Sicilian Emigrant’s Song

William Carlos Williams 1883 (Rutherford) – 1963 (Rutherford)



O—eh—lee! La—la!
Donna! Donna!
Blue is the sky of Palermo;
Blue is the little bay;
And dost thou remember the orange and fig,
The lively sun and the sea breeze at evening?
Hey—la!
Donna! Donna! Maria!

O—eh—li! La—la!
Donna! Donna!
Gray is the sky of this land.
Gray and green is the water.
I see no trees, dost thou? The wind
Is cold for the big woman there with the candle.
Hey—la!
Donna! Donna! Maria!

O—eh—li! O—la!
Donna! Donna!
I sang thee by the blue waters;
I sing thee here in the gray dawning.
Kiss, for I put down my guitar;
I’ll sing thee more songs after the landing.
O Jesu, I love thee!
Donna! Donna! Maria!

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

35 sec read
83

Quick analysis:

Scheme aBxxxcAB aBxxxxAB aBxcxcxB
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 653
Words 119
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 8

William Carlos Williams

William Carlos Williams was a Latino-American poet closely associated with modernism and imagism. more…

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