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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE ISLAND OF SHADOWS, by RICHARD GARNETT (1835-1906) Poet's Biography First Line: Yes, cara mine, I know that I shall stand Last Line: With our quick rudder white. | |||
YES, Cara mine, I know that I shall stand Upon the seashore soon, And watch the waves that die upon the strand, And the immortal moon. One mew will hover 'mid the drowsy damp That clogs the breezes there, One star suspend her solitary lamp, High in the viewless air. My straining eyes will mark a distant oar, Grazing the supple sea, And a light pinnace speeding to the shore, And in it thou wilt be. The empty veins with life no more are warm, The eyes no longer shine, The pale star gazes through the pallid form, What matter? thou art mine. The Love which, while it walk'd the earth, could meet No place to lay its head, Now reigns unchallenged in the winding-sheet, Nor fears its kindred dead. For Love dwells with the dead, though more sedate, Chasten'd, and mild it seems; While Avarice, Envy, Jealousy, and Hate, With them are only dreams. I step into the boat, our steady prore Furrows the still moonlight; The sea is merry with our plashing oar, With our quick rudder white. No word has pass'd thy lips, but yet I know Well where our course will be; We leave the worn-out world -- is it not so? -- The uncorrupted sea To cross, and gain some isle in whose sweet shade Even Slavery is free; And careless Care on smoothest rose-leaves laid Becomes Tranquillity. Far, far the haunts where, rob'd in gory weeds, Grim War his court doth hold, And mumbling Superstition counts his beads, And Avarice his gold. But Love and Death, the comrades and the twins, Uninterrupted reign; Where is it that one ends and one begins? And are they one or twain? And all is like thy soul, pensive and fair, Veil'd in a shadowy dress, And strewn with gems more rich were they more rare, And steep'd in balminess. No drossy shape of earthliness appears On the phantastic coast, No grosser sound strikes the attuned ears Than footfall of a ghost. Seclusion, quiet, silence, slumber, dreams, No murmur of a breath; The same still image on the same still streams, Of Love caressing Death. So let us hasten, Love! Our steady prore Furrows the still moonlight; The sea is merry with our plashing oar, With our quick rudder white. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...GOOD FOR EVIL by RICHARD GARNETT (1835-1906) MUSIC by RICHARD GARNETT (1835-1906) ON AN URN by RICHARD GARNETT (1835-1906) THE BALLAD OF THE BOAT by RICHARD GARNETT (1835-1906) THE DIDACTIC POEM by RICHARD GARNETT (1835-1906) THE FAIR CIRCASSIAN by RICHARD GARNETT (1835-1906) THE LYRICAL POEM by RICHARD GARNETT (1835-1906) TO AMERICA AFTER READING SOME UNGENEROUS CRITICISMS by RICHARD GARNETT (1835-1906) PENT by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON JESUS - THE SWEETEST NAME by BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX THE CASTLE OF INDOLENCE: CANTO 1 by JAMES THOMSON (1700-1748) |
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