A face warm and beautiful, my fair Queen,
Catherine, sole occupant of my heart,
I hear your voice within the calming sea,
waves that reach then forever to depart.
...
On plundered ships survivors weep
Companions sinking toward the deep
Useless prayers said on a whim;
'I pray this lifeless corpse to swim.'
...
Grandest creature marble white
rearing proudly in thy time
the clouds above Olympia
thunder with thy stride;
...
Aoide, long hast thou suffered in thine art,
my love attests to unseen pleasing's that thou brings
thy mortal host, though immortal be thy heart!
Aroused by song remove thy shroud and sing
...
Aoide,
Daughter of gods! Muse of men!
For my mortality shed not a tear
though on thy ruins I lie in great despair,
...
With whom do I stand at this vexing hour
heeding thy council or those of lesser men?
May I once speak thy true name, Catherine,
formidable as thy northern tower
...
In this subtle light the lakes and streams entwining
shadows sparring round the moon, a single beam is cast
upon these ruins, ancient songs of men enshrining,
echoes sounding from the hills of all thy lovers past;
...
A disingenuous simple smile
can hide the truth behind a heart
checkered with black guile;
but love is pure
...
That love can stoke a dragon's wintry heart;
Maverick as a windswept icy plain,
An abysmal wilderness to depart
Saturated with solitary pain
...
Hard years have fallen and my love commands,
Lady of loquacious speech, what blemish
can mar its passage? Time withers but love
remains perfect beneath its temporal glance;
...