Classic and Contemporary Poetry
PHILOMELA, by MATTHEW ARNOLD Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Hark! Ah, the nightingale Last Line: Eternal pain! Subject(s): Animals; Birds; Nightingales | ||||||||
HARK! ah, the nightingale! The tawny-throated! Hark! from that moonlit cedar what a burst! What triumph! hark, -- what pain! O wanderer from a Grecian shore, Still, -- after many years, in distant lands, -- Still nourishing in thy bewildered brain That wild, unquenched, deep-sunken, Old-world pain, -- Say, will it never heal? And can this fragrant lawn, With its cool tree, and night, And the sweet, tranquil Thames, And the moonshine, and the dew, To thy racked heart and brain Afford no balm? Dost thou to-night behold, Here, through the moonlight on this English grass, The unfriendly palace in the Thracian wild? Dost thou again peruse, With hot cheeks and seared eyes, The too clear web, and thy dumb sister's shame? Dost thou once more essay Thy flight; and feel come over thee, Poor fugitive! the feathery change Once more; and once more make resound, With love and hate, triumph and agony, Lone Daulis, and the high Cephisian vale? Listen, Eugenia, -- How thick the bursts come crowding through the leaves! Again -- thou hearest! Eternal passion! Eternal pain! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE SONG OF THE NIGHTINGALE IS LIKE THE SCENT OF SYRINGA by MINA LOY THE NIGHTINGALE IN BADELUNDA by TOMAS TRANSTROMER THE NIGHTINGALE by PAUL VERLAINE ODE, FR. THE PASSIONATE PILGRIM by RICHARD BARNFIELD NIGHTINGALES by ROBERT SEYMOUR BRIDGES BIANCA AMONG THE NIGHTINGALES by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING THE NIGHTINGALE; A CONVERSATION POEM by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE |
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