Over the fountains, over the pavements where A street girl saunters idly, trailing Her lacy skirts with a flirtatious air -- Plunged through the topaz clouds the moon is sailing, Like the moon's shadow, slipping through the dark And leafy boulevard, a warm-hearted ghost Smiles at the clinging lovers in the park And tries to speak; but then his words are lost. The earth exiles him, and the stretching sea Denies to him the winds from her billows rising; But sharper pain: an old tryst's memory, Musky with moments of love's improvising; And sharpest loss: the touch of a silken breast That drugged his torment, lulled his heart to rest. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SONNET: 9 by JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL THE SALZBURG CHIMES by HENRY ALFORD MIRTH by EDITH COURTENAY BABBITT SAD MADRIGAL, SELECTION by CHARLES BAUDELAIRE PSALM 64 by OLD TESTAMENT BIBLE WRITTEN FOR AN ALBUM by JOHN GARDINER CALKINS BRAINARD THE POET'S VOW by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING THE WANDERER: 3. IN ENGLAND: BABYLONIA by EDWARD ROBERT BULWER-LYTTON |