HELEN. CHORUS HEL. Siren-spirits, hover near, Daughters of the earth appear. Winged and beautiful are ye, Swift in your virginity. Come, for music with you bringing, Fit response to my sad singing, Egypt's lotus-flute and reeds, Blending for the heart that bleeds Tear with tear and pain with pain In a desolate refrain; So perchance the Muse may hear, And to Queen Persephone In the courts of darkness drear, Sing my dirge again, and she May turn the bitter tears I shed To sweet music for the dead. CHO. I had washed my robes of red, And on fresh green rushes spread In the meadows by the cool Darkly gleaming waterpool For the golden sun to dry, When I hear a voice, a cry; Such a cry as ill would suit The happy music of my lute; And I wondered what might be The cause of that strange minstrelsy, So sad, and yet so wondrous clear, It might have been some Naiad flying, With a cry of sudden fear, Or in secret cavern lying Desolate, the ravished bride Of Pan upon the mountain-side. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...YOU ARE FIRE EATERS by MARIANNE MOORE CAPUT MORTUUM by EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON |