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SATURN

IT is the place!
   No moon, no mist, no sound,
   As the oracles had writ,
Only the huge and starry night,
   Liquid, cool, and infinite,
   Lit with lamps, by the old gods lit,
   Floating, floating, over it,
   Over the place I have found.

                 It is the place!
I had known it, in the deep
   Full-brimmed cup of flowing sleep,
From which, in the vast silence, I
   Had drunk inviolability.

                  It is the place!
Upon the terrace I step forth
   And look to the east and look to the north.
On the north there are water-meadows wide,
   With shadowy reeds on every side.
On the east — ah ! where can I have seen
   Mists and marshes so grey and green?
In no human dream I have known this place.
   How slow is the sun to show his face!

Did ever the winds with so indrawn breath
   Wait and listen, and listen and wait?
Did ever life come so near to death
   And remain so wistful and passionate?