Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE SWAN AND THE SKYLARK, by FELICIA DOROTHEA HEMANS


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE SWAN AND THE SKYLARK, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Midst the long reeds that o'er a grecian stream
Last Line: "and the glad skylark's -- triumph and despair!"
Alternate Author Name(s): Browne, Felicia Dorothea
Subject(s): Birds; Larks; Swans; Skylarks


'MIDST the long reeds that o'er a Grecian stream
Unto the faint wind sighed melodiously,
And where the sculpture of a broken shrine
Sent out through shadowy grass and thick wild-flowers
Dim alabaster gleams -- a lonely swan
Warbled his death-chant; and a poet stood
Listening to that strange music, as it shook
The lilies on the wave; and made the pines
And all the laurels of the haunted shore
Thrill to its passion. Oh! the tones were sweet,
Even painfully -- as with the sweetness wrung
From parting love; and to the poet's thought
This was their language.

"Summer! I depart --
O light and laughing summer! fare thee well:
No song the less through thy rich woods will swell,
For one, one broken heart.

"And fare ye well, young flowers!
Ye will not mourn! ye will shed odour still,
And wave in glory, colouring every rill,
Known to my youth's fresh hours.

"And ye, bright founts! that lie
Far in the whispering forests, lone and deep,
My wing no more shall stir your shadowy sleep --
Sweet waters! I must die.

"Will ye not send one tone
Of sorrow through the pines? -- one murmur low?
Shall not the green leaves from your voices know
That I, your child, am gone?

"No! ever glad and free,
Ye have no sounds a tale of death to tell;
Waves, joyous waves! flow on, and fare ye well!
Ye will not mourn for me.

"But thou, sweet boon! too late
Poured on my parting breath, vain gift of song!
Why com'st thou thus, o'ermastering, rich and strong,
In the dark hour of fate?

"Only to wake the sighs
Of echo-voices from their sparry cell;
Only to say -- O sunshine and blue skies!
O life and love! farewell."

Thus flowed the death-chant on; while mournfully
Low winds and waves made answer, and the tones
Buried in rocks along the Grecian stream --
Rocks and dim caverns of old Prophecy --
Woke to respond: and all the air was filled
With that one sighing sound -- Farewell! Farewell!

Filled with that sound? High in the calm blue heaven
Even then a skylark hung; soft summer clouds
Were floating round him, all transpierced with light,
And 'midst that pearly radiance his dark wings
Quivered with song: such free, triumphant song,
As if tears were not, -- as if breaking hearts
Had not a place below; and thus that strain
Spoke to the poet's ear exultingly: --

"The summer is come; she hath said Rejoice!
The wild-woods thrill to her merry voice;
Her sweet breath is wandering around, on high:
Sing, sing through the echoing sky!
"There is joy in the mountains! The bright waves leap
Like the bounding stag when he breaks from sleep;
Mirthfully, wildly, they flash along --
Let the heavens ring with song!

"There is joy in the forests! The bird of night
Hath made the leaves tremble with deep delight;
But mine is the glory to sunshine given --
Sing, sing through the echoing heaven!

"Mine are the wings of the soaring morn,
Mine are the fresh gales with dayspring born:
Only young rapture can mount so high --
Sing, sing through the echoing sky!"

So those two voices met; so Joy and Death
Mingled their accents; and, amidst the rush
Of many thoughts, the listening poet cried, --
"Oh! thou art mighty, thou art wonderful,
Mysterious nature! Not in thy free range
Of woods and wilds alone, thou blendest thus
The dirge-note and the song of festival;
But in one heart, one changeful human heart --
Ay, and within one hour of that strange world --
Thou call'st their music forth, with all its tones,
To startle and to pierce! -- the dying swan's,
And the glad skylark's -- triumph and despair!"





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