Dolce far niente

 

Diana and Endymion door Francesco Solimena, 1705 – 1710

 

Dolce Far Niente

LET the world roll blindly on!
Give me shallow, give me sun,
And a perfumed eve as this is:
Let me lie,
Dreamfully,
When the last quick sunbeams shiver
Spears of light athwart the river,
And a breeze, which seems the sigh
Of a fairy floating by,
Coyly kisses
Tender leaf and feathered grasses;
Yet so soft its breathing passes,
These tall ferns, just glimmering o’er me,
Blending goldenly before me,
Hardly quiver!

I have done with worldly scheming,
Mocking show and hollow seeming!
Let me lie
Idly here,
Lapped in lulling waves of air,
Facing full the shadowy sky.
Fame!–the very sound is dreary,–
Shut, O soul! thine eyelids weary,
For all nature’s voices say,
” ‘Tis the close–the close of day,
Thought and grief have had their sway:”
Now Sleep bares her balmy breast,–
Whispering low
(Low as moon-set tides that flow
Up still beaches far away;
While, from out the lucid West,
Flutelike winds of murmurous breath
Sink to tender-panting death),
“On my bosom take thy rest;
(Care and grief have had their day!)
‘Tis the hour for dreaming,
Fragrant rest, elysian dreaming!”

 

 
Paul Hamilton Hayne (1 januari 1830 – 6 juli 1886)

 

 

Zie voor de schrijvers van de 13e maart ook mijn blogs van 13 maart 2013 en ook mijn blog van 13 maart 2012 deel 2.