A Love Poem

Evening Song
by Sidney Lanier

Look off, dear love, across the sallow sands,
And mark yon meeting of sun and ses;
How long they kiss in sight of of all the lands,
Ah! Longer, longer we.

Now, in the sea's red vintage melts the sun
As Egypt's pearl dissolved in rosy wine
And Cleopatra night drinks all. 'Tis done,
Love, lay thine hand in mine.


Come forth, sweet stars, and comfort heaven's heart,
Glimmer, ye waves, 'round else unlighted sands;
Oh night! divorced our sun and sky apart
Never our lips, our hands.


The theme of this poem is the love between two people and how nature mirrors it, but never captures it. The whole poem is a metaphor for their love. In the first stanza were the sun and sea meet and "kiss in sight of all the lands," the author gives the reader a visual image of two beautiful things coming together, but he finishes the stanza off by saying "Ah! longer, longer we". Their kiss lasts longer than the the beautiful view the poet provides. Lanier goes on to the second stanza with another familiar and breathtaking sight of a fiery red sun dipping behind a river. This moment in the day, and the connection the two different things make is the author's similie for holding hands. Cleopatra could drink in that beautiful view until it's over, but the author has their loves' hand in thier own for time after that. And even when the day is gone, and "night divorce our sun and sky apart/ Never our lips, our hands" their love goes past the moment of the day and the sun setting moment, it goes on and on.