Surface Rights

A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904)

Drifting, drifting down the River,

Tawny current and foam-flecked tide,

Sorrowful songs of lonely boatmen,

Mournful forests on either side.

Thine are the outcrops’ glittering blocks,

The quartz where the rich pyrites gleam,

The golden treasure of unhewn rocks

And the loose gold in the stream.

But,–the dim vast forests along the shore,

That whisper wonderful things o’ nights,–

These are things that I value more,

My beautiful “surface rights.”

Drifting, drifting down the River,–

Stars a-tremble about the sky–

Ah, my lover, my heart is breaking,

Breaking, breaking, I know not why.

Why is Love such a sorrowful thing?

This I never could understand;

Pain and passion are linked together,

Ever I find them hand in hand.

Loose thy hair in its soft profusion,

Let thy lashes caress thy cheek,–

These are the things that express thy spirit,

What is the need to explain or speak?

Drifting, drifting along the River,

Under the light of a wan low moon,

Steady, the paddles; Boatmen, steady,–

Why should we reach the sea so soon?

See where the low spit cuts the water,

What is that misty wavering light?

Only the pale datura flowers

Blossoming through the silent night.

What is the fragrance in thy tresses?

‘T is the scent of the champa’s breath;

The meaning of champa bloom is passion–

And of datura–death!

Sweet are thy ways and thy strange caresses,

That sear as flame, and exult as wine.

But I care only for that wild moment

When my soul arises and reaches thine.

Wistful voices of wild birds calling–

Far, faint lightning towards the West,–

Twinkling lights of a Tyah homestead,–

Ruddy glow on a girl’s bare breast–

Drifting boats on a mournful River,

Shifting thoughts in a dreaming mind,–

We two, seeking the Sea, together,–

When we reach it,–what shall we find?

Poetry Monster – Home

A few random poems:

External links

Bat’s Poetry Page – more poetry by Fledermaus

Talking Writing Monster’s Page –

Batty Writing – the bat’s idle chatter, thoughts, ideas and observations, all original, all fresh

Poems in English 

• Как жаль, что много лет назад by Поэзия На Русском
• Как живёшь ветеран милиции by Поэзия На Русском
• Какая мама молодец by Поэзия На Русском
• Как хочу я в День влюбленных by Поэзия На Русском
• Как хорошо, что рядом верная подруга by Поэзия На Русском
• Как хорошо иметь подругу by Поэзия На Русском
• Как тяжело, когда идет война by Поэзия На Русском
• Как в поход я собираюсь by Поэзия На Русском
• Как воздух, математика нужна by Поэзия На Русском
• Как сегодня тихо в классе by Поэзия На Русском
• Как Снегурочка дела by Поэзия На Русском
• Как тамада я выступаю в роли теоретика by Поэзия На Русском
• Как привить ребенку любовь к чтению: советы и рекомендации – Poetry Monster by Поэзия На Русском
• Как просто было в юности by Поэзия На Русском
• Как прекрасны все цветы by Поэзия На Русском
• Ирина Гурина – Как пчёлы чуть не поссорились by Поэзия На Русском
• Ирина Гурина – Как появляются листочки by Поэзия На Русском
• Как прекрасно твое имя by Поэзия На Русском
• Как не бывает утро без рассвета by Поэзия На Русском
• Как небо сходится с водой by Поэзия На Русском

More external links (open in a new tab):

Russian Commerce Agency

Dealing Monster

Doska or the Board – write anything

Search engines:

Yandex – the best search engine for searches in Russian (and the best overall image search engine, in any language, anywhere)

Qwant – the best search engine for searches in French, German as well as Romance and Germanic languages.

Ecosia – a search engine that supposedly… plants trees

Duckduckgo – the real alternative and a search engine that actually works. Without much censorship or partisan politics.

Yahoo– yes, it’s still around, amazingly, miraculously, incredibly, but now it seems to be powered by Bing.

 

Parallel Translations of Poetry

Poems by Author and Category

The Poetry Repository – an online library of poems, poetry, verse and poetic works