IN the black and rocky caldron Rest the waters deep of ocean; Stars, all pale and melancholy, Peep from heaven. Night reigns, and silence. Night and silence. Oars are moving. Like a splashing wondrous secret Floats the bark. The old man's nieces Play the part of ferrymen, Joyously and nimbly rowing; Ofttimes glisten in the darkness Their stout naked arms, illumined By the stars, -- their great blue eyes, too. By my side Lascaro sitting Is as pale and mute as usual, And the fearful thought shoots through me; Is he but a very corpse then? I myself, -- am I dead also, And embarking on my journey With my ghostly comrades by me To the chilly realm of shadows? And this lake, can it be Styx's Gloomy flood? Has Proserpina, In default of Charon's presence, Sent her waiting-maids to fetch me? No! I am not yet departed And extinguish'd; in my spirit Is the living flame of life still Glowing, blazing and exulting. And these maidens, gaily pulling At their oars, and o'er me splashing With the water dripping from them, Full of merriment and laughter, -- These two fresh and sprightly damsels Are most certainly not ghostly Chambermaids in hell residing, Waiting-maids of Proserpina! That I might be fully certain Of their upper-worldliness, And by practical experience Ascertain my own existence, Hastily my lips applied I To their rosy cheeks' soft dimples, And then framed this syllogism: Yes, I kiss, and so I'm living! When we reach'd the shore, again I Kiss'd the pair of kindly maidens; In this coin, and no other, Would they take the passage-money. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...PLAINT OF THE DISGUSTED BRITON IN THE STATES by GEORGE SANTAYANA LILIES: 4. BLOSSOMS ABOVE A TOMB by GEORGE BARLOW (1847-1913) PSALME 137 by OLD TESTAMENT BIBLE A NEW PILGRIMAGE: 37 by WILFRID SCAWEN BLUNT A WORD TO THE 'ELECT' by ANNE BRONTE EPIGRAM ON THE COUNTESS OF SOMERSET'S PICTURE by WILLIAM BROWNE (1591-1643) WHERE'S AGNES? by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING VERSES FOUND IN A SUMMER HOUSE AT HALES-OWEN by GEORGE GORDON BYRON |