‘And ask ye why these sad tears stream?’
‘Te somnia nostra reducunt.’
OVID.
And ask ye why these sad tears stream?
Why these wan eyes are dim with weeping?
I had a dream-a lovely dream,
Of her that in the grave is sleeping.
I saw her as ’twas yesterday,
The bloom upon her cheek still glowing;
And round her play’d a golden ray,
And on her brows were gay flowers blowing.
With angel-hand she swept a lyre,
A garland red with roses bound it;
Its strings were wreath’d with lambent fire
And amaranth was woven round it.
I saw her mid the realms of light,
In everlasting radiance gleaming;
Co-equal with the seraphs bright,
Mid thousand thousand angels beaming.
I strove to reach her, when, behold,
Those fairy forms of bliss Elysian,
And all that rich scene wrapt in gold,
Faded in air-a lovely vision!
And I awoke, but oh! to me
That waking hour was doubly weary;
And yet I could not envy thee,
Although so blest, and I so dreary.
(Alfred Lord Tennyson)
More Poetry from Alfred Lord Tennyson:
Alfred Lord Tennyson Poems based on Topics: Light, Happiness, Dreams, Sleep, Gold, Sleeping, Imagination & Visualization- Oenone (Alfred Lord Tennyson Poems)
- Come Into the Garde, Maud (Alfred Lord Tennyson Poems)
- Claribel: A Melody (Alfred Lord Tennyson Poems)
- After-Thought (Alfred Lord Tennyson Poems)
- The Coming Of Arthur (Alfred Lord Tennyson Poems)
- Idylls of the King: The Passing of Arthur (excerpt) (Alfred Lord Tennyson Poems)
Readers Who Like This Poem Also Like:
Based on Topics: Light Poems, Dreams Poems, Sleep Poems, Happiness Poems, Gold Poems, Imagination & Visualization Poems, Sleeping PoemsBased on Keywords: ovid, amaranth, nostra, co-equal, dream-a, air-a, somnia, angel-hand, reducunt