The Collected Poems Quotes

“Sea and Desert

How do I merit such happiness? To have
The moon, the Pacific, and you beside me, waking
At three to sudden cold - dew, the stiff breeze
Along the headland; I have been watching you,
Your face lit in the full moon, restless, still,
As out beyond the strip of foam near the crags
Below, the moon lights up a calm yet shifting
Track on the ocean. Your face with its
Clean lines and tousled hair is beautiful
And it is hard to believe that even in
This stark and lovely place it is the cause
Of so much of my peace. You sleep again,
And I know this unusual beauty, that you've
Neither aimed for nor deserved, will recur
Again and again for me with sea and moon,
An image changing with these changing things,
Distracting me from neither, enhancing both,
A gift you could not help but give, something
I too have neither aimed for nor deserve.”
― Vikram Seth, The Collected Poems

“Aubade

Wake up! The smudge of dawn
Low on the hills has shot
The bay with light. Don't miss
These minutes. This is not

Pure altruism, though.
I grant I want to see
Your face against the dawn.
Wake up, therefore, for me.”
― Vikram Seth, The Collected Poems