The speaker is the ancient Greek poet Sappho, saying goodbye to the beautiful natural world she once loved—coral caves, shining sands, forests, and mythical sea nymphs. She stands alone on a bleak rock, no longer able to play her lyre or find comfort in her art. All she can do is weep. The reason for her despair becomes clear: her lover Phaon has abandoned her and is now in the enchantress Circe’s cave, bewitched by opiate flowers or lingering in sensual, shady gardens with someone else. While he is seduced and distracted, Sappho feels herself fading, her lips turning pale, consumed by a grief that eats at her from within. The mood is intensely dramatic and sorrowful, full of Romantic excess—nature reflects her pain, and every image of beauty turns hollow as she prepares for death.
Sonnet XIX: Farewell, Ye Coral Caves — Summary
Farewell, ye coral caves, ye pearly sands, Ye waving woods that crown yon lofty steep; Farewell, ye Nereides of the glitt'ring deep, Ye mountain tribes, ye fawns, ye sylvan bands: On the bleak rock your frantic minstrel stands, Each task forgot, save that, to sigh and weep; In vain the strings her burning fingers sweep, No more her touch, the Grecian Lyre commands! In Circe's cave my faithless Phaon's laid, Her daemons dress his brow with opiate flow'rs; Or, loit'ring in the brown pomgranate shade, Beguile with am'rous strains the fateful hours; While Sappho's lips, to paly ashes fade, And sorrow's cank'ring worm her heart devours!