Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, SUMMER NIGHT; VARIATIONS ON CERTAIN MELODIES: 3. APPASSIONATO, by BAYARD TAYLOR


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

SUMMER NIGHT; VARIATIONS ON CERTAIN MELODIES: 3. APPASSIONATO, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Was it a distant flute
Last Line: Filled with thy mystery!
Alternate Author Name(s): Taylor, James Bayard
Subject(s): Dreams; Flutes; Longing; Nightmares


Was it a distant flute
That breathed, and now is mute
Who that lost soul men call the nightingale,
In bosky coverts hidden,
Filling with sudden passion all the vale?
Oh, chant again the tale,
And call on her whose name returns, unbidden,
A longing and a dream,
Adelaida!
For while the sprinkled stars
Sparkle, and wink, and gleam,
Adelaida!
Darkness and perfume cleave the unknown bars
Between the enamored heart and thee,
And thou and I are free,
Adelaida!
Less than a name, a melody, art thou,
A hope, a haunting vow!
The passion-cloven
Spirit of thy Beethoven
Claimed with less ardor than I claim thee now,
Adelaida!
Take form, at last: from these o'erbending branches
Descend, or from the grass arise
I scarce shall see thine eyes,
Or know what blush the shadow stanches;
But all my being's empty urn shall be
Filled with thy mystery!





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