A Dirge / Amy Levy

A Dirge

Rhoda Baer, Woman Staring out Window,
2009. Public domain, Wikimedia Commons.

"Mein Herz, mein Herz ist traurig
Doch lustig leuchtet der Mai"

There's May amid the meadows,
    There's May amid the trees;
Her May-time note the cuckoo
    Sends forth upon the breeze.

Above the rippling river
    May swallows skim and dart;
November and December
    Keep watch within my heart.

The spring breathes in the breezes,
    The woods with wood-notes ring,
And all the budding hedgerows
    Are fragrant of the spring.

In secret, silent places
    The live green things upstart; 

Ice-bound, ice-crown'd dwells winter
    For ever in my heart.

Upon the bridge I linger,
    Near where the lime-trees grow;
Above, swart birds are circling,
Beneath, the stream runs slow.

A stripling and a maiden
    Come wand'ring up the way;
His eyes are glad with springtime,
    Her face is fair with May.

Of warmth and sun and sweetness
    All nature takes a part;
The ice of all the ages
    Weighs down upon my heart.

~~
Amy Levy (1861-1889)
from A Minor Poet, and other verse, 1884

[Poem is in the public domain worldwide]

Amy Levy biography