Summer matures. Brilliant Scorpion Appears. The Pelican's thick pouch Hangs heavily with perch and slugs. The brilliant-bellied newt flashes Its crimson crest in the white water. In the lush meadow, by the river, The yellow-freckled toad laughs With a toothless gurgle at the white-necked stork Standing asleep on one red reedy leg. And here Pan dreams of slim stalks clean for piping, And of a nightingale gone mad with freedom. Come. I shall weave a bed of reeds And willow limbs and pale nightflowers. I shall strip the roses of their petals, And the white down from the swan's neck. Come. Night is here. The air is drunk With wild grape and sweet clover. And by the sacred fount of Aganippe Euterpe sings of love. Ah, the woodland creatures, The doves in pairs, the wild sow and her shoats, The stag searching the forest for a mate, Know more of love than you, my callous Phaon. The young moon is a curved white scimitar Pierced thru the swooning night. Sweet Phaon. With Sappho sleep like the stars at dawn. This night was born for love, my Phaon. Come. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...YOU SAY YOU SAID by MARIANNE MOORE LAMENT FOR CULLODEN by ROBERT BURNS THE SAILOR TO HIS PARROT by WILLIAM HENRY DAVIES STANZAS ON THE DEATH OF A FRIEND by REGINALD HEBER A LETTER FROM A GIRL TO HER OWN OLD AGE by ALICE MEYNELL A MORTIFYING MISTAKE by ANNA MARIA PRATT THE SOUL'S DEFIANCE by LAVINIA STONE STODDARD |