Classic and Contemporary Poetry
ODES TO NEA: 5. THE SNOW-SPIRIT, by THOMAS MOORE Poet's Biography First Line: No, ne'er did the wave in its element steep Last Line: But the snow-spirit cannot come here! Alternate Author Name(s): Little, Thomas Subject(s): Snow | ||||||||
No, ne'er did the wave in its element steep An island of lovelier charms; It blooms in the giant embrace of the deep, Like Hebe in Hercules' arms! The tint of your bowers is balm to the eye, Their melody balm to the ear; But the fiery planet of day is too nigh, And the Snow-Spirit never comes here! The down from his wing is as white as the pearl Thy lips for their cabinet stole, And it falls on the green earth as melting, my girl, As a murmur of thine on the soul! Oh! fly to the clime, where he pillows the death As he cradles the birth of the year; Bright are your bowers and balmy their breath, But the Snow-Spirit cannot come here! How sweet to behold him, when, borne on the gale, And brightening the bosom of morn, He flings, like the priest of Diana, a veil O'er the brow of each virginal thorn! Yet think not, the veil he so chillingly casts, Is the veil of a vestal severe; No, no, thou wilt see, what a moment it lasts, Should the Snow-Spirit ever come here! But fly to his region -- lay open thy zone, And he'll weep all his brilliancy dim, To think that a bosom, as white as his own, Should not melt in the daybeam like him! Oh! lovely the print of those delicate feet O'er his luminous path will appear -- Fly! my beloved! this island is sweet, But the Snow-Spirit cannot come here! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...BRIGHT SUN AFTER HEAVY SNOW by JANE KENYON SNOW FALLING THROUGH FOG by WILLIAM MATTHEWS THE SNOW FAIRY by CLAUDE MCKAY NOT ONLY ESKIMOS by LISEL MUELLER A CANADIAN BOAT SONG; WRITTEN ON THE RIVER ST. LAWRENCE by THOMAS MOORE |
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