne WhitneyTo J. H. Reynolds - John KeatsO Mankind's God! most silent and most lowly - Anne WhitneyNo slight caprice rules thee. -- Who sounds one note... - Anne WhitneyOn A Picture Of Leander - John KeatsO high-born souls, such as God sends to mould... - Anne WhitneyOn Fame (Fame, like a wayward girl, will still be coy ...). - John KeatsTo A Sleeping Child - Thomas HoodOn The Grasshopper And Cricket - John KeatsConsolation - Elizabeth Barrett BrowningTo The Nile - John Keats