A Villanelle

    By Oscar Wilde

    O singer of Persephone!

    In the dim meadows desolate

    Dost thou remember Sicily?

    Still through the ivy flits the bee

    Where Amaryllis lies in state;

    O Singer of Persephone!

    Simaetha calls on Hecate

    And hears the wild dogs at the gate;

    Dost thou remember Sicily?

    Still by the light and laughing sea

    Poor Polypheme bem.o.a.ns his fate;

    O Singer of Persephone!

    And still in boyish rivalry

    Young Daphnis challenges his mate;

    Dost thou remember Sicily?

    Slim Lacon keeps a goat for thee,

    For thee the jocund shepherds wait;

    O Singer of Persephone!

    Dost thou remember Sicily?