Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, ALONE, by RENE FRANCOIS ARMAND PRUDHOMME


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

ALONE, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: True happiness laughs on secure
Last Line: A cup whence all the world may drink.
Alternate Author Name(s): Sully-prudhomme


TRUE happiness laughs on secure
Like rippling stream, nor witness seeks;
Who of his sweetheart's love is sure
Ne'er to the crowd his triumph speaks.

O sound well-known of footsteps light,
Fond kiss from lips that shame the rose,
Sighs that no eloquence can write,
Words that are neither verse nor prose.

What song, what music can express
The charms that in your voice conspire?
Ah! Love is such full happiness!
It has no time to touch the lyre.

But he who is beloved of none,
Who has no loving lips to kiss,
Must clasp his lifeless harp alone,
Which thrills with sorrow such as his.

By fame he would his soul prevent
Of its drear solitude to think.
Thus does his craving heart present
A cup whence all the world may drink.





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net