A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904)
Had I been young I could have claimed to fold thee
For many days against my eager breast;
But, as things are, how can I hope to hold thee
Once thou hast wakened from this fleeting rest?
Clear shone the moonlight, so that thou couldst find me,
Yet not so clear that thou couldst see my face,
Where in the shadow of the palms behind me
I waited for thy steps, for thy embrace.
What reck I now my morning life was lonely?
For widowed feet the ways are always rough.
Though thou hast come to me at sunset only,
Still thou hast come, my Lord, it is enough.
Ah, mine no more the glow of dawning beauty,
The fragrance and the dainty gloss of youth,
Worn by long years of solitude and duty,
I have no bloom to offer thee in truth.
Yet, since these eyes of mine have never wandered,
Still may they gleam with long forgotten light.
Since in no wanton way my youth was squandered,
Some sense of youth still clings to me to-night.
_Thy_ lips are fresh as dew on budding roses,
The gold of dawn still lingers in thy hair,
While the abandonment of sleep discloses
How every attitude of youth is fair.
Thou art so pale, I hardly dare caress thee,
Too brown my fingers show against the white.
Ahi, the glory, that I should possess thee,
Ahi, the grief, but for a single night!
The tulip tree has pallid golden flowers
That grow more rosy as their petals fade;
Such is the splendour of my evening hours
Whose time of youth was wasted in the shade.
I shall not wait to see to-morrow’s morning,
Too bright the golden dawn for me,–too bright,–
How could I bear thine eyes’ unconscious scorning
Of what so pleased thee in the dimmer light?
It may be wine had brought some brief illusion,
Filling thy brain with rainbow fantasy,
Or youth, with moonlight, making sweet collusion,
Threw an alluring glamour over me
Therefore I leave thee softly, to awaken
When the first sun rays warm thy blue-veined breast,
Smiling and all unknowing I have taken
The poppied drink that brings me endless rest.
Thus would I have thee rise; thy fancy laden
With the vague sweetness of the bygone night,
Thinking of me as some consenting maiden,
Whose beauty blossomed first for thy delight.
While I, if any kindly visions hover
Around the silence of my last repose,
Shall dream of thee, my pale and radiant lover,
Who made my life so lovely at its close!
A few random poems:
- Don’t Ask Me Why poem – Alexander Pushkin
- Paradise Lost: Book 10 poem – John Milton poems
- Upon An Eunuch; A Poet. Fragment poem – Andrew Marvell poems
- Presentiment poem – Ambrose Bierce poems | Poems and Poetry
- Love Compared To A Game Of Tables by William Strode
- Илья Эренбург – О Москве
- On The Wedding Of The Aeronaut poem – Ambrose Bierce poems | Poems and Poetry
- The Wish poem – Alexander Pushkin
- Ruth A-Ridèn by William Barnes
- The Emigrant by Ndue Ukaj
- Sonnet 18 poem – John Milton poems
- Олег Бундур – Уборка
- Sunshine through a Cobwebbed Window poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- Memory
- Upon The Sight Of A Beautiful Picture Painted By Sir G. H. Beaumont, Bart by William Wordsworth
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
- Olney Hymn 26: On Opening A Place For Social Prayer by William Cowper
- Olney Hymn 24: Prayer For Children by William Cowper
- Olney Hymn 23: Pleading For And With Youth by William Cowper
- Olney Hymn 22: Prayer For A Blessing In The Young by William Cowper
- Lines Addressed To Dr. Darwin, Author Of The ‘Botanic Garden.’ by William Cowper
- Joy In Martyrdom by William Cowper
- Invitation To The Redbreast by William Cowper
- Inscription For The Tomb Of Mr. Hamilton by William Cowper
- Inscription For A Stone Erected At The Sowing Of A Grove Of Oaks At Chillington, Anno 1791 by William Cowper
- Inscription For A Stone Erected At The Sowing Of A Grove Of Oaks At Chillington, Anno 1790 by William Cowper
- Inscription For A Moss-House In The Shrubbery At Weston by William Cowper
- Inscription For A Hermitage In The Author’s Garden by William Cowper
- In Seditionem Horrendam, Corruptelis Gallicus Ut Fertue, Londini Nuper Exortam by William Cowper
- In Memory Of The Late John Thornton, Esq. by William Cowper
- In A Letter To C. P. Esq. In Imitation Of Shakspeare by William Cowper
- In A Letter To C. P. Esq. Ill With The Rheumatism by William Cowper
- Hymn For The Use Of The Sunday School At Olney by William Cowper
- Hope, Like The Short-lived Ray That Gleams Awhile by William Cowper
- Gratitude And Love To God by William Cowper
- Gratitude, Addressed To Lady Hesketh by William Cowper
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.