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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

SONG (4) by LETITIA ELIZABETH LANDON

Poet Analysis

First Line: WHERE DO PURPLE BUBBLES SWIM
Last Line: AS THUS, WITH BOW'D DOWN HEAD, SHE SUNG.
WHERE do purple bubbles swim
But upon the goblet's brim?
Drink not deep, howe'er it glow,
Sparkles never lie below.
Beautiful the light that flows
From the rich leaves of the rose;
Keep it, -- then ask, where hath fled
Summer's gift of morning red?
Earth's fair are her fleeting things;
Heaven, too, lends her angel's wings.
What can charms to pleasure give,
Such as being fugitive?
Thus with love: oh! never try
Further than a blush or sigh;
Blush gone with the clouds that share it,
Sigh pass'd with the winds that bear it.

BUT met she then young VIDAL'S eye,
His half sad, half reproachful sigh:
His ISABELLE! and could she be
Votaress of inconstancy?
As if repentant of her words,
Blushing she bent her o'er the chords;
With fainter tones the harp then rung,
As thus, with bow'd down head, she sung.



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