THE oak-wood murmurs, The sky clouds o'er, The maiden paces The grassy shore; The billows are breaking with might, with might, And she sighs aloud in the gloomy night; Her eyes all heavy with sadness: "The heart is broken, The world is void, With empty pleasures My soul is cloyed; Thou Holy One, summon thy child above; I have lived my life, I have loved my love, And revelled in earthly gladness." "The tears that thou weepest All vainly are shed, No power hath thy plaining To waken the dead; But tell me, what comforts and gladdens the heart When the joys of sweet Love must for ever depart; I, the Holy One, bend to thy crying." "Let the tears I am weeping All vainly be shed, Let my plaining be powerless To waken the dead: The sweetest delight for the sorrowful heart When the joys of bright Love must for ever depart, Is Love's own weeping and sighing." | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...HIGH PLAINS RAG by JAMES GALVIN AN UNINSCRIBED MONUMENT - BATTLE OF THE WILDERNESS by HERMAN MELVILLE THE GOOD SHEPHERD WITH THE KID by MATTHEW ARNOLD NEW ENGLAND'S GROWTH by WILLIAM BRADFORD TO PERCY BUCK by ROBERT SEYMOUR BRIDGES |