Classic Poem

Blithe spirit of sea and air,
O marvellously fair! —
What Beauty of unearthly spheres,
What immemorial tears
Of vanished ages, fill my heart
When, like some rippling waters, start
Your sylvan notes,
Clearer than those of robins' throats,
Sweeter than wind across a sky,
Deeper than sea-song when a storm is nigh,
More vibrant than a crystal bell
Tolled softly in a scented dell?

O, are you Atthis come again,
Singing of longing and of pain?
Or are you Phryne from the sea
Shaped from a master's ecstasy?
Or yet Isolde whose love-breath
Was sudden rapturous death?
What strangeness of a vanished land
Dwells in your eyes, thrills from your hand,
When lo! I hear your silvery plaint,
Music that makes my spirit faint,
Beauty, like a woodland spell —
Melody unimaginable!