The Night Swans
by Walter de la Mare
Tis silence on the enchanted lake,
And silence in the air serene,
Save for the beating of her heart,
The lovely-eyed Evangeline.
She sings across the waters clear
And dark with trees and stars between,
The notes her fairy godmother
Taught her, the child Evangeline.
As might the unrippled pool reply,
and answer far and sweet,
Three swans as white as mountain snow
Swim mantling to her feet.
And still upon the lake they stay,
Their eyes black stars in all their snow,
And softly, in the glassy pool,
Their feet beat darkly to and fro.
She rides upon her little boat,
Her swans swim through the starry sheen,
Rowing her into Fairyland –
The lovely-eyed Evangeline.
Tis silence on the enchanted lake
And silence in the air serene;
Voices shall call in vain again
On earth the child Evangeline.
Evangeline! Evangeline!
Upstairs, downstairs, all in vain.
Her room is dim; her flowers faded;
She answers not again.
(Originally published 1902 by Longmans, Green, London, New York.)
27 thoughts on “Follow Not The Swans”
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Friendly Fairy Tales 
Hello Brenda…It seems to me this poem is about the place I know so well…it is called Lago di Paola…amazing….
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I’m so glad it strikes a chord with you. It seemed so bittersweet but beautiful to me. I hope you’ve had a lovely weekend! We just got back from canoeing on a river.
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It sounds like a song, haunting and poetic. One that draws us to learn the words and sing along…
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A bittersweet ballad to Faerie. 🙂 Alas, I wrote it not.
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Aha… no wonder! (giggle) Yes, it sounds like a ballad! (grin)
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Yes, I can imagine Loreena McKennitt singing it. With mandolins, violins and cellos.
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I will add Loreena McKennitt as an artist to listen to next time I’m on Wildersoul FM, at Grooveshark.com. I can imagine the mandolins, violins and I love cellos! 🙂
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Wow, what a great sounding station. Meanwhile, you can find Loreena singing the Highwayman here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7Y-VBD0kRI
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You are a darling! Thank you for the link…! You must have read my mind… it was yammering something like… “i’m gunna forget to check out that song, i’ma gunna forget… what was her name again, oh no i’ma forgetting!” Heehee. Thank you!
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I hope you like her as much as we do. 🙂
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I listened to her and looooooved it! Thank you so much! What a story!
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I’m so happy to hear that. Your art has so many Celtic elements, I thought you would like her. 🙂
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I do – very much. It’s the Irish in me….. 🙂
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I have a lot of Irish in me, too. 🙂 No wonder we like your art so much.
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Celtic knot ties, er, I mean Celtic blood ties…! 😉
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A couple of Celts, I’ll raise you three of a kind (my kids). 🙂
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Plus two of mine… do we now have a tribe?! 😉
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I think we have a full house! (I hope you aren’t morally opposed to poker cant.)
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So long as we don’t have the runs! (Oh dear, let’s get away from toilet humour!)
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As long as they follow not the swans!
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I am getting lost… what are those shapes ahead in the gloom? Swans? (oops!)
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Now you’ve gone and done it. Made me laugh. 🙂
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Hehe… sometimes that happens! 🙂
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Yes, and a good thing it is, too.
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Peter Pan…retold. That’s what this reminded me of, a child disappearing into Fae.
Poetically enchanting.
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Yes, I should look up the date it was written and put that in at some point. When you look back, writing about the fae was very respected. Poets often wrote about the faery world. 🙂
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Many years later I read ‘Return to Kensington Gardens’ where Peter tries to go home. It was a sad little tale, as for the time he was away…he was replaced. Not at all like the movie ‘Pan’ with Robin Williams.
Maybe this will help…I was curious too…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Pan
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