Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE OPERA OF CAMILLA, by GEORGE MEREDITH Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: If this is death, it is not hard to bear Last Line: To serve god's aim: else die we with the sun. Subject(s): Death; Love; Opera; Dead, The | ||||||||
IF this is death, it is not hard to bear. Your handkerchief drinks up my blood so fast It seems to love it. Threads of my own hair Are woven in it. 'Tis the one I cast That midnight from my window, when you stood Alone, and heaven seemed to love you so! I did not think to wet it with my blood When next I tossed it to my love below. CAMILLO (cherishing her) Camilla, pity! say you will not die. Your voice is like a soul lost in the sky. CAMILLA I know not if my soul has flown; I know My body is a weight I cannot raise: My voice between them issues, and I go Upon a journey of uncounted days. Forgetfulness is like a closing sea; But you are very bright above me still. My life I give as it was given to me: I enter on a darkness wide and chill. CAMILLO O noble heart! a million fires consume The hateful hand that sends you to your doom. CAMILLA There is an end to joy: there is no end To striving; therefore ever let us strive In purity that shall the toil befriend, And keep our poor mortality alive. I hang upon the boundaries like light Along the hills when downward goes the day; I feel the silent creeping up of night. For you, my husband, lies a flaming way. CAMILLO I lose your eyes: I lose your voice: 'tis faint. Ah, Christ! see the fallen eyelids of a saint. CAMILLA Our life is but a little holding, lent To do a mighty labour: we are one With heaven and the stars when it is spent To serve God's aim: else die we with the sun. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A FRIEND KILLED IN THE WAR by ANTHONY HECHT FOR JAMES MERRILL: AN ADIEU by ANTHONY HECHT TARANTULA: OR THE DANCE OF DEATH by ANTHONY HECHT CHAMPS D?ÇÖHONNEUR by ERNEST HEMINGWAY NOTE TO REALITY by TONY HOAGLAND DIRGE IN WOODS by GEORGE MEREDITH |
|