OH stay, Madonna! stay; 'T is not the dawn of day That marks the skies with yonder opal streak: The stars in silence shine; Then press thy lips to mine, And rest upon my neck thy fervid cheek. Oh sleep, Madonna! sleep; Leave me to watch and weep O'er the sad memory of departed joys, O'er hope's extinguished beam, O'er fancy's vanished dream, O'er all that nature gives and man destroys. Oh wake, Madonna! wake; Even now the purple lake Is dappled o'er with amber flakes of light; A glow is on the hill; And every trickling rill In golden threads leaps down from yonder height. Oh fly, Madonna! fly, Lest day and envy spy What only love and night may safely know: Fly, and tread softly, dear! Lest those who hate us hear The sounds of thy light footsteps as they go. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...PLAIN LANGUAGE FROM TRUTHFUL JAMES by FRANCIS BRET HARTE THE PERSIANS (PERSAE): THE BATTLE OF SALAMIS by AESCHYLUS TIGER LILIES by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH THE SIGHING TIME by EDMUND CHARLES BLUNDEN THE YELLOWHAMMER by EDMUND CHARLES BLUNDEN |