Poems

Chapter 23: SONG TO OPHELIA

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About This Book

A lyrical collection of short poems that moves between domestic intimacy and mythic or maritime imagery, often meditating on motherhood, childhood, sleep, and loss. The pieces range from direct child songs and brief quatrains to sonnets, hymns, odes, and narrative ballads, and include themed sequences such as child songs and a set of Iseult poems. Language favors simple, musical phrasing and quiet introspection, balancing tenderness and elegy with occasional folktale drama. Recurring motifs of nature, the sea, and longing knit the diverse pieces into a cohesive emotional landscape.

SONG TO OPHELIA

Unto thy grass-hidden charms

Nature worketh no alarms;

Changeth all thy breath to dew,

And thine eyes to violets blue,

Weaveth all thy waving hair

Into beams to light the air!

Thus the song—and yet he saith

“Ah! how sad a thing is Death!”

Over thy earth-covered breast

Springtime snow doth lightly rest;

Never hath been spun a sheet

For thy purity more meet;

Lovelier the earth shall be

Now that it doth prison thee!

Thus the song—and yet he saith

“Ah! how sad a thing is Death!”