Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE NAME WRIT IN WATER (PLAZA DI SPAGNA, ROME), by ROBERT UNDERWOOD JOHNSON


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE NAME WRIT IN WATER (PLAZA DI SPAGNA, ROME), by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Yonder's the window my poet would sit in
Last Line: Listen! My waters will whisper his name.
Subject(s): Rome, Italy; Travel; Journeys; Trips


The Spirit of the Fountain speaks:

YONDER 's the window my poet would sit in
While my song murmured of happier days;
Mine is the water his name has been writ in,
Sure and immortal my share in his praise.

Gone are the pilgrims whose green wreaths here hung for him, --
Gone from their fellows like bubbles from foam;
Long shall outlive them the songs have been sung for him;
Mine is eternal -- or Rome were not Rome.

Far on the mountain my fountain was fed for him,
Bringing soft sounds that his nature loved best:
Sighing of pines that had fain made a bed for him;
Seafaring rills, on their musical quest;

Bells of the fairies at eve, that I rang for him;
Nightingale's glee, he so well understood;
Chant of the dryads at dawn, that I sang for him;
Swish of the snake at the edge of the wood.

Little he knew 'twixt his dreaming and sleeping,
The while his sick fancy despaired of his fame,
What glory I held in my loverly keeping:
Listen! my waters will whisper his name.





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