Go, little book''"the ancient phrase And still the daintiest''"go your ways, My Otto, over sea and land, Till you shall come to Nelly's hand. How shall I your Nelly know? By her blue eyes and her black brow, By her fierce and slender look, And by her goodness, little book! What shall I say when I come there? You shall speak her soft and fair: See''"you shall say''"the love they send To greet their unforgotten friend! Giant Adulpho yon shall sing The next, and then the cradled king And the four corners of the roof Then kindly bless; and to your perch aloof, Where Balzac all in yellow dressed And the dear Webster of the west Encircle the prepotent throne Of Shakespeare and of Calderon, Shall climb an upstart. There with these You shall give ear to breaking seas And windmills turning in the breeze, A distant undetermined din Without; and you shall hear within The blazing and the bickering logs, The crowing child, the yawning dogs, And ever agile, high and low, Our Nelly going to and fro. There shall you all silent sit, Till, when perchance the lamp is lit And the day's labour done, she takes Poor Otto down, and, warming for our sakes, Perchance beholds, alive and near, Our distant faces reappear. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...JILTED by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR EPICOENE; OR, THE SILENT WOMAN: FREEDOM IN DRESS by BEN JONSON FREQUENTLY by FRANKLIN PIERCE ADAMS THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH TITA'S TEARS; A FANTASY by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH EYES AND LIPS by AUGUSTE ANGELLIER TO A SPIRIT (2) by EDMUND CHARLES BLUNDEN IN VINCULIS; SONNETS WRITTEN IN AN IRISH PRISON: LIBERTY, EQUALITY ... by WILFRID SCAWEN BLUNT |