My lute, be as thou wert when thou didst grow
With thy green mother in some shady grove,
When immelodious winds but made thee move,
And birds their ramage did on thee bestow.
Since that dear Voice which did thy sounds approve,
Which wont in such harmonious strains to flow,
Is reft from Earth to tune those spheres above,
What art thou but a harbinger of woe?
Thy pleasing notes be pleasing notes no more,
But orphans’ wailings to the fainting ear;
Each stroke a sigh, each sound draws forth a tear;
For which be silent as in woods before:
Or if that any hand to touch thee deign,
Like widowed turtle, still her loss complain.
(William Drummond)
More Poetry from William Drummond:
- Summons To Love (William Drummond Poem)
- To The Nightingale (William Drummond Poem)
- A Lament (William Drummond Poem)
- Doth Then The World Go Thus? (William Drummond Poem)
- This Life Which Seems So Fair (William Drummond Poem)