Fata Morgana by Christina Georgina Rossetti
The speaker runs after a blue-eyed phantom that laughs, leaps toward the sun, and sings to dreamy sheep-bells. Its gaiety makes the speaker laugh, but its distance brings tears and a hope of someday lying down to sleep.
By Christina Georgina Rossetti · Genre: Lyric Poetry, Melancholic Poetry · 109 words
First lines
A blue-eyed phantom far before / Is laughing, leaping toward the sun; / Like lead I chase it evermore, / I pant and run.
It breaks the sunlight bound on bound; / Goes singing as it leaps along / To sheep-bells with a dreamy sound / A dreamy song.
I laugh, it is so brisk and gay; / It is so far before, I weep: / I hope I shall lie down some day, / Lie down and sleep.
Genres
- Lyric Poetry — Three rhymed stanzas present a speaker's pursuit and changing feelings of delight, sorrow, and weariness.
- Melancholic Poetry — The phantom remains far ahead, leaving the speaker weeping and hoping to stop running and sleep.
Tags
phantom · pursuit · longing · weariness · sleep
What this Textopian page supports
Fata Morgana is listed on Textopian as a poem by Christina Georgina Rossetti, dated Date unknown.
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- Work type: Poem
- Author: Christina Georgina Rossetti
- Date: Date unknown
- Language: English
- Genres: Lyric Poetry, Melancholic Poetry
- Length: 109 words
- Structure: 1 section, 3 paragraphs
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