THE MOONBEAM
by: Luis G. Urbina
- OONBEAM, come in! Thou art a welcome
guest.
- 'Tis long since I have seen thy silver flame.
- Although I left the casement open wide,
- Shadows alone into my chamber came.
-
- Ungrateful comrade, thou art still the same--
- The beam transparent, gliding through the night,
- The beauteous gleam of splendor from on high,
- Diaphanous with amber's yellow light.
-
- Come in! She is not here; naught canst thou spy.
- Moonbeam, thou canst not now be indiscreet,
- Even if thou upon the nuptial couch
- Shouldst cast thy pearly radiance, clear and sweet.
-
- O'erflow the carpet like a glittering rain,
- Flood all the silent room from wall to wall,
- And, clinging to the darksome drapery,
- Give it the semblance of a silver shawl!
-
- See'st thou, all things are dusty and unkempt;
- The heart is chilled to view their mournful air.
- Upon the blackened nail the bird cage hangs
- Empty and hushed; the songbirds are not there.
-
- See'st thou, around the railing rough the vine
- Its faded blossoms wreathes; no flower we spy
- Upon the rose-tree; all the lilies now
- Are withered, the sweet basil plants are dry.
-
- Thou brightness indiscreet, from heaven above!
- She loved thee in the past: I love thee now.
- How often have I seen thy glimmering light
- Reflected from her pure and pensive brow!
-
- The girl with golden hair is here no more,--
- The dreamer, pale and white as ocean foam,
- Who said, as on thy shifting light she gazed,
- "It is the smile of God within our home!"
-
- Ungrateful comrade, only thou and I
- Are in this chamber, now a place of dole:
- Yet welcome, heavenly brightness indiscreet!
- If thou would'st see her, come into my soul!
This English translation by Alice
Stone Blackwell of 'The Moonbeam' is reprinted from Hispanic
Anthology: Poems Translated from the Spanish by English and North
American Poets. Ed. Thomas Walsh. New York: G.P. Putnam's
Sons, 1920. |
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