Poem 3: A Love Poem by James Joyce

I encountered this poem and thought it a sublime combination of nature, experiences and philosophy. It suggests a sense of human defiance in the face of inevitable woe – that, love, music and laughter are not ignoble pleasures even in the face of the inevitable void. The softness of the language used too is very attractive.

Roughly, even when you are aware of the signs of sadness in your heart, as the sun wastes away and evening descends, ‘flying hair’ and music emerge as positive forces. 

I like the fact that rather than glorifying the trials it glorifies dealing with them.

It was published in James Joyce’s Collected Poems, in 1937. It belongs to the first section titled “Chamber Music” containing 36 untitled, numbered love poems. Source - https://www.brainpickings.org/2013/03/13/james-joyce-collected-poems-1937/

Some Meanings:
Presage - be a sign or warning/omen of (an imminent event, typically an unwelcome one)
Oread - a nymph believed to inhabit mountains
Irreverent - showing a lack of respect for people or things that are generally taken seriously like showing no respect for traditions, the rules of society, or religious beliefs
Lowliest - humblest, (here) basic

XXV

Lightly come or lightly go:
Though thy heart presage thee woe,
Vales and many a wasted sun,
Oread let thy laughter run,
Till the irreverent mountain air
Ripple all thy flying hair.

Lightly, lightly — ever so:
Clouds that wrap the vales below
At the hour of evenstar
Lowliest attendants are;
Love and laughter song-confessed
When the heart is heaviest.

 — James Joyce