Poems on Various Subjects (Coleridge)/Effusion 30, Complaint of Ninathoma

by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

EFFUSION XXX.

THE

COMPLAINT OF NINATHOMA.^[1]

HOW long will ye round me be swelling,
O ye blue-tumbling waves of the Sea?
Not always in Caves was my dwelling,
Nor beneath the cold blast of the Tree.
Thro' the high-founding hills of Cathlóma
In the steps of my Beauty I stray'd;
The Warriors beheld Ninathóma,
And they blessed the white-bosom'd Maid!

A Ghost! by my Cavern it darted!
In moon-beams the Spirit was drest—
For lovely appear the departed
When they visit the dreams of my Rest!
But disturb'd by the Tempest's commotion
Fleet the shadowy forms of Delight—
Ah cease, thou shrill blast of the Ocean!
To howl thro' my Cavern by Night.

 

1. Note 9.