Measure Me, Sky

Photo courtesy of PublicDomainPictures.net

Measure Me, Sky

Measure me, sky!
  Tell me I reach by a song
Nearer the stars;
  I have been little so long.

Weigh me, high wind!
  What will your wild scales record?
Profit of pain,
  Joy by the weight of a word.

Horizon, reach out!
  Catch at my hands, stretch me taut,
Rim of the world:
  Widen my eyes by a thought.

Sky, be my depth,
  Wind, be my width and my height,
World, my heart's span;
  Loveliness, wings for my flight.

~ Leonora Speyer

I came across this poem in the book Favorite Poems Old and New (reviewed here), and it just made me smile.  Whenever I read it, I picture a child on the top of a hill, arms stretched out wide and face lifted to the sun.  I feel inspired and filled with hope. :)

(Just a note: When I looked this poem up online, I noticed that several sites show the last line as beginning with "Loneliness".  I double-checked the book, and it does say "Loveliness".  I don't know for sure which word Speyer actually wrote, but I do know that I'd rather have loveliness as wings for my flight than loneliness....)

(Psst... if you haven't read about the Big Blue Birthday Contest yet, please check out this post.)