III. Undated Poems
170.
[All day I've toiled but not with pain]
All day I've toiled but not with pain
In learning's golden mine
And now at eventide again
The moonbeams softly shine
There is no snow upon the ground
No frost on wind or wave
The south wind blew with gentlest sound
And broke their icy grave
'Tis sweet to wander here at night
To watch the winter die
With heart as summer sunshine light
And warm as summer's sky
O may I never lose the peace
That lulls me gently now
Though time should change my youthful face
And years should shade my brow
True to myself and true to all
May I be healthful still
And turn away from passion's call
And curb my own wild will
171.
['Tis evening now the sun descends]
'Tis evening now the sun descends
In golden glory down the sky
The city's murmur softly blends
With zephyrs breathing gently by
And yet it seems a dreary [morn]
A dark October [morn] to me
And black the piles of rainclouds [borne]
Athwart heaven's stormy canopy
172.
[There let thy bleeding branch atone]
There let thy bleeding branch atone
For every torturing tear
Shall my young sins my sins alone
Be everlasting here?
Who bade thee keep that cursed name
A pledge for memory
As if Oblivion ever came
To breathe its bliss on me
As if through all the wildering maze
Of mad hours left behind
I once forgot the early days
That thou wouldst call to mind
173.
[What winter floods what showers of spring]
What winter floods what showers of spring
Have drenched the grass by night and day
And yet beneath that spectre ring
Unmoved and undiscovered lay
A mute remembrancer of crime
Long lost concealed forgot for years
It comes at last to cancel time
And waken unavailing tears
174.
[All hushed and still within the house]
All hushed and still within the house
Without—all wind and driving rain
But something whispers to my mind
Through rain and [through the] wailing wind
—Never again
Never again? Why not again?
Memory has power as real as thine
175.
[Iernë's eyes were glazed and dim]
Iernë's eyes were glazed and dim
When the castle bell tolled one
She looked around her dungeon grim
The grating cast a doubtful gleam
'Twas one cloud saddened cold moon-beam
Iernë gazed as in a dream
And thought she saw the sun
She thought it was the break of day
The night had been so long
176.
[But the hearts that once adored me]
But the hearts that once adored me
Have long forgot their vow
And the friends that mustered round me
Have all forsaken now
'Twas in a dream revealed to me
But not a dream of sleep
A dream of watchful agony
Of grief that would not weep
Now do not harshly turn away
177.
[Methinks this heart should rest awhile]
Methinks this heart should rest awhile
So stilly round the evening falls
The veiled sun sheds no parting smile
Nor mirth nor music wakes my Halls
I have sat lonely all the day
Watching the drizzly mist descend
And first conceal the hills in grey
And then along the valleys wend
And I have sat and watched the trees
And the sad flowers how drear they blow
Those flowers were formed to feel the breeze
Wave their light leaves in summer's glow
Yet their lives passed in gloomy woe
And hopeless comes its dark decline
And I lament because I know
That cold departure pictures mine
178.
[That dreary lake that midnight sky]
That dreary lake that midnight sky
That wan moon struggling through the cloud
That sullen murmur whispering by
As if it dared not speak aloud
Fall on my heart so sadly now
Wither my joy so lonely
Touch them not they bloom and smile
But their roots are withering all the while
Ah
179.
[His land may burst the galling chain]
His land may burst the galling chain
His people may be free again
For them a thousand hopes remain
But hope is dead for him
Soft falls the moonlight on the sea
Whose wild waves play at liberty
And Gondal's wind sings solemnly
Its [native] midnight hymn
Around his prison walls it sings
His heart is stirred through all its strings
Because that sound remembrance brings
Of scenes that once have been
His soul has left the storm below
And reached a realm of sunless snow
The region of [unchanging] woe
Made voiceless by despair
And Gerald's land may burst its chain
His subjects may be free again
For them a thousand hopes remain
But hope is dead for him
Set is his sun of liberty
Fixed is his earthly destiny
A few years of captivity
And then a captive's tomb
180.
[She dried her tears and they did smile]
She dried her tears and they did smile
To see her cheeks' returning glow
How little dreaming all the while
That full heart throbbed to overflow
With that sweet look and lively tone
And bright eye shining all the day
They could not guess at midnight lone
How she would weep the time away
181.
[Love is like the wild rose briar]
Love is like the wild rose briar,
Friendship, like the holly tree
The holly is dark when the rose briar blooms,
But which will bloom most constantly?
The wild rose briar is sweet in spring,
Its summer blossoms scent the air
Yet wait till winter comes again
And who will call the wild-briar fair
Then scorn the silly rose-wreath now
And deck thee with the holly's sheen
That when December blights thy brow
He still may leave thy garland green—
