To ARNOLD DOLMETSCH
A melancholy desire of ancient things
Floats like a faded perfume out of the wires;
Pallid lovers, what unforgotten desires,
Whispered once, are retold in your whisperings?
Roses, roses, and lilies with hearts of gold,
These you plucked for her, these she wore in her breast;
Only Rameau’s music remembers the rest,
The death of roses over a heart grown cold.
But these sighs? Can ghosts then sigh from the tomb?
Life then wept for you, sighed for you, chilled your breath?
It is the melancholy of ancient death
The harpsichord dreams of, sighing in the room.
(Arthur Symons)
More Poetry from Arthur Symons:
Arthur Symons Poems based on Topics: Death & Dying, Life, Gold- A Brother Of The Battuti (Arthur Symons Poems)
- Alle Zattere (Arthur Symons Poems)
- A Litany of Lethe (Arthur Symons Poems)
- Airs for the Lute (Arthur Symons Poems)
- At the Stage Door (Arthur Symons Poems)
- At the Foresters (Arthur Symons Poems)
Readers Who Like This Poem Also Like:
Based on Topics: Life Poems, Death & Dying Poems, Gold PoemsBased on Keywords: whisperings, arnold, retold, harpsichord, rameau
- Tennants Anster Fair (Joseph Rodman Drake Poems)
- A Poem On The African Slave Trade. Addressed To Her Own Sex. Part II (Mary Birkett Card Poems)
- The Battle Of The Lake Regillus (Thomas Babbington Macaulay Poems)
- Paradise Regain'd : Book I. (John Milton Poems)
- Paradise Regain'd : Book II. (John Milton Poems)