1063. India by Florence Earle Coates. Stedman, Edmund Clarence, ed. 1900. An American Anthology, 1787-1900

Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900.

1063. India

By Florence Earle Coates


SILENT amidst unbroken silence deep
Of dateless years, in loneliness supreme,
She pondered patiently one mighty theme,
And let the hours, uncounted, by her creep
The motionless Himalayas, the broad sweep	5
Of glacial cataracts, great Ganges’ stream,—
All these to her were but as things that seem,
Doomed all to pass, like phantoms viewed in sleep.
Her history? She has none,—scarce a name.
The life she lived is lost in the profound	10
Of time, which she despised; but nothing mars
The memory that, single, gives her fame:
She dreamed eternal dreams, and from the ground
Still raised her yearning vision to the stars.