A bright, windy seascape becomes a doorway into memory and longing. The speaker notices sunlit waves, a gull, a boat, and dark islets, but each image is transformed by feeling: the gull is “a white butterfly of desire,” the boat seems like an intoxicated singer’s fancy, and the wind sounds like an invisible gong worshiping the sun, sea, and storm. The lines are less about describing a place than about catching a mood—one of dreamy awe and gentle sadness. The final images suggest that these colors, sounds, and weather are not just outside us; they are “dreams of a dying hour” and memories mirrored in “the heart of song.” The overall mood is hushed, musical, and slightly mournful, as if the speaker is watching a beautiful moment slip away and hearing its echo inside.
The Heart of a Song — Summary
The sun glints the waves with silver; The gull, a white butterfly of desire; The barque, a fancy of some intoxicated singer.
The brown islets, lost souls from the world of song; The wind, an ever-sounding, unseen gong, Telling of the worship of the sun, the sea and the storm. Blue, brown, silver, song, sound and storm; Dreams of a dying hour, shadow of a morn That we have seen mirrored in the heart of song.