I.
That was I, you heard last night,
When there rose no moon at all,
Nor, to pierce the strained and tight
Tent of heaven, a planet small:
Life was dead and so was light.
II.
Not a twinkle from the fly,
Not a glimmer from the worm;
When the crickets stopped their cry,
When the owls forbore a term,
You heard music; that was I.
III.
Earth turned in her sleep with pain,
Sultrily suspired for proof:
In at heaven and out again,
Lightning!---where it broke the roof,
Bloodlike, some few drops of rain.
IV.
What they could my words expressed,
O my love, my all, my one!
Singing helped the verses best,
And when singing's best was done,
To my lute I left the rest.
V.
So wore night; the East was gray,
White the broad-faced hemlock-flowers:
There would be another day;
Ere its first of heavy hours
Found me, I had passed away.
VI.
What became of all the hopes,
Words and song and lute as well?
Say, this struck you---``When life gropes
``Feebly for the path where fell
``Light last on the evening slopes,
VII.
``One friend in that path shall be,
``To secure my step from wrong;
``One to count night day for me,
``Patient through the watches long,
``Serving most with none to see.''
VIII.
Never say---as something bodes---
``So, the worst has yet a worse!
``When life halts 'neath double loads,
``Better the taskmaster's curse
``Than such music on the roads!
IX.
``When no moon succeeds the sun,
``Nor can pierce the midnight's tent
``Any star, the smallest one,
``While some drops, where lightning rent,
``Show the final storm begun---
X.
``When the fire-fly hides its spot,
``When the garden-voices fail
``In the darkness thick and hot,---
``Shall another voice avail,
``That shape be where these are not?
XI.
``Has some plague a longer lease,
``Proffering its help uncouth?
``Can't one even die in peace?
``As one shuts one's eyes on youth,
``Is that face the last one sees?''
XII.
Oh how dark your villa was,
Windows fast and obdurate!
How the garden grudged me grass
Where I stood---the iron gate
Ground its teeth to let me pass!
Very deep rooted thought...an imaginative fullness.. ...really serenade at villa....villa of mind and nature
A deserted Villa nicely depicted by Poet Robert Browning reveals his wonderful skill to weave a perfect verse to read and follow indeed!
'When the crickets stopped their cry, When the owls forbore a term, You heard music; that was I' - So wonderful, sounds like music to my ears! 'Life was dead and so was light' - Such a sublime expression!
Great poem with some exceptional stanzas. When the fire-fly hides its spot, ``When the garden-voices fail ``In the darkness thick and hot, - - ``Shall another voice avail, ``That shape be where these are not?
A beautifully conceived life song rich in rhythm, rhyme and meaning too. Enjoyed the melodious song.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
wow stanza five was sad and unexpected..nicely written :)
Yes thats true So wore night; the East was gray, White the broad-faced hemlock-flowers: There would be another day; Ere its first of heavy hours Found me, I had passed away.