#MIDDLEBURY
The Dream
Lola Ridge
I have a dream
to fill the golden sheath
of a remembered day . . .
(Air
heavy and massed and blue
as the vapor of opium . . .
domes
fired in sulphurous mist . . .
sea
quiescent as a gray seal . . .
and the emerging sun
spurting up gold
over Sydney, smoke-pale, rising out of the bay . . . )
But the day is an up-turned cup
and its sun a junk of red iron
guttering in sluggish-green water
where shall I pour my dream?
About this poem
“The Dream” was published in “Sun-Up and Other Poems” (Huebsch, 1920).
About Lola Ridge
Lola Ridge was born on Dec. 12, 1873, in Dublin. Her collections of poetry include “The Ghetto and Other Poems” (Huebsch, 1918) and “Firehead” (Payson & Clarke, 1929). She died on May 19, 1941.
The Academy of American Poets is a nonprofit, mission-driven organization, whose aim is to make poetry available to a wider audience. Email The Academy at poem-a-day@poets.org.
This poem is in the public domain. Originally published in Poem-a-Day, www.poets.org. Distributed by King Features Syndicate.
