Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895. 1895.

William Sharp 1855–1905

From “Sospiri Di Roma.” I. Susurro

Sharp-Wi

BREATH o’ the grass,

Ripple of wandering wind,

Murmur of tremulous leaves:

A moonbeam moving white

Like a ghost across the plain:

A shadow on the road:

And high up, high,

From the cypress-bough,

A long sweet melancholy note.

Silence.

And the topmost spray

Of the cypress-bough is still

As a wavelet in a pool:

The road lies duskily bare:

The plain is a misty gloom:

Still are the tremulous leaves;

Scarce a last ripple of wind,

Scarce a breath i’ the grass.

Hush: the tired wind sleeps:

Is it the wind’s breath, or

Breath o’ the grass?