A Night-Charge Against A Swan By A Lover
A Night-Charge Against A Swan By A Lover
Original Text
The Collected Sonnets of Charles (Tennyson) Turner. Ed. F. B. Pinion and M. Pinion (London: MacMillan Press, 1988) : 189.
1The swan, wild-clanging, scoured the midnight lake,
2And broke my dream of Annie, and I lay,
3Through those brief hours before the dawn of day,
4Chiding the sound that startled me awake.
5Ungracious bird, why didst thou come between
6My loving question and her dear reply?
7I saw her parted lip, her downcast eye,
8I saw how sweet her answer would have been,
9Hadst thou not cried just then in love's despite!
10For once, I pray, thy clamorous zeal forbear,
11And grant this easy boon to me and her:
12I claim my perfect dream: be mute to-night:
13Thy voice kept Annie silent: I foresee
14Thy silence will be Annie's voice to me.
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire
RPO Edition
2004
Rhyme
Form