Happiness
Amy Lowell
Track 17 on Sword Blades and Poppy Seed
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Happiness Lyrics
Happiness, to some, elation;
Is, to others, mere stagnation.
Days of passive somnolence,
At its wildest, indolence.
Hours of empty quietness,
No delight, and no distress.
Happiness to me is wine,
Effervescent, superfine.
Full of tang and fiery pleasure,
Far too hot to leave me leisure
For a single thought beyond it.
Drunk! Forgetful! This the bond: it
Means to give one's soul to gain
Life's quintessence. Even pain
Pricks to livelier living, then
Wakes the nerves to laugh again,
Rapture's self is three parts sorrow.
Although we must die to-morrow,
Losing every thought but this;
Torn, triumphant, drowned in bliss.
Happiness: We rarely feel it.
I would buy it, beg it, steal it,
Pay in coins of dripping blood
For this one transcendent good.
Is, to others, mere stagnation.
Days of passive somnolence,
At its wildest, indolence.
Hours of empty quietness,
No delight, and no distress.
Happiness to me is wine,
Effervescent, superfine.
Full of tang and fiery pleasure,
Far too hot to leave me leisure
For a single thought beyond it.
Drunk! Forgetful! This the bond: it
Means to give one's soul to gain
Life's quintessence. Even pain
Pricks to livelier living, then
Wakes the nerves to laugh again,
Rapture's self is three parts sorrow.
Although we must die to-morrow,
Losing every thought but this;
Torn, triumphant, drowned in bliss.
Happiness: We rarely feel it.
I would buy it, beg it, steal it,
Pay in coins of dripping blood
For this one transcendent good.
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- 4.The Cyclists
- 7.Astigmatism
- 9.Storm-Racked
- 10.Convalescence
- 11.Patience
- 12.Apology
- 13.A Petition
- 14.A Blockhead
- 15.Stupidity
- 16.Irony
- 17.Happiness
- 20.The Foreigner
- 21.Absence
- 22.A Gift
- 23.The Bungler
- 25.Miscast I
- 26.Miscast II
- 27.Anticipation
- 28.Vintage
- 30.Obligation
- 31.The Taxi
- 33.The Temple
- 40.The Basket
- 41.In a Castle
- 43.The Exeter Road
- 44.The Shadow
- 45.The Forsaken
- 46.Late September
- 47.The Pike
- 48.The Blue Scarf
- 49.White and Green
- 50.Aubade
- 51.Music
- 52.A Lady
- 53.In a Garden
- 54.A Tulip Garden
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