Oh Amber Eyes, oh Golden Eyes!
Oh Eyes so softly gay!
Wherein swift fancies fall and rise,
Grow dark and fade away.
Eyes like a little limpid pool
That holds a sunset sky,
While on its surface, calm and cool,
Blue water lilies lie.
Oh Tender Eyes, oh Wistful Eyes,
You smiled on me one day,
And all my life, in glad surprise,
Leapt up and pleaded “Stay!”
Alas, oh cruel, starlike eyes,
So grave and yet so gay,
You went to lighten other skies,
Smiled once and passed away.
Oh, you whom I name “Golden Eyes,”
Perhaps I used to know
Your beauty under other skies
In lives lived long ago.
Perhaps I rowed with galley slaves,
Whose labour never ceased,
To bring across Phoenician waves
Your treasure from the East.
Maybe you were an Emperor then
And I a favourite slave;
Some youth, whom from the lions’ den
You vainly tried to save!
Maybe I reigned, a mighty King,
The early nations knew,
And you were some slight captive thing,
Some maiden whom I slew.
Perhaps, adrift on desert shores
Beside some shipwrecked prow,
I gladly gave my life for yours.
Would I might give it now!
Or on some sacrificial stone
Strange Gods we satisfied,
Perhaps you stooped and left a throne
To kiss me ere I died.
Perhaps, still further back than this,
In times ere men were men,
You granted me a moment’s bliss
In some dark desert den,
When, with your amber eyes alight
With iridescent flame,
And fierce desire for love’s delight,
Towards my lair you came
Ah laughing, ever-brilliant eyes,
These things men may not know,
But something in your radiance lies,
That, centuries ago,
Lit up my life in one wild blaze
Of infinite desire
To revel in your golden rays,
Or in your light expire.
If this, oh Strange Ringed Eyes, be true,
That through all changing lives
This longing love I have for you
Eternally survives,
May I not sometimes dare to dream
In some far time to be
Your softly golden eyes may gleam
Responsively on me?
Ah gentle, subtly changing eyes,
You smiled on me one day,
And all my life in glad surprise
Leaped up, imploring “Stay!”
Alas, alas, oh Golden Eyes,
So cruel and so gay,
You went to shine in other skies,
Smiled once and passed away.
A few random poems:
- The Angel Of The Church by William Gilmore Simms
- Danse Macabre by Sylvia Plath
- The River Has Its Memories by Mary Etta Metcalf
- Summa poem – Gerard Manley Hopkins poems
- Lament Two Brothers Slain Each Other039s Hand
- Epitaph for Mr. Walter Riddell by Robert Burns
- Ольга Берггольц – Я тайно и горько ревную
- Love’s Wisdom poem – Alfred Austin
- Владимир Маяковский – Небылицы в лицах
- The Lighted Window by Sara Teasdale
- The First Anniversary Of The Government Under O.C. poem – Andrew Marvell poems
- Memoriam
- An Interchanging Poetry Expression Of Love by Mac McGovern
- Владимир Маяковский – Декрет о натуральном налоге на хлеб, картофель и масличные семена
- The Wheel Routs by William Barnes
External links
Bat’s Poetry Page – more poetry by Fledermaus
Talking Writing Monster’s Page –
Batty Writing – the bat’s idle chatter, thoughts, ideas and observations, all original, all fresh
Poems in English
- To His Honour the Lieutenant-Governor by Phillis Wheatley
- To Captain H—–d, of the 65th Regiment by Phillis Wheatley
- To A Lady On The Death Of The Three Relations by Phillis Wheatley
- To A Lady On The Death Of Her Husband by Phillis Wheatley
- To a Lady on Her Remarkable Preservation by Phillis Wheatley
- To a Lady on Her Coming to North-America by Phillis Wheatley
- To a Lady and Her Children by Phillis Wheatley
- To a Gentleman on His Voyage to Great-Britain by Phillis Wheatley
- To a Gentleman and Lady on the Death of the Lady’s Brother and Sister by Phillis Wheatley
- To A Clergyman On The Death Of His Lady by Phillis Wheatley
- Thoughts On The Works Of Providence by Phillis Wheatley
- One Being Brought From Africa To America by Phillis Wheatley
- On Virtue by Phillis Wheatley
- On the Death of the Rev. Dr. Sewell by Phillis Wheatley
- On The Death Of Rev. Mr. George Whitefield by Phillis Wheatley
- On The Death Of J. C. An Infant by Phillis Wheatley
- On The Death Of Dr. Samuel Marshall by Phillis Wheatley
- On The Death Of A Young Lady Of Five Years Of Age by Phillis Wheatley
- On the Death of a Young Gentleman by Phillis Wheatley
- On Recollection by Phillis Wheatley
More external links (open in a new tab):
Doska or the Board – write anything
Search engines:
Yandex – the best search engine for searches in Russian (and the best overall image search engine, in any language, anywhere)
Qwant – the best search engine for searches in French, German as well as Romance and Germanic languages.
Ecosia – a search engine that supposedly… plants trees
Duckduckgo – the real alternative and a search engine that actually works. Without much censorship or partisan politics.
Yahoo– yes, it’s still around, amazingly, miraculously, incredibly, but now it seems to be powered by Bing.
Parallel Translations of Poetry
The Poetry Repository – an online library of poems, poetry, verse and poetic works
Violet Nicolson ( 1865 – 1904); otherwise known as Adela Florence Nicolson (née Cory), was an English poetess who wrote under the pseudonym of Laurence Hope, however she became known as Violet Nicolson. In the early 1900s, she became a best-selling author. She committed suicide and is buried in Madras, now Chennai, India.