WHAT can I give to you
Who have given me everything?
Can I rob the sky of its blue?
Can I take the green from the spring?
Can I catch the dew as it falls?
Can I reach the fount of the rain?
Can I snare the foam of the waterfalls
And their rain-bow mist retain?
Can I enter the tombs of kings
And their cerements unbind?
Can I steal the Tetrarch's rings
And Salome's pearls unwind?
Will Helen of Troy give up
The bracelets from her wrist;
Or Iseult restore the cup
That Tristram drained and kissed?
They are gone — they are gone, all these —
And their names, like a small faint rain,
Drift by without surcease
Across time's grievous plain.
Oh, lonely and classic face,
My harbour and heathen heaven,
Can I find nothing to replace
All that to me you've given?
Let these dim shades depart
And their sad faint ghosts go hence.
Out of my heart — my heart —
I will give you your recompense!
This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1924.
The author died in 1963, so this work is also in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 50 years or less. This work may also be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.