The Collected Poems of Lord De Tabley [i.e. J. B. L. Warren] |
| I. |
| II. |
| III. |
| IV. |
| V. |
| VI. |
| VII. |
| VIII. |
| IX. |
| X. |
| XI. |
| XII. |
| XIII. |
| XIV. |
| XV. |
| XVI. |
CARPE DIEM |
| The Collected Poems of Lord De Tabley | ||
449
CARPE DIEM
The year flows on in bloom
To make lush Autumn room,
Time takes his mother by the hand to go;
The little rippling Hours
Push tender feet in flowers,
And Amor, leaning film-eyed on his bow,
To make lush Autumn room,
Time takes his mother by the hand to go;
The little rippling Hours
Push tender feet in flowers,
And Amor, leaning film-eyed on his bow,
Hears the good rain alive
Tinkling and humming drive
The molten summer, petal, bloom and seed.
He lays the peony by;
Her core of pride is dry,
And black her flaming heart as any weed.
Tinkling and humming drive
The molten summer, petal, bloom and seed.
He lays the peony by;
Her core of pride is dry,
And black her flaming heart as any weed.
Ah! in no other wise
The yearning swallow cries:
“Sun-land out yonder, I am weak to go,
My plumes are hardly set,
I am a nestling yet,
And, lo! I scent on northern hills the snow.”
The yearning swallow cries:
“Sun-land out yonder, I am weak to go,
My plumes are hardly set,
I am a nestling yet,
And, lo! I scent on northern hills the snow.”
Where chiefly woods have laid
Their arms of twisted shade,
Thy footsteps falter in a depth of leaves;
Thine eyes are very gray,
Thy raiment dim as they
Who stand afar in mist on leaden eves.
Their arms of twisted shade,
Thy footsteps falter in a depth of leaves;
Thine eyes are very gray,
Thy raiment dim as they
Who stand afar in mist on leaden eves.
Among the wine-deep whin,
Where red-wings fluster in,
She sits among the larches that I know,
Crumbling in each wan hand
A heath-spike's bells like sand,
Smiling a little, but her lips are slow.
Where red-wings fluster in,
She sits among the larches that I know,
Crumbling in each wan hand
A heath-spike's bells like sand,
Smiling a little, but her lips are slow.
My lady waits me there,
A wilful maid right fair,
Not glad to see or glad to let me stay.
She knows not her sweet mind,
Nor kind nor yet unkind,
A little sorry if I kept away.
A wilful maid right fair,
Not glad to see or glad to let me stay.
She knows not her sweet mind,
Nor kind nor yet unkind,
A little sorry if I kept away.
| The Collected Poems of Lord De Tabley | ||