What Lips my Lips have Kissed ... Sonnet XLIII

What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why,

I have forgotten, and what arms have lain

Under my head till morning; but the rain

Is full of ghosts tonight that tap and sigh

Upon the glass and listen for reply,

And in my heart there stirs a quiet pain

For unremembered lads that not again

Will turn to me at midnight with a cry.

Thus in winter stands the lonely tree,

Nor knows what birds have vanished one by one,

Yet knows its boughs more silent than before:

I cannot say what loves have come and gone,

I only know that summer sang in me

A little while, that in me sings no more.

I really admire this poem, I went searching for it last evening at a friend's site for I remembered that she had posted it some time ago ... the name of the author had escaped me.

I have not had many lads in my life to forget, but last night there was a quiet pain of remembrance in my heart as the wind did blow the rain against my window, as if it was tapping softly on the glass to remind me of memories of times past and recent ... times which have now gone.

I followed the trail of the raindrops with my finger tips upon the glass and watched the wind and rain blow unrelenting around the branches of my tree.

For Autumn is now here and the cold of Winter will soon be upon us and when I stand lonely by my tree I will wonder if love and Summer will ever sing their song again for me ... or fill this sad emptiness within my heart ... ♥

Sonnet XLIII - Edna St.Vincent Millay - 1892 - 1950

'The Black Brook' - John Singer Sargent - c 1908

She Walks In Beauty ...

She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes:
Thus mellowed to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impaired the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress,
Or softy lightens o'er her face;
Where thoughts serenely sweet express
How pure, how dear their dwelling place.

And on that cheek, and o'er that brow,
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent!

George Gordon Byron, Lord Byron. 1788-1824

Image: Postcard Illustration
Samuel Loren Schmucker. 1879-1921

Are You Gone Forever?

Are you gone forever?

How long has it been?
The days I have counted are many
Deprived of your words
I cry myself to sleep each night
Tears, like petals falling ... slowly, softly

I never thought your last words were "Goodbye"
I always thought you would return ...
I grow weary of searching in shadows
where once I would find you
watching over me
But now you are not there, just emptiness
And I have no hope ...I miss you

I wonder where you are
I envy the moonlight which shines on you
I wonder when you look upon it
do you ever think of me
For I might be there watching
at the same time thinking of you
Looking from my part of the sphere

I envy those who share your days
do they need your words more than I ?
I envy the cup from which you sip
for your lips have touched it
but I have never felt your kiss upon mine ...

Your words to me were like water to my thirst
and now I go unquenched
My heart to dry up and wither
like a flower who needs the rain
Now I will just fade away
like so many neglected flowers ...

Hope, like petals falling away ... softly
floating sadly on the breeze.

Poem by Dianne D.

Painting 'Boreas' - John William Waterhouse

Boreas: Ancient Greek personification of the Northern wind.

" A Maidens Plea "

As some of you will no doubt know, Sir Percy Bisque Silley did challenge and dare me to to submit a poem to the 'Silly Poetry Competition', well he said I could enter a poesy, I do not know that my poem is so silly but here it is just the same ... Lady Dianne

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In times of olde
when Knights were bold
They would tilt for the hand of a lady
But where are they now
for none can be found
And pray, what has happened to chivalry?

For such tales of woe, I have been told
t'would make a fair maiden shudder
For we are left in dread
for fear of being forced to bed
To be prodded about and mishandled
By some rakish cads or brutish louts
Whose passions are unchecked and unbridled

Leaving us in dismay, 'tis fair to say
Our petticoats and finery all asunder
Left to the mercy of their hands
and their carnal demands
Left entirely undone and violated!

So be there one gallant Knight
who will save me from this plight?
Who will come to my aid and protect me
Who will wield his mighty sword
and warn off one and all
Of those who would hurt and offend me

To take me for his own
and love me alone
With his heart and his eyes for no other
Bring a blush to my cheeks
with kisses so sweet
To wed me and make me his lover ...

Sigh! Be there such a man,
I do hope and pray
Who will shower me with love and kisses ... ♥

Self Portrait of The Lady Dianne.

The Space Between Dreams and Daylight

When shall you return to me dear one
My dweller of the shadows
and my dreams
My knight of the forest trees
Are you still there in the shadows
silently watching over me ...
Will you ever step into the light
remove your mask that protects you
and reveal your true heart to me ...

I look for you in the spaces
between my dreams
and waking moments
I look for you
in the glorious promise of the sunrise
as its golden seam streaks the horizon
and lights a darkened sky
A new day dawning
and another chance of hope
that you will return to me ...

I sense you in so many things around me
those of goodness and truth
like little reminders tugging at my heart
and miss you so much ...
Sometimes I feel that you are near
so much that I embrace the air
I reach out for your touch
but it is not returned
you are not there
just emptiness
but still I hope ...

And when the sun is setting
and sinks from the horizon
I sit in silence
And in my moments of quiet reflection
I listen for you
between each breath that I take
between each heartbeat
listening for a word from you
Whispered
the gentle touch of your hand
your hand holding mine
I wait ...

There have been many star-filled nights
when I have looked for you
in the spaces between the moonlit leaves
where you said you would wait for me
You said no Goodbyes
that you would return to me
But when ...

As each day unfolds I wait and hope
but as it ends my heart sinks
just like the dimming sun
and I return to my dreams once more
hoping you will come back for me
hoping to find you there waiting for me
in that misty space between twilight and another dawn ...

Dianne D. ♥

Image 'Between Dreams and Daylight' - Dianne D

L'Hommage du Marc Chagall

' Autumn in the Village '

' The Village Store '

' Lovers and Flowers '

' The White Window '

' Le Bouquet Ardent '

' La Mariée '

' Three Candles '

'Au-Dessus de Paris'

'La Branche'

' Enchantment Vesperal'

'A Wheatfield on a Summer's Afternoon'

These are some of my favourite paintings by Russian- French artist Marc Chagall (7th July 1887 - 28th March 1985) ; I have posted a few of his paintings on my blog over time but would now like to share these with you ... I just love the vibrant colours and their composition ... ♥
I have put a link here to Wikipedia, please go there and read more as there is so much to be said about this amazing and versatile artist and I do not have the space to cover all of the aspects of his career and life.

"He created a unique career in virtually every artistic medium, including paintings, book illustrations, stained glass, stage sets, ceramics, tapestries and fine art prints."
He was known to have two basic reputations, as a pioneer of modernism, and as a major Jewish artist. He experienced modernism's golden age in Paris, where he synthesized the art forms of Cubism, Symbolism and Fauvism, and the influence of Fauvism gave rise to Surrealism. Yet throughout these phases of his style, he remained most emphatically a Jewish artist, whose work was one long dreamy reverie of life in his native village of Vitebsk." * Wikipedia

You will note that I have chosen many of his paintings here depicting 'lovers', his marriage resulted in a series of exuberant paintings of lovers. Some of his major works include theatrical designer for the Jewish State Theatre, executing murals there and his paintings for the ceilings of the Paris Opéra.

♥

I Carry Your Heart With Me

'Les amoureux de Vence' - Marc Chagall

i carry your heart with me (i carry it in
my heart) i am never without it (anywhere
i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling)
i fear
no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) i want
no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

e e cummings