The Pond by Robert Lowell

In the silent woods,
a pond rests under trees
like a child asleep;
the surface reflects
the quiet of the sky,
not disturbed by a single breeze.

Surrounded by green ferns,
the water gleams like glass,
it holds the world above
in perfect stillness,
as diaphanous as memory
in the troubled heart.

Here nature is complete,
a tranquil gem,
untouched by time’s decay,
it carries the wear of sighs,
forever in the green retreat
in the heart of the woods.

• Robert Lowell