Three from Feldman & Robinson

Poems from A Century of Sonnets: The Romantic-Era Revival.

To the Moon

Queen of the silver bow!—by thy pale beam,
   Alone and pensive, I delight to stray,
And watch thy shadow trembling in the stream,
   Or mark the floating clouds that cross thy way.
And while I gaze, thy mild and placid light
   Sheds a soft calm upon my troubled breast;
And oft I think—fair planet of the night,
   That in thy orb the wretched may have rest:
The sufferers of the earth perhaps may go,
   Released by death—to thy benignant sphere;
And the sad children of Despair and Woe
   Forget, in thee, their cup of sorrow here.
Oh! that I soon may reach thy world serene,
Poor wearied pilgrim—in this toiling scene!

Charlotte Smith (1749-1806)

To the Moon

The glitt'ring colors of the day are fled;
Come, melancholy orb! that dwell'st with night,
Come! and o'er earth thy wandering luster shed,
Thy deepest shadow, and thy softest light;
To me congenial is the gloomy grove,
When with faint light the sloping uplands shine;
That gloom, those pensive rays alike I love,
Whose sadness seems in sympathy with mine!
But most for this, pale orb! thy beams are dear,
For this, benignant orb! I hail thee most:
That while I pour the unavailing tear,
And mourn that hope to me in youth is lost,
Thy light can visionary thoughts impart,
And lead the Muse to soothe a suffering heart.

Helen Maria Williams (1761?-1827)

To the Moon

Thou lovely sorceress of the witching night,
   Whose paly charms through sombre regions glide;
Lured by the softness of thy silver light,
   The Muse pathetic glows with conscious pride.

On the gemmed margin of the lustrous flood,
   Whose ripling waters glide so sweetly by;
Oft have I listening to its murmurs stood,
   Traced thy pure ray, and winged a lonely sigh!

For Thou, chaste Cynthia, o'er my gentle soul,
   Shed'st the mild beam of contemplation's sway;
Thy fascinating spell with proud control
   Sweeps the full cadence of my trembling lay:
Then gleam, bright orb, from midnights velvet vest,
And dart thy pearly lustre o'er my pensive breast.

Anna Maria Jones (1748-1829)

A Century of Sonnets (1999), ed. Paula R. Feldman & Daniel Robinson, ## 13, 42, 69, pp. 31, 43, 54f.

P.S. See also "Penned While Looking for Mars": A haiku.

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Sun. 09/14/03 06:45:46 PM
Categorized as Literary & Sunday Poetry Series.