Poems; original and translated by Charles Rann Kennedy ... and Two Poems by the Rev. Rann Kennedy. New Edition. By Charles Rann Kennedy |
 |
WOMAN. |
 | Poems; original and translated |  |
13
WOMAN.
[I.]
Lovely Woman, honour to thee!
All our joys from thee begin:
Tis our sweetest task to woo thee,
Tis our dearest hope to win.
All our joys from thee begin:
Tis our sweetest task to woo thee,
Tis our dearest hope to win.
Man in Eden wander'd lonely;
All was bright in earth and sky;
All rejoiced; his bosom only
Heav'd with pain, he knew not why:
All was bright in earth and sky;
All rejoiced; his bosom only
Heav'd with pain, he knew not why:
Woman came; with new-born feeling
Thrill'd through all his frame was he,
As when waters uncongealing
Dance in light and liberty:
Thrill'd through all his frame was he,
As when waters uncongealing
Dance in light and liberty:
Warmer life his soul dilated,
All he had desired was there,
Gift of Heaven, for him created,
Love to wake, and bliss to share.
All he had desired was there,
Gift of Heaven, for him created,
Love to wake, and bliss to share.
II.
As the zephyr lightly roving
Sports with every flower that blows,
Tasting sweets, but none approving,
Till he finds the summer rose;
Sports with every flower that blows,
Tasting sweets, but none approving,
Till he finds the summer rose;
14
Then the happy moment seizes,
And the flower he loves the best
Courts with all his softest breezes,
Lingers on her balmy breast:
And the flower he loves the best
Courts with all his softest breezes,
Lingers on her balmy breast:
Man a thousand joys are luring,
But alone with rosy chain
In a bower of bliss enduring
Woman can his heart detain.
But alone with rosy chain
In a bower of bliss enduring
Woman can his heart detain.
III.
Man is like the owl benighted
In his dismal dream-like moods;
Thinks himself the clearest-sighted,
When o'er darkest thought he broods:
In his dismal dream-like moods;
Thinks himself the clearest-sighted,
When o'er darkest thought he broods:
As when clouds and darkness vanish
At the break of morning-tide,
Melancholy dreams to banish,
Cometh woman to his side;
At the break of morning-tide,
Melancholy dreams to banish,
Cometh woman to his side;
From his eyes the mist is shaken;
In the light of beauty free
He beholds himself awaken
To a blest reality.
In the light of beauty free
He beholds himself awaken
To a blest reality.
IV.
Man with stormy passion rages,
Dark and wild his spirits flow;
With his neighbour war he wages
Of his brother makes a foe:
Dark and wild his spirits flow;
With his neighbour war he wages
Of his brother makes a foe:
15
As when storms in fierce commotion
Rouse the billows of the deep,
Mermaids rising o'er the ocean
Sing the troubled waves to sleep;
Rouse the billows of the deep,
Mermaids rising o'er the ocean
Sing the troubled waves to sleep;
Thus let man his heart surrender
Unto woman's gentle sway,
She shall breathe a charm so tender,
All his rage shall melt away.
Unto woman's gentle sway,
She shall breathe a charm so tender,
All his rage shall melt away.
V.
Oft when man forlorn and dreary
On the bed of sickness pines,
When the wretch with anguish weary
To despair his heart resigns,
On the bed of sickness pines,
When the wretch with anguish weary
To despair his heart resigns,
Angel-bright approaching near him,
Woman sheds her rainbow smile,
Speaks the word of hope to cheer him
And the painful hour beguile.
Woman sheds her rainbow smile,
Speaks the word of hope to cheer him
And the painful hour beguile.
When the hand of death is o'er us,
Such the voice we hope to hear,
Such the light to shine before us
Streaming from a happier sphere.
Such the voice we hope to hear,
Such the light to shine before us
Streaming from a happier sphere.
Lovely Woman, honour to thee!
All our joys from thee begin:
Tis our sweetest task to woo thee,
Tis our dearest hope to win.
All our joys from thee begin:
Tis our sweetest task to woo thee,
Tis our dearest hope to win.
| Poems; original and translated | |