Classic and Contemporary Poetry
POLITICAL PORTRAITS: 1, by LETITIA ELIZABETH LANDON Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: O no, sweet lady, not to thee Last Line: And such, sweet lady, be thy fate! Alternate Author Name(s): L. E. L.; Maclean, Letitia | ||||||||
O NO, sweet lady, not to thee That set and chilling tone, By which the feelings on themselves So utterly are thrown: For mine has sprung upon my lips, Impatient to express The haunting charm of thy sweet voice And gentlest loveliness. A very fairy queen thou art, Whose only spells are on the heart. The garden it has many a flower, But only one for thee -- The early graced of Grecian song, The fragrant myrtle tree; For it doth speak of happy love, The delicate, the true. If its pearl buds are fair like thee, They seem as fragile too; Likeness, not omens, for Love's power Will watch his own most precious flower. Thou art not of that wilder race Upon the mountain side, Able alike the summer sun And winter blast to bide; But thou art of that gentler growth, Which asks some loving eye, To keep it in sweet guardianship, Or it must droop and die; Requiring equal love and care, Even more delicate than fair. I cannot paint to thee the charm Which thou hast wrought on me; Thy laugh, so like the wild bird's song In the first bloom-touch'd tree. You spoke of lovely Italy, And of its thousand flowers; Your lips had caught the music breath Amid its summer bowers. And can it be a form like thine Has braved the stormy Apennine? I'm standing now with one white rose Where silver waters glide: I've flung that white rose on the stream, -- How light it breasts the tide! The clear waves seem as if they love So beautiful a thing; And fondly to the scented leaves The laughing sunbeams cling. A summer voyage -- fairy freight; -- And such, sweet lady, be thy fate! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...FELICIA HEMANS by LETITIA ELIZABETH LANDON THE CASTLE OF CHILLON by LETITIA ELIZABETH LANDON THE FACTORY; 'TIS AN ACCURSED THING! by LETITIA ELIZABETH LANDON THE FEMALE CONVICT by LETITIA ELIZABETH LANDON THE MARRIAGE VOW by LETITIA ELIZABETH LANDON A CHILD SCREENING A DOVE FROM A HAWK, BY STEWARDSON by LETITIA ELIZABETH LANDON A COMPARISON by LETITIA ELIZABETH LANDON A GIRL AT HER DEVOTIONS, BY NEWTON by LETITIA ELIZABETH LANDON A HISTORY OF THE LYRE by LETITIA ELIZABETH LANDON A LADY'S BEAUTY by LETITIA ELIZABETH LANDON |
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