The Writings of Oscar Wilde/Volume 1/Vita Nuova

by Oscar Wilde

For other versions of this work, see Vita Nuova (Wilde).

VITA NUOVA.

I stood by the unvintageable sea Till the wet waves drenched face and hair with spray; The long red fires of the dying dayBurned in the west; the wind piped drearily;And to the land the clamorous gulls did flee: "Alas!" I cried, "my life is full of pain, And who can garner fruit or golden grainFrom these waste fields which travail ceaselessly!"My nets gaped wide with many a break and flaw Nathless I threw them as my final cast Into the sea, and waited for the end.When lo! a sudden glory! and I saw The argent splendor of white limbs ascend, And in that joy forgot my tortured past.