Classic and Contemporary Poetry
SONG OF A SPIRIT, by ANN RADCLIFFE Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: In the sightless air I dwell Last Line: To die along the gales of eve. Alternate Author Name(s): Ward, Ann Subject(s): Nymphs | ||||||||
In the sightless air I dwell, On the sloping sunbeams play; Delve the cavern's inmost cell, Where never yet did daylight stray. I dive beneath the green sea-waves, And gambol in the briny deeps; Skim every shore that Neptune laves, From Lapland's plains to India's steeps. Oft I mount with rapid force, Above the wide earth's shadowy zone; Follow the day-star's flaming course, Through realms of space to thought unknown; And listen to celestial sounds That swell in air, unheard of men, As I watch my nightly rounds O'er woody steep and silent glen. Under the shade of waving trees, On the green bank of fountain clear, At pensive eve I sit at ease, While dying music murmurs near. And oft, on point of airy clift That hangs upon the western main, I watch the gay tints passing swift, And twilight veil the liquid plain. Then, when the breeze has sunk away, And Ocean scarce is heard to lave, For me the sea-nymphs softly play Their dulcet shells beneath the wave. Their dulcet shells! -- I hear them now; Slow swells the strain upon mine ear; Now faintly falls -- now warbles low, Till rapture melts into a tear. The ray that silvers o'er the dew, And trembles through the leafy shade, And tints the scene with softer hue, Calls me to rove the lonely glade; Or hie me to some ruin'd tower, Faintly shown by moonlight gleam, When the lone wanderer owns my power, In shadows dire that substance seem; In thrilling sounds that murmur woe, And pausing silence make more dread; In music breathing from below Sad, solemn strains, that wake the dead. Unseen I move -- unknown am fear'd; Fancy's wildest dreams I weave; And oft by bards my voice is heard To die along the gales of eve. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...TO THE WATER NYMPHS DRINKING AT THE FOUNTAIN by ROBERT HERRICK THE NYMPH COMPLAINING FOR THE DEATH OF HER FAUN [OR, FAWN] by ANDREW MARVELL OVERHEARD ON A SALTMARSH by HAROLD MONRO HYMN TO CONTENT by ANNA LETITIA BARBAULD SIR RUPERT THE FEARLESS; A LEGEND OF GERMANY by RICHARD HARRIS BARHAM WOOD WITCHERY by RICHARD EUGENE BURTON THE NYMPH ASLEEP by ANDRE MARIE CHENIER A SECOND VIEW OF THE SEVEN MOUNTAINS by ANN RADCLIFFE ON A FIRST VIEW OF THE GROUP CALLED THE SEVEN MOUNTAINS by ANN RADCLIFFE |
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