Impression de Voyage Lyrics
Burned like a heated opal through the air,
We hoisted sail; the wind was blowing fair
For the blue lands that to the eastward lie.
From the steep prow I marked with quickening eye
Zakynthos, every olive grove and creek,
Ithaca’s cliff, Lycaon’s snowy peak,
And all the flower-strewn hills of Arcady.
The flapping of the sail against the mast,
The ripple of the water on the side,
The ripple of girls’ laughter at the stern,
The only sounds:—when ’gan the West to burn,
And a red sun upon the seas to ride,
I stood upon the soil of Greece at last!
About
Wilde’s “Impressions”-poems are heavily French-inspired, hence their French titles. This one simply translates as “Travel Feeling/Print”, seeing that impression can translate to either. Unlike his “Impression Du Matin” “Les Silhouettes” and “La Fuite de la Lune”, his other “Impressions”-poems, this one is one long 14-line stanza rather than a collection of many short stanzas.
This poem takes on one form of the Italian sonnet (ABBA-ABBA-CDEFFED, for this poem), with Wilde’s own twist of line 10 not rhyming with anything.
As with the other “Impressions”-poems, this one is part of Wilde’s mini-series Flowers of Gold, which is part of his large 1881 Poems.
Though Wilde made many allusions to Greek Mythology and the sea in his poetry, this one is especially appropriate, seeing that he wrote this whilst in Katakolo, a seaside town in Greece.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
- 1.Hélas
- 4.To Milton
- 9.Theoretikos
- 11.Requiescat
- 13.San Miniato
- 15.Italia
- 17.Rome Unvisited
- 20.Easter Day
- 21.E. Tenebris
- 22.Vita Nuova
- 23.Madonna Mia
- 24.The New Helen
- 27.Magdalen Walks
- 28.Athanasia
- 29.Serenade
- 30.Endymion
- 32.Chanson
- 33.Charmides
- 36.Theocritus
- 41.Santa Decca
- 42.A Vision
- 43.Impression de Voyage
- 45.By the Arno
- 47.Phèdre
- 48.Portia
- 50.Camma
- 51.Panthea
- 53.At Verona
- 54.Apologia
- 56.Silentium Amoris
- 57.Her Voice
- 58.My Voice
- 59.Tædium Vitæ
- 60.Humanitad
- 61.Flower of Love
