FAIR INES
by: Thomas Hood (1799-1845)
- SAW ye
not fair Ines?
- She's gone into the West,
- To dazzle when the sun is down,
- And rob the world of rest:
- She took our daylight with her,
- The smiles that we love best,
- With morning blushes on her cheek,
- And pearls upon her breast.
-
- O turn again, fair Ines,
- Before the fall of night,
- For fear the Moon should shine alone,
- And stars unrivall'd bright;
- And blessèd will the lover be
- That walks beneath their light,
- And breathes the love against thy cheek
- I dare not even write!
-
- Would I had been, fair Ines,
- That gallant cavalier,
- Who rode so gaily by thy side,
- And whisper'd thee so near!
- Were there no bonny dames at home,
- Or no true lovers here,
- That he should cross the seas to win
- The dearest of the dear?
-
- I saw thee, lovely Ines,
- Descend along the shore,
- With bands of noble gentlemen,
- And banners waved before;
- And gentle youth and maidens gay,
- And snowy plumes they wore:
- It would have been a beauteous dream,--
- If it had been no more!
-
- Alas, alas! fair Ines,
- She went away with song,
- With Music waiting on her steps,
- And shoutings of the throng;
- But some were sad, and felt no mirth,
- But only Music's wrong,
- In sounds that sang Farewell, farewell,
- To her you've loved so long.
-
- Farewell, farewell, fair Ines!
- That vessel never bore
- So fair a lady on its deck,
- Nor danced so light before,--
- Alas for pleasure on the sea,
- And sorrow on the shore!
- The smile that bless'd one lover's heart
- Has broken many more!
"Fair Ines" is reprinted
from English poetry II: From Collins to Fitzgerald. Ed.
Charles W. Eliot. New York: P.F. Collier & Son, 1914. |
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POEMS BY THOMAS HOOD |
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