Classic and Contemporary Poetry
ILLUSTRATION OF A PICTURE; A SPANISH GIRL IN REVERIE, by OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: She twirled the string of golden beads Last Line: I saw her wipe a tear. | ||||||||
SHE twirled the string of golden beads, That round her neck was hung, -- My grandsire's gift; the good old man Loved girls when he was young; And, bending lightly o'er the cord, And turning half away, With something like a youthful sigh, Thus spoke the maiden gray: -- "Well, one may trail her silken robe, And bind her locks with pearls, And one may wreathe the woodland rose Among her floating curls; And one may tread the dewy grass, And one the marble floor, Nor half-hid bosom heave the less, Nor broidered corset more! "Some years ago, a dark-eyed girl Was sitting in the shade, -- There's something brings her to my mind In that young dreaming maid, -- And in her hand she held a flower, A flower, whose speaking hue Said, in the language of the heart, 'Believe the giver true.' "And, as she looked upon its leaves, The maiden made a vow To wear it when the bridal wreath Was woven for her brow; She watched the flower, as, day by day, The leaflets curled and died; But he who gave it never came To claim her for his bride. "Oh, many a summer's morning glow Has lent the rose its ray, And many a winter's drifting snow Has swept its bloom away; But she has kept that faithless pledge To this, her winter hour, And keeps it still, herself alone, And wasted like the flower." Her pale lip quivered, and the light Gleamed in her moistening eyes; -- I asked her how she liked the tints In those Castilian skies? "She thought them misty, -- 't was perhaps Because she stood too near;" She turned away, and as she turned I saw her wipe a tear. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A SEA DIALOGUE by OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES A SUN-DAY HYMN [OR LAMENT] by OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES AFTER A LECTURE ON KEATS by OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES BILL AND JOE by OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES BIRTHDAY OF DANIEL WEBSTER by OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES BOSTON COMMON: 1630 by OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES BOSTON COMMON: 1774 by OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES BOSTON COMMON: 1869 by OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES BROTHER JONATHAN'S LAMENT FOR SISTER CAROLINE [DECEMBER 2O, 1860] by OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES CACOETHES SCRIBENDI by OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES |
|