The Poetical Works of George Barlow In Ten [Eleven] Volumes |
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 | The Poetical Works of George Barlow |  |
152
SONNET IV
IN VENICE
What sound is this that soundeth through the night,
Like falling drops upon the marble floor,
In Venice?—“Doth some tender goddess pour
Dew from her finger-tips,—or sheds she bright
Rose-leaves in showers upon the marble white,—
Or is it but the plash of passing oar?”
The sleeping husband wondered. Evermore
The drops fell tinkling: many and soft and light.
He woke, and stretched out hand, and it was wet
When he withdrew it. Then upright he sprang!
Half-naked, white and stabbed, with hair like jet,
His true wife lay. A woman's footstep rang
Far-off.—Oh, horror! Stabbed in her young bloom?
Yes. And the worst thing was, he guessed by whom.
| The Poetical Works of George Barlow | |