Classic and Contemporary Poetry
SARRAZINE'S SONG, FR. CHAITIVEL, by MARIE DE FRANCE Poet's Biography First Line: Hath any loved you well, down there Last Line: Faithless to me down there. Alternate Author Name(s): Shaftesbury, Marie, Abbess Of Subject(s): Love | ||||||||
Hath any loved you well, down there, Summer or winter through? Down there, have you found any fair Laid in the grave with you? Is death's long kiss a richer kiss Than mine was wont to be -- Or have you gone to some far bliss And quite forgotten me? What soft enamouring of sleep Hath you in some soft way? What charmed death holdeth you with deep Strange lure by night and day? -- A little space below the grass, Out of the sun and shade; But worlds away from me, alas, Down there where you are laid? My brightest waves and wasted gold, What is it now to thee Whether the rose-red life I hold Or white death holdeth me? Down there you love the grave's own green, And evermore you rave Of some sweet seraph you have seen Or dreamt of in the grave. There you shall lie as you have lain, Though in the world above, Another live your life again, Loving again your love: Is it not warm day rife With some long mystic golden calm Better that love and life? The broad quaint odorous leaves like hands Weaving the fair day through, Weave sleep no burnished bird withstands, While death weaves sleep for you; And many a strange rich breathing sound Ravishes morn and noon: And in that place you must have found Death a delicious swoon Hold me no longer for a word I used to say or sing: Ah, long ago you must have heard So many a sweeter thing: For rich earth must have reached your heart And turned the faith to flowers; And warm wind stolen, part by part, Your soul through faithless hours. And many a soft seed must have won Soil of some yielding thought, To bring a bloom up to the sun That else had ne'er been brought; And, doubtless, many a passionate hue Hath made that place more fair, Making some passionate part of you Faithless to me down there. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE INVENTION OF LOVE by MATTHEA HARVEY TWO VIEWS OF BUSON by ROBERT HASS A LOVE FOR FOUR VOICES: HOMAGE TO FRANZ JOSEPH HAYDN by ANTHONY HECHT AN OFFERING FOR PATRICIA by ANTHONY HECHT LATE AFTERNOON: THE ONSLAUGHT OF LOVE by ANTHONY HECHT A SWEETENING ALL AROUND ME AS IT FALLS by JANE HIRSHFIELD LAYS OF FRANCE: SONG (2) by MARIE DE FRANCE CHAITIVEL; OR, THE LAY OF LOVE'S UNFORTUNATE by MARIE DE FRANCE |
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