English Poetry. Oscar Wilde. Sonnet on Hearing the Dies Irae Sung in the Sistine Chapel. Оскар Уайльд.

Oscar Wilde (Оскар Уайльд)

Sonnet on Hearing the Dies Irae Sung in the Sistine Chapel

Nay, Lord, not thus! white lilies in the spring,
Sad olive-groves, or silver-breasted dove,
Teach me more clearly of Thy life and love
Than terrors of red flame and thundering.
The hillside vines dear memories of Thee bring:
A bird at evening flying to its nest
Tells me of One who had no place of rest:
I think it is of Thee the sparrows sing.
Come rather on some autumn afternoon,
When red and brown are burnished on the leaves,
And the fields echo to the gleaner's song,
Come when the splendid fulness of the moon
Looks down upon the rows of golden sheaves,
And reap Thy harvest: we have waited long. 

Oscar Wilde’s other poems:

1. Queen Henrietta Maria
2. Sonnet Written in Holy Week at Genoa
3. On the Massacre of the Christians in Bulgaria
4. Le Jardin Des Tuileries
5. Double Villanelle

1375

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