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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

SOTTO VOCE by HAROLD MARTIN BOWMAN

First Line: SING WE OF THE SUMMER
Last Line: THOU, MY MANDOLIN.
Subject(s): MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS;
SING we of the summer,
Of the old, old days,
Of the reed songs and the murmur
Of the waterways.
Let thy song be merry, ever mine be sad;
Let thy sigh be airy, even ofttimes glad;
For then comes a sadness I cannot explain,
Like the deep-plunged echo of a sea's refrain;
And it dooms the sweetness
Of her winsome ways
To the dead completeness
Of the old, old days.

Sing, Oh! then with joyance,
Thou, my mandolin;
Drown each dread annoyance
Deep, thy soul within;
Whisper ever lowly of her glad, true eyes;
Sing her name, love, slowly, thou can'st sympathize;
Teach my heart, my wilful heart, the faith of peace,
Promising her constancy with time's increase.
Bar, Oh! break the sadness
Of the doubter's sin;
Sing eternal gladness,
Thou, my mandolin.



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