Peace flows into me
As the tide to the pool by the shore;
It is mine forevermore,
It ebbs not back like the sea.
I am the pool of blue
That worships the vivid sky;
My hopes were heaven-high,
They are all fulfilled in you.
I am the pool of gold
When sunset burns and dies,—
You are my deepening skies,
Give me your stars to hold.
Poem by Sara Teasdale
Meaning of the Poem ‘Peace’ by Sara Teasdale
Sara Teasdale’s ‘Peace’ is a serene and radiant love poem that explores the transformative stillness love can bring, using the imagery of a tidal pool to express emotional fulfilment and spiritual harmony. The speaker likens herself to a pool by the shore, once subject to the ebb and flow of longing, but now filled permanently by love, no longer at the mercy of shifting tides.
Each stanza reflects a stage of peaceful devotion. In the first, “Peace flows into me” like a tide that never recedes, symbolising love’s permanence. In the second, she becomes a “pool of blue” worshipping the “vivid sky”: a metaphor for how her once-distant hopes have now found their home in the beloved. In the final stanza, the speaker is “the pool of gold” glowing with the light of sunset, a deep and fulfilled love that asks for only one thing more: to hold the beloved’s “stars” – their dreams, their soul, their essence.
Ultimately, ‘Peace’ is a celebration of love that brings stillness, not passion’s storm. It captures the sacred quiet that arrives when longing is met, and when the self becomes a vessel for beauty, trust, and eternal connection.
