The Shimmer Of The Sound

In the long shimmer of the Sound
May I some day be laughing found,
Part of its restless to and fro,
A humble worker of the tides
That round the sleepless planet flow,
And in the rock and drift of things -

(O how the sea-weed sways and swings!
Is it her hair - has she been found
In the long shimmer of the Sound!)

Do some small task I do not know -
O maybe help the mussel grow,
Or tint the shell-imprisoned pearl -

A mute companion of the waves
That toss within their moonlit graves -
Is it a king, or but a girl?

And, all the while, she sings and sings,
And waves her wild white hands with glee,
Mysterious sister of the world,
That singing water called the sea.

(O tell me was this sea-weed found
In the long shimmer of the Sound!)

Richard Le Gallienne

Richard Le Gallienne was an English author and poet born on January 20, 1866. Known for his lyrical poetry, he was a key figure in the literary circles of the fin de siècle. He contributed to the literary magazine 'The Yellow Book' and was involved with the Rhymers' Club, an influential group of London-based poets. His works often explored themes of beauty, love, and nature. His influence extended to both sides of the Atlantic, and he spent the latter part of his life in the United States, where he continued to write until his death on September 15, 1947.

Richard Le Gallienne

June

Richard Le Gallienne, Simple Poetry

The Rainbow

Richard Le Gallienne, Simple Poetry

Morn

Richard Le Gallienne, Simple Poetry

Come, My Celia

Richard Le Gallienne, Simple Poetry

English

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I sit upon the old sea wall,
And watch the shimmering sea,
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The Secret Of The Sea

Ah! what pleasant visions haunt me
    As I gaze upon the sea!
All the old romantic legends,
    All my dreams, come back to me.

Sails of silk and ropes of sandal,
    Such as gleam in ancient lore;
And the singing of the sailors,
    And the answer from the shore!

Most of all, the Spanish ballad
    Haunts me oft, and tarries long,
Of the noble Count Arnaldos
    And the sailor's mystic song.

Like the long waves on a sea-beach,
    Where the sand as silver shines,
With a soft, monotonous cadence,
    Flow its unrhymed lyric lines:--

Telling how the Count Arnaldos,
    With his hawk upon his hand,
Saw a fair and stately galley,
    Steering onward to the land;--

How he heard the ancient helmsman
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Song

As the inhastening tide doth roll,
Dear and desired, along the whole
    Wide shining strand, and floods the caves,
    Your love comes filling with happy waves
The open sea-shore of my soul.

But inland from the seaward spaces,
None knows, not even you, the places
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You see the happy shore, wave-rimmed,
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My silent rivulets, over-brimmed.

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But, visiting Sea, your love doth press
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The Song Of The Siren.

Oh, I am the siren, the siren of the sea,
The sea, the wondrous sea, that lies forevermore before;
I stand a fairy shape upon the shadow of a cliff
Where the water's drowsy ripple laps the phantom of a shore,
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All the glory of my golden tresses gleams upon the air,
How it falls about my snowy shoulders, round and bare and white;
My lips are full of love as rounded grapes are full of wine,
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The Mermaid.

The moon in the East is glowing;
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Upon her starry throne,
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From out the mist comes tripping
A Mermaiden full fair,
Across the white sea skipping
With locks of tawny hair.

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She wrings with a snowy hand;
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