I HAVE been lonely the whole day long; Come and find me to-night with a song; Sing to me now, when the wind is low, And my heart shall answer as on we go; Listen and answer, and none shall know. Over the brooding, wonderful sea The song that is sung alone for me Floats, and none other its strain can hear, Or catch the music, subtle and dear, Of the delicate singing that seeks my ear. The West is red with the sunset's glow; In the East the moon is hanging low; And fast and far the light winds flee, As I sail, with your songs for company, 'Twixt the silent sky and the silent sea. Do these birds of song need a sheltering nest? See! I will hide them warm in my breast; There shall they fold their venturous wing, And all the night through nestle and sing Songs of love and of sorrowing. Then, when the morning is young and gay, Up from their shelter and far away! And, like carrier doves, they shall bear as they flee The echoes of all they have sung to me Alone with the night and the wind and the sea; -- The echoes of passion's divine despair, The bliss and the bane of a lover's prayer, All the delicate singing that none might hear; And the answer my heart shall send, my dear, On the breath of the morning fine and clear. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...DISCORDANTS: 1 by CONRAD AIKEN HOHENLINDEN by THOMAS CAMPBELL THIRD BOOK OF AIRS: SONG 18. THE CHARM by THOMAS CAMPION THE KNIGHT'S TOMB by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE IN HARDWOOD GROVES by ROBERT FROST PREPARATORY MEDITATIONS, 1ST SERIES: 32 by EDWARD TAYLOR FALSE FRIEND by GHALIB IBN RIBAH AL-HAJJAM |