I watch you, gazing at me from the wall,
And wonder how you’d match your dreams with mine,
If, mastering time’s illusion, I could call
You back to share this quiet candle-shine.
For you were young, three hundred years ago;
And by your looks I guess that you were wise…
Come, whisper soft, and Death will never know
You’ve slipped away from those calm, painted eyes.
Strange is your voice… Poor ninny, dead so long,
And all your pride forgotten like your name.
‘One April morn I heard a blackbird’s song.
And joy was in my heart like leaves aflame.’
And so you died before your songs took wing;
While Andrew Marvell followed in your wake.
‘Love thrilled me into music. I could sing
But for a moment, – but for beauty’s sake.’
Who passes? There’s a star-lit breeze that stirs
The glimmer of white lilies in the gloom.
Who speaks? Death has his silent messengers.
And there was more than silence in this room
While you were gazing at me from the wall
And wondering how you’d match your dreams with mine,
If, mastering time’s illusion, you could call
Me back to share your vanished candle-shine.
—————
The End
And that’s the End of the Poem
© Poetry Monster, 2021.
Poetry Monster — the ultimate repository of world poetry.
Poetry Monster — the multilingual library of poetic works. Here you’ll find original poems, poetry translations, ancient verses, ballads and even folk tales.
Poetry Monster (or even The Poetry Monster) — is also an international multilingual community of poets and poetry connoisseurs. Join us:
Some external links: The Bat’s Poetry Cave. — Fledermaus’s poetry site. Talking Writing Monster. — the irreverent and irrelevant chatter on subjects both serious and not quite. A free for all board. You can scribble anything on it without registration (but it doesn’t let spammers in). You can even post your poems. Qwant.com. — a search engine from France. It’s an alternative because there are a few alternatives, like Bing, Duckduckgo, and Ecosia. And there is Yandex, the ultimate language-oriented search engine for the Russophone world. Commercial Links: Russian Commerce – the foreign trade assistance agency Other links: Poems and poetry in Russian (if you are reading this in English, as you obviously are, then you’d have to switch the language, the language switch is on the menu. More on languages)
