Ballade of the Voyage to Cythera
After Théodore De Banville
I know Cythera long is desolate;
I know the winds have stripp'd the gardens green.
Alas, my friends! beneath the fierce sun's weight
A barren reef lies where love's flowers have been,
Nor ever lover on that coast is seen!
So be it, but we seek a fabled shore,
To lull our vague desires with mystic lore,
To wander where love's labyrinths beguile;
There let us land, there dream for evermore:
‘It may be we shall touch the happy isle.’
The sea may be our sepulchre. If fate,
If tempests wreak their wrath on us, serene
We watch the bolt of heaven, and scorn the hate
Of angry gods that smite us in their spleen.
Perchance the jealous mists are but the screen
That veils the fairy coast we would explore.
Come, though the sea be vex'd, and breakers roar;
Come, for the air of this old world is vile,
Haste we, and toil, and faint not at the oar;
‘It may be we shall touch the happy isle.’
Gray serpents trail in temples desecrate
Where Cypris smiled—the golden maid—the queen—
And ruined is the palace of our state;
But happy loves flit round the mast, and keen
The shrill wind sings the silken cords between.
Heroes are we, with wearied hearts and sore,
Whose flower is faded and whose locks are hoar;
Yet haste, light skiffs, where myrtle thickets smile;
Love's panthers sleep 'mid roses, as of yore:
‘It may be we shall touch the happy isle!’
Envoy
Sad eyes, the blue sea laughs, as heretofore;
Ah, singing birds, your happy music pour!
Ah, poets, leave the sordid earth awhile;
Fill to these ancient gods we still adore;
‘It may be, we shall touch the happy isle!’
