The Poetical Works of George Barlow In Ten [Eleven] Volumes |
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 | The Poetical Works of George Barlow |  |
4
TWO SONNETS
I
THE UNIVERSE-CENTRE
“The supreme end and purpose of this vast Universe was the production
and development of the living soul in the perishable body of man.”
—Alfred Russel Wallace, in the Fortnightly Review for March, 1903.
Strange, if in truth this world of ours, so small,
So grief-devoured, should the grand centre be
Of that huge starry Universe we see,—
The end, the chief result, the crown of all!
Here is the battle fought. Here stand or fall
Armies whose swords flash through eternity.
We are the combatants, aye even we
Whose pigmy frames the sunlit voids appal.
So grief-devoured, should the grand centre be
Of that huge starry Universe we see,—
The end, the chief result, the crown of all!
Here is the battle fought. Here stand or fall
Armies whose swords flash through eternity.
We are the combatants, aye even we
Whose pigmy frames the sunlit voids appal.
O thought tremendous! thought that must perturb,
If it be true, the tremulous soul of man!
To know that fragrance of an earthly rose
Through the vast flowerless scentless spaces goes
Lonely, divine,—to know that Love can curb
The winds, and aid or mar the cosmic plan.
If it be true, the tremulous soul of man!
To know that fragrance of an earthly rose
Through the vast flowerless scentless spaces goes
Lonely, divine,—to know that Love can curb
The winds, and aid or mar the cosmic plan.
5
II
“POWERS SUPREMER”
Most strange, if woman's wondrous form we know
So sweet on earth should be alone indeed
In its pure beauty,—shaped, designed, decreed,
O'er all the marvelling heavens her spell to throw.
Perchance on not one other globe could grow
The flowers whose fragrant force the star-hosts need.
Here, here alone, can fail or can succeed
Love's dream. Here passion's foam-white torrents flow.
So sweet on earth should be alone indeed
In its pure beauty,—shaped, designed, decreed,
O'er all the marvelling heavens her spell to throw.
Perchance on not one other globe could grow
The flowers whose fragrant force the star-hosts need.
Here, here alone, can fail or can succeed
Love's dream. Here passion's foam-white torrents flow.
Most strange, most grand! when earthly lips are one
They find within the walls of their embrace
Life that will last when planets' lives are done.
Two lovers standing silent, face to face,
When strength divine worships diviner grace
Wield powers supremer than of star or sun.
They find within the walls of their embrace
Life that will last when planets' lives are done.
Two lovers standing silent, face to face,
When strength divine worships diviner grace
Wield powers supremer than of star or sun.
| The Poetical Works of George Barlow | |