by Poe · Cluster: Appearance vs Reality · Beauty · Eyes and Sight
Abstract
A short love lyric making the clear river an emblem of the beloved’s beauty and unhidden heart, her image deep in the speaker’s trembling heart. Themes of love, beauty, water and reflection.
Connections
Motifs: River, Water, Mirror, Eyes and Sight, Love Themes & Concepts: Romantic Love, Beauty Forms & Genres: Lyric
Testo integrale / Full text
Fair river! in thy bright, clear flow
Of crystal, wandering water,
Thou art an emblem of the glow
Of beauty—the unhidden heart—
The playful maziness of art
In old Alberto’s daughter;
But when within thy wave she looks—
Which glistens then, and trembles—
Why, then, the prettiest of brooks
Her worshipper resembles;
For in my heart, as in thy stream,
Her image deeply lies—
His heart which trembles at the beam
Of her soul-searching eyes.
1829.