SPEAK low! -- speak low -- the banshee is crying; Hark! hark to the echo! -- she's dying! 'she's dying!' What shadow flits dark'ning the face of the water? 'Tis the swan of the lake -- 'Tis the Geraldine's Daughter. Hush, hush! have you heard what the banshee said? Oh! list to the echo! she's dead! 'she's dead!' No shadow now dims the face of the water; Gone, gone is the wraith of the Geraldine's Daughter. The step of yon train is heavy and slow, There's wringing of hands, there's breathing of woe; What melody rolls over mountain and water? 'Tis the funeral chant for the Geraldine's Daughter. The requiem sounds like the plaintive moan Which the wind makes over the sepulchre's stone; 'Oh, why did she die? our heart's blood had bought her! Oh, why did she die, the Geraldine's Daughter?' The thistle-beard floats -- the wild roses wave With the blast that sweeps over the newly-made grave; The stars dimly twinkle, and hoarse falls the water, While night-birds are wailing the Geraldine's Daughter. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...PROMISE by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON TO EMILIE BIGELOW HAPGOOD - PHILANTHROPIST by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON TO MAY HOWARD JACKSON - SCULPTOR by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON DOWN BY THE CARIB SEA: 3. TEESTAY by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON BALLROOM DARK by CLARENCE MAJOR CHARLOTTE CORDAY (REVOLUTIONARY TRIBUNAL, JULY 17, 1793) by EDGAR LEE MASTERS |