The Question Of Your Heart Poem by Seamus O' Brian
The Question Of Your Heart
There you stand, my dear, with the question
of your heart still fresh upon your lips, and I know
you fear my answer, but, hush, first─
Let me touch you with my eyes, a touch
softer than the whisper of a lonely sparrow,
let me trace the pools of your eyes
with finger tips moistened by a dream of
loneliness and the memory of laughter,
and as I trace softly the edge of your
desire, if I feel the shudder of surrender
I will swaddle you in the shadows of my
dreams and carry you across
the foam-flecked valleys of the deep
green sea to the stone-wreathed vales
Of Donnegal. Ah, there, my love,
I will hide you in the land of flint-grey stone
and deep green field where the cairns of rock
older than the whispered memory of time
watched in grim silence as this granite heart
once learned the stumbling steps of love.
And high above in the cold, free air
of this wild and broken land, the stony pyres
will peer down again through the mist-rimmed heights
where we will walk the edge of the black-pooled nights
and you will teach my lips to speak the names
of everything you love,
and you will trace my fingers across
every scar that life has given you
so that the kiss of my fingers
can drown every memory of pain
in the deepest waters of pleasure
born from a sea of love.
Hush, my dearest, for upon my lips
is the answer to every question I am.
You keep the readers spellbound! ! Thanks for sharing such magical poems! !
I am ever so pleased to provide a few moments of magic for such an esteemed and admired colleague. Be blessed my dear Bharati!
I love the title, I love the way it appears suddenly in lines 1-2, I love the way it becomes a recurring image of tenderness, and I love the breathless state I was in as gorgeous imagery poured over me but the question of the heart was not answered. And the scene moved on in time with a Yeatsian andante rhythm with the question dragging behind. I got so caught up in this imagery pouring into me, I did not see any answer to the question but that's OK because as Yeats put in an early poem about a breakup, Our lives are love, and a continuous farewell.
My good Daniel, your astute insight is as unerring as ever in identifying the intentional non-disclosure of the particular question, instead allowing it to stand for any and every question that shadows our hearts when we stand in the presence of new love. We are faced with the decision of proceeding with our intellect or with our hearts, and the two paths diverge to distinct realities. (and, as always, you provide the perfect literary nexus to open additional layers of contemplation) Thank you for your consistently brilliant perspectives (and also for the tip on Pessoa, I have spent an absolutely lovely afternoon at the Museu da Cerveja's cafe overlooking the beautiful Praca do Comercio and the sea, filling up on Fernando Pessoa and espresso. It has been a bit chilly, but the sun was wondrously warm and the coffee steaming hot.) Thanks again!
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
Delivering Poems Around The World
Poems are the property of their respective owners. All information has been reproduced here for educational and informational purposes to benefit site visitors, and is provided at no charge...
6/16/2024 9:47:24 AM # 1.0.0.1119
Seamus this one draws you in the captures your imagination wonderfully, at your last Hush, my dearest, I felt my head tilt sidewards as if to rest it upon an invisable shoulder. Great write....Enjoy your Christmas season. Annette
My dear Annette, it is my privilege for you to step into this vision I had of the questions that confront our hearts when love appears mysteriously in our lives. To suggest that sometimes (but, not always) the heart can be trusted more than the mind. That the subject in my vision is offering his heart as surety for any questions his love might have, hoping more than anything that her reaction will be just as your impulse was, to rest her head upon his shoulder and find her answers upon his lips. :) S