The Sylph Of Summer Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: ABCDEFGHIJKGLMNKOGPQ HRDHGJSTUVWXYGZA2B2C 2PD2E2AF2G2F2HH2I2J2 K2DL2OKJM2DDDGTN2O2D KP2Q2DDC2R2S2DDGT2U2 V2G2DW2DDHX2Y2DZ2A3J B2DB3C3DODHDDD3DG2E3 GG2F3G3BSDDH3G2I3HDD J3K3DC3J3BDGL3GGG2H3 M3DGC3AN3DO3J3DG2H3D P3Q3GDHG2R3G2DDN3L3G 2HS3GGS3C3T3DS3DC3U3 S3S3JGDV3W3G2S3DS3DD S3

God said Let there be light and there was lightA
At once the glorious sun at his commandB
From space illimitable void and darkC
Sprang jubilant and angel hierarchiesD
Whose long hosannahs pealed from orb to orbE
Sang Glory be to Thee God of all worldsF
Then beautiful the ball of this terreneG
Rolled in the beam of first created dayH
And all its elements obeyed the voiceI
Of Him the great Creator Air and FireJ
And Earth and Water each its ministryK
Performed whilst Chaos from his ebon throneG
Leaped up and so magnificent and deckedL
And mantled in its ambient atmosphereM
The living world began its stateN
To theeK
Spirit of Air I lift the venturous songO
Whose viewless presence fills the living sceneG
Whose element ten thousand thousand wingsP
Fan joyous o'er whose fields the morning cloudsQ
Ride high whose rule the lightning shafts obeyH
And the deep thunder's long careering marchR
The Winds too are thy subjects from the breezeD
That like a child upon a holidayH
On the high mountain's van pursues the downG
Of the gray thistle ere the autumnal showerJ
Steals soft and mars his pastime to the KingS
Of Hurricanes that sounds his mighty shellT
And bids Tornado sweep the Western worldU
Sylph of the Summer Gale on thee I callV
Oh come when now gay June is in her carW
Wafting the breath of roses as she movesX
Come to this garden bower which I have hungY
With tendrils and the fragrant eglantineG
And mandrake rich with many mantling starsZ
'Tis pleasant when thy breath is on the leavesA2
Without to rest in this embowering shadeB2
And mark the green fly circling to and froC2
O'er the still water with his dragon wingsP
Shooting from bank to bank now in quick turnsD2
Then swift athwart as is the gazer's glanceE2
Pursuing still his mate they with delightA
As if they moved in morris to the soundF2
Harmonious of this ever dripping rillG2
Now in advance now in retreat now roundF2
Dart through their mazy rings and seem to sayH
The Summer and the Sun are oursH2
But thouI2
Sylph of the Summer Gale delay a whileJ2
Thy airy flight whilst here Francesca leansK2
And charmed by Ossian's harp seems in the breezeD
To hear Malvina's plaint thou to her earL2
Come unperceived like music of the songO
From Cona's vale of streams then with the beeK
That sounds his horn busied from flower to flowerJ
Speed o'er the yellow meadows breathing ripeM2
Their summer incense or amid the furzeD
That paints with bloom intense the upland croftsD
With momentary essence tinge thy wingsD
Or in the grassy lanes one after oneG
Lift light the nodding foxglove's purple bellT
Thence to the distant sea and where the flagN2
Hangs idly down without a wavy curlO2
Thou hoverest o'er the topmast or dost raiseD
The full and flowing mainsail SteadilyK
The helmsman cries as now thy breath is heardP2
Among the stirring cordage o'er his headQ2
So steadily he cries as right he steersD
Speeds our proud ship along the world of wavesD
Sylph may thy favouring breath more gently blowC2
More gently round the temples and the cheekR2
Of him who leaving home and friends behindS2
In silence musing o'er the ocean leansD
And watches every passing shade that marksD
The southern Channel's fast retiring lineG
Then as the ship rolls on keeps a long lookT2
Fixed on the lessening Lizard the last pointU2
Of that delightful country where he leftV2
All his fond hopes behind it lessens stillG2
Still still it lessens and now disappearsD
He turns and only sees the waves that rockW2
Boundless How many anxious morns shall riseD
How many moons shall light the farthest seasD
O'er what new scenes and regions shall he strayH
A weary man still thinking of his homeX2
Ere he again that shore shall view and greetY2
With blissful thronging hopes and starting tearsD
Of heartfelt welcome and of warmest loveZ2
Perhaps ah never So didst thou go forthA3
My poor lost brotherJ
The airs of morning as enticing playedB2
And gently round thee and their whisperingsD
Might sooth if aught could sooth a boding heartB3
For thou wert bound to visit scenes of deathC3
Where the sick gale alas unlike the breezeD
That bore the gently swelling sail alongO
Was tainted with the breath of pestilenceD
That smote the silent camp and night and dayH
Sat mocking on the putrid carcasesD
Thou too didst perish As the south west blowsD
Thy bones perhaps now whiten on the coastD3
Of old Algarva I meantime these shadesD
Of village solitude hoping erewhileG2
To welcome thee from many a toil restoredE3
Still deck and now thy empty urn aloneG
I meet where swaying in the summer galeG2
The willow whispers in my evening walkF3
Sylph in thy airy robe I see thee floatG3
A rainbow o'er thy head and in thy handB
The magic instrument that as thy wingS
Lucid and painted like the butterfly'sD
Waves to and from most musically ringsD
Sometimes in joyance as the flaunting leafH3
Of the white poplar sometimes sad and slowG2
As bearing pensive airs from Pity's graveI3
Soft child of air thou tendest on his swayH
As gentle Ariel at the bidding hiesD
Of mighty Prospero yet other windsD
Throng to his wizard 'hest inspiring someJ3
Some melancholy and yet soothing muchK3
The drooping wanderer in the fading copseD
Some terrible with solitude and deathC3
Attendant on their march the wild SimoomJ3
Riding on whirling spires of burning sandB
That move along the Nubian wildernessD
And bury deep the silent caravanG
Monsoon up starting from his half year sleepL3
Upon the vernal shores of HindostanG
And tempesting with sounds of torrent rainG
And hail the darkening main and red SameelG2
Blasting and withering like a rivelled leafH3
The pilgrim as he roams Sirocco sadM3
That pants all summer on the cloudless shoresD
Of faint Parthenope deep in the mineG
Oft lurks the lurid messenger of deathC3
The ghastly fiend that blows when the pale lightA
Quivers and leaves the gasping wretch to dieN3
The imp that when the hollow curfew knollsD
Wanders the misty marish lighting itO3
At night with errant and fantastic flameJ3
Spirit of air these are thy ministersD
That wait thy will but thou art all in allG2
And dead without thee were the flower the leafH3
The waving forest rivelled the great seaD
Still the lithe birds of heaven extinct and ceasedP3
The soul of melting musicQ3
This fair sceneG
Lives in thy tender touch for so it seemsD
Whilst universal nature owns thy swayH
From the mute insect on the summer poolG2
That with long cobweb legs firm as on earthR3
The ostrich skims flits idly to and froG2
Making no dimple on the watery massD
To the huge grampus spouting as he rollsD
A cataract amid the cold clear skyN3
And furrowing far and wide the northern deepL3
Thy presence permeates and fills the wholeG2
As the poor butterfly that painted gayH
With mealy wings red amber white or droppedS3
With golden stains floats o'er the yellow cornG
Idly as bent on pastime while the mornG
Smiles on his devious voyage if inclosedS3
In the exhausted prison whence thy breathC3
With suction slow is drawn he feels the changeT3
How dire in palsied inanition dropsD
Weak flags his weary wing and weaker yetS3
His frame with tremulous convulsion movesD
A moment and the next is still in deathC3
So were the great and glorious world itselfU3
The tenants of its continents all ceasedS3
A wide a motionless a putrid wasteS3
Its seas How droops the languid marinerJ
When not a breath along the sluggish mainG
Strays on the sultry surface as it sleepsD
When far away the winds are flown to dashV3
The congregated ocean on the CapeW3
Of Southern Africa leaving the whileG2
The flood's vast surface noiseless waveless whiteS3
Beneath Mozambique's long reflected woodsD
A gleaming mirror spread from east to westS3
Where the still ship as on a bed of glassD
Sits motionless Awake ye hurricanesD
Ye winds that harrow up the wintry wasteS3
Aw-

William Lisle Bowles



Rate:
(1)



Poem topics: , Print This Poem , Rhyme Scheme

Submit Spanish Translation
Submit German Translation
Submit French Translation


Write your comment about The Sylph Of Summer poem by William Lisle Bowles


 

Recent Interactions*

This poem was read 2 times,

This poem was added to the favorite list by 0 members,

This poem was voted by 0 members.

(* Interactions only in the last 7 days)

New Poems

Popular Poets