Two Songs By Sitara Of Kashmir
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) Beloved! your hair was golden As tender tints of sunrise, As corn beside the River In softly varying hues. I loved you for your slightness, Your melancholy sweetness, Your changeful eyes, that promised What your lips would still refuse. You […]
To The Unattainable
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) Oh, that my blood were water, thou athirst, And thou and I in some far Desert land, How would I shed it gladly, if but first It touched thy lips, before it reached the sand. Once,–Ah, the Gods were good […]
To The Unattainable Lament Of Mahomed Akram
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) I would have taken Golden Stars from the sky for your necklace, I would have shaken rose-leaves for your rest from all the rose-trees. But you had no need; the short sweet grass sufficed for your slumber, And you took […]
To The Hills
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) ‘T is eight miles out and eight miles in, Just at the break of morn. ‘T is ice without and flame within, To gain a kiss at dawn! Far, where the Lilac Hills arise Soft from the misty plain, A […]
To M C N
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) Thou hast no wealth, nor any pride of power, Thy life is offered on affection’s altar. Small sacrifices claim thee, hour by hour, Yet on the tedious path thou dost not falter. To the unknowing, well thy days might seem […]
To Aziz Song Of Mahomed Akram
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) Your beauty puts a barb into my soul, Strive as I will it never lets me go. My love has passed the frontiers of control, You are so fair and I desire you so. Others may come and go, they […]
Till I Wake
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) When I am dying, lean over me tenderly, softly, Stoop, as the yellow roses droop in the wind from the South. So I may, when I wake, if there be an Awakening, Keep, what lulled me to sleep, the touch […]
Three Songs Of Zahir U Din
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) The tropic day’s redundant charms Cool twilight soothes away, The sun slips down behind the palms And leaves the landscape grey. I want to take you in my arms And kiss your lips away! I wake with sunshine in my […]
Thoughts Mahomed Akram
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) If some day this body of mine were burned (It found no favour alas! with you) And the ashes scattered abroad, unurned, Would Love die also, would Thought die too? But who can answer, or who can trust, No dreams […]
Though In My Firmament Thou Wilt Not Shine
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) Talk not, my Lord, of unrequited love, Since love requites itself most royally. Do we not live but by the sun above, And takes he any heed of thee or me? Though in my firmament thou wilt not shine, Thy […]
This Month The Almonds Bloom At Kandahar
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) I hate this City, seated on the Plain, The clang and clamour of the hot Bazar, Knowing, amid the pauses of my pain, This month the Almonds bloom in Kandahar. The Almond-trees, that sheltered my Delight, Screening my happiness as […]
There Is No Breeze To Cool The Heat Of Love
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) The listless Palm-trees catch the breeze above The pile-built huts that edge the salt Lagoon, There is no Breeze to cool the heat of love, No wind from land or sea, at night or noon. Perfumed and robed I wait, […]
The Window Overlooking The Harbour
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) Sad is the Evening: all the level sand Lies left and lonely, while the restless sea, Tired of the green caresses of the land, Withdraws into its own infinity. But still more sad this white and chilly Dawn Filling the […]
The Tom Toms
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) Dost thou hear the tom-toms throbbing, Like a lonely lover sobbing For the beauty that is robbing him of all his life’s delight? Plaintive sounds, restrained, enthralling, Seeking through the twilight falling Something lost beyond recalling, in the darkness of […]
The Temple Dancing Girl
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) You will be mine; those lightly dancing feet, Falling as softly on the careless street As the wind-loosened petals of a flower, Will bring you here, at the Appointed Hour. And all the Temple’s little links and laws Will not […]
The Teak Forest
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) Whether I loved you who shall say? Whether I drifted down your way In the endless River of Chance and Change, And you woke the strange Unknown longings that have no names, But burn us all in their hidden flames, […]
The Singer
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) The singer only sang the Joy of Life, For all too well, alas! the singer knew How hard the daily toil, how keen the strife, How salt the falling tear; the joys how few. He who thinks hard soon finds […]
The River Of Pearls At Fez Translation
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) One evening we sat together By the river of Pearls at Fez, Stringing verses and sometimes singing. My gaze followed the beautiful boy Who, with a swift and delicate movement, Flung the wine-cup over his shoulder ; The ruby drops […]
The Rice Was Under Water
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) The Rice was under water, and the land was scourged with rain, The nights were desolation, and the day was born in pain. Ah, the famine and the fever and the cruel, swollen streams, I had died, except for Krishna, […]
The Rice Boat
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) I slept upon the Rice-boat That, reef protected, lay At anchor, where the palm-trees Infringe upon the bay. The windless air was heavy With cinnamon and rose, The midnight calm seemed waiting, Too fateful for repose. One joined me on […]
The Regret Of The Ranee In The Hall Of Peacocks
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) This man has taken my Husband’s life And laid my Brethren low, No sister indeed, were I, no wife, To pardon and let him go. Yet why does he look so young and slim As he weak and wounded lies? […]
The Rao Of Ilore
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) I was sold to the Rao of Ilore, Slender and tall was he. When his litter carried him down the street I peeped through the thatch to see. Ah, the eyes of the Rao of Ilore, My lover that was […]
The Plains
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) How one loves them These wide horizons; whether Desert or Sea,– Vague and vast and infinite; faintly clear– Surely, hid in the far away, unknown “There,” Lie the things so longed for and found not, found not, Here. Only where […]
The Net Of Memory
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) I cast the Net of Memory, Man’s torment and delight, Over the level Sands of Youth That lay serenely bright, Their tranquil gold at times submerged In the Spring Tides of Love’s Delight. The Net brought up, in silver gleams, […]
The Masters
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) Oh, Masters, you who rule the world, Will you not wait with me awhile, When swords are sheathed and sails are furled, And all the fields with harvest smile? I would not waste your time for long, I ask you […]
The Lute Player Of Casa Blanca
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) No others sing as you have sung Oh, Well Beloved of me! So glad you are, so lithe and young, As joyous as the sea, That dances in the golden rain The falling sunbeams fling, – Ah, stoop and kiss […]
The Lament Of Yasmini The Dancing Girl
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) Ah, what hast thou done with that Lover of mine? The Lover who only cared for thee? Mine for a handful of nights, and thine For the Nights that Are and the Days to Be, The scent of the Champa […]
The Jungle Flower
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) Ah, the cool silence of the shaded hours, The scent and colour of the jungle flowers! Thou art one of the jungle flowers, strange and fierce and fair, Palest amber, perfect lines, and scented with champa flower. Lie back and […]
The Hut
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) Dear little Hut by the rice-fields circled, That cocoa-nuts shade above. I hear the voices of children singing, And that means love. When shall the traveller’s march be over, When shall his wandering cease? This little homestead is bare and […]
The Hospital On The Shore
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) The youthful swimmers come up on the beach, Naked and fresh from the kiss of the sea, I hear the sound of their light-hearted speech As it is with them, it was once with me ! Oh, Death, grant me […]
The Garden Of Kama Kama The Indian Eros
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) The daylight is dying, The Flying fox flying, Amber and amethyst burn in the sky. See, the sun throws a late, Lingering, roseate Kiss to the landscape to bid it good-bye. The time of our Trysting! Oh, come, unresisting, Lovely, […]
The Garden By The Bridge
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) The Desert sands are heated, parched and dreary, The tigers rend alive their quivering prey In the near Jungle; here the kites rise, weary, Too gorged with living food to fly away. All night the hungry jackals howl together Over […]
The First Wife
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) Ah, my lord, are the tidings true, That thy mother’s jewels are shapen anew? I hear that a bride has chosen been, The stars consulted, the parents seen. Had I been childless, had never there smiled The brilliant eyes from […]
The First Lover
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) As o’er the vessel’s side she leant, She saw the swimmer in the sea With eager eyes on her intent, “Come down, come down and swim with me.” So weary was she of her lot, Tired of the ship’s monotony, […]
The Dying Prince
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) There are no days for me any more, for the dawn is dark with tears, There is no rest for me any more, for the night is thick with fears. There are no flowers nor any fruit, for the sorrowful […]
The Convert
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) The sun was hot on the tamarind trees, Their shadows shrivelled and shrank. No coolness came on the off-shore breeze That rattled the scrub on the bank. She stretched her appealing arms to me, Uplifting the Flagon of Love to […]
The Cactus
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) The scarlet flower, with never a sister leaf, Stemless, springs from the edge of the Cactus-thorn: Thus from the ragged wounds of desperate grief A beautiful Thought, perfect and pure, is born. Poetry Monster – Home […]
The Cactus Thicket
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) “The Atlas summits were veiled in purple gloom, But a golden moon above rose clear and free. The cactus thicket was ruddy with scarlet bloom Where, through the silent shadow, he came to me.” “All my sixteen summers were but […]
The Bride
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) Beat on the Tom-toms, and scatter the flowers, Jasmin, Hibiscus, vermillion and white, This is the day, and the Hour of Hours, Bring forth the Bride for her Lover’s delight. Maidens no more, as a maiden shall claim her, Near, […]
The Aloe
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) My life was like an Aloe flower, beneath an orient sky, Your sunshine touched it for an hour; it blossomed but to die. Torn up, cast out, on rubbish heaps where red flames work their will Each atom of the […]