Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


LISTENING TO MUSIC (RUBINSTEIN'S 'OCEAN SYMPHONY') by RICHARD WATSON GILDER

First Line: WHEN ON THAT JOYFUL SEA
Last Line: THINK BACK, DEAR LOVE; O LOVE, THINK BACK TO ME.
Subject(s): MUSIC & MUSICIANS; RUBINSTEIN, ANTON (1829-1894);

WHEN on that joyful sea
Where billow on billow breaks; where swift waves follow
Waves, and hollow calls to hollow;
Where sea-birds swirl and swing,
And winds through the rigging shrill and sing:
Where night is one vast starless shade;
Where thy soul not afraid,
Though all alone unlonely,
Wanders and wavers, wavers wandering;
On that accursÈd sea
One moment only,
Forget one moment, Love, thy fierce content;
Back, let thy soul be bent, --
Think back, dear Love; O Love, think back to me.




Home: PoetryExplorer.net