The poetical works of Robert Stephen Hawker Edited from the original manuscripts and annotated copies together with a prefatory notice and bibliography by Alfred Wallis |
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SHAKESPEARE.
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 | The poetical works of Robert Stephen Hawker |  |
SHAKESPEARE.
A FRAGMENT.
I saw thee, Shakespeare, in a morning dream,
Seated upon a throne—beautiful spirits
Ministered unto thee, and lovely songs
They murmur'd in thy ear.
Seated upon a throne—beautiful spirits
Ministered unto thee, and lovely songs
They murmur'd in thy ear.
First Fancy came
In cherubine sweetness—braidless her soft hair,
Unzoned her robe; and yet in every tress,
In every wantoning fold, there was a charm
Of natural chastity.
In cherubine sweetness—braidless her soft hair,
Unzoned her robe; and yet in every tress,
In every wantoning fold, there was a charm
Of natural chastity.
She drew near
Delicately, like maiden to her lover,
And with a smile of dimpling witchery
She said, thou wast her own dear love, the first,
The chosen one her youth delighted in!
Then with harmonious step came Music nigh,
Bearing a broken harp; and aye she swept
Its varying chords, mingling irregular notes
Into a lay of sweetness—and she told thee
'Twas thine own harp—with all its fairy breathings
Sacred to thee! and dearer to her heart Than all the measured cadences of song.
Delicately, like maiden to her lover,
And with a smile of dimpling witchery
She said, thou wast her own dear love, the first,
The chosen one her youth delighted in!
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Bearing a broken harp; and aye she swept
Its varying chords, mingling irregular notes
Into a lay of sweetness—and she told thee
'Twas thine own harp—with all its fairy breathings
Sacred to thee! and dearer to her heart Than all the measured cadences of song.
| The poetical works of Robert Stephen Hawker | |