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University of Virginia Library

The poems and sonnets of Louise Chandler Moulton

Moulton, Louise Chandler (1835-1908)

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SWALLOW-FLIGHTS

SWALLOW-FLIGHTS.

LONG IS THE WAY.

OUT IN THE SNOW.

SOME DAY OR OTHER.

THROUGH A WINDOW.

WIFE TO HUSBAND.

AFTER THE MOUNTAINS.

ALONE BY THE BAY.

MIDSUMMER IN NEW ENGLAND.

THE HOUSE OF DEATH.

“SHE WAS WON IN AN IDLE DAY.”

THE SONG OF A SUMMER.

WHAT SHE SAID IN HER TOMB.

A SUMMER'S GHOST.

LOVER AND FRIEND HAST THOU PUT FAR FROM ME.

BEAUTY FOR ASHES.

TO A LADY IN A PICTURE.

DOWN THE RIVER.

I FAIN WOULD GO.

THE SPRING IS LATE.

SELFISH PRAYER.

IF I COULD KEEP HER SO.

ANNIE'S DAUGHTER.

LOOKING INTO THE WELL.

A SONG IN THE WOOD.

THE HOUSE IN THE MEADOW.

FROM DUSK TO DAWN.

SOMEBODY'S CHILD.

A WOMAN'S WAITING.

JOHN A. ANDREW.

THE COUNTRY OF “IF.”

FOR CUPID DEAD.

WE LAY US DOWN TO SLEEP.

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1.

[I. You thought, O Love, you loved me then, I know]

2.

[II. You surely must remember, though to-day]

LOVE'S FORGIVENESS.

IN TIME TO COME.

A SUMMER'S GROWTH.

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IN THE GARDEN OF DREAMS.

IN THE GARDEN OF DREAMS.

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COME BACK, DEAR DAYS.

LOVE'S RESURRECTION DAY.

THE STRENGTH OF THE HILLS.

“IF THERE WERE DREAMS TO SELL.”

WHEN DAY WAS DONE.

“THEIR CANDLES ARE ALL OUT.”

TO MISTRESS ROSE.

THE GHOST'S RETURN.

A GIRL'S FUNERAL IN MILAN.

THE COQUETTE'S DEFENCE.

OLD JONES IS DEAD.

GRANDMAMMA'S WARNING.

A LITTLE COMEDY.

AT FIVE O'CLOCK.

RED AND WHITE ROSES.

THE ROSE SHE WORE IN WINTER.

SHALL I NOT KNOW?

FOR A BIRTHDAY.

A MOOD OF LOVE.

THE ROSES OF LA GARRAYE.

“THE KING IS DEAD, LONG LIVE THE KING.”

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Sonnets in Many Moods.

LOVE'S EMPTY HOUSE.

VOICES ON THE WIND.

THE CUP OF DEATH.

TO A MODERN POET.

THE LAST GOOD-BY.

FUTURE FORGIVENESS.

A WOMAN'S KNOWLEDGE.

BEYOND SIGHT AND SOUND.

TO ONE WHO HAS LOVED OFTEN.

BEFORE THE SHRINE.

A GHOST'S QUESTION.

A FALLEN HOUSE.

LAURA SLEEPING.

TO ONE MOST UNHAPPY.

IN THE COURT OF THE LIONS:

BY MARCH WIND LED.

MY MOTHER'S PICTURE.

AT A RUINED ABBEY.

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His Second Wife Speaks.

1.

2.

3.

III. A SECOND PLACE.

4.

IV. ALONE IN DEATH.

5.

V. FACE TO FACE.

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The Still Hour.

IN THE PINE WOODS AT MARIENBAD.

HELP THOU MINE UNBELIEF!

SHALL I LOOK BACK?

STRAIGHT ON TO PORT.

A PRAYER IN SORROW.

ON HOMEWARD WING.

A PRAYER FOR LIGHT.

A RAINY AFTERNOON:

HARK, TEN THOUSAND HARPS AND VOICES!

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RALPH WALDO EMERSON.

BEHIND THE MIST:

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1.

[I. Her gentle ghost is with me everywhere]

2.

[II. Now with the summer she has come again]

3.

[III. Thou wilt not speak! Day after silent day]

AT END OF PAIN.

A SILENT GUEST.

LOUISA M. ALCOTT.

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THE SPRING IS HERE.

HEART, SAD HEART.

THE SHADOW DANCE.

TO JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER,

“WITH THOSE CLEAR EYES.”

HOW COULD I TELL?

WHEN LOVE WAS YOUNG.

IF LOVE COULD LAST.

O SWEETEST MAID!

IF YOU WERE HERE.

SUCH JOY IT WAS.

WE LOVED SO WELL.

SO BLITHELY ROSE.

LOVE PLUMES HIS WINGS.

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AT THE WIND'S WILL.

AT THE WIND'S WILL.

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ON A ROSE PRESSED IN A BOOK.

THE SUN IS LOW.

THE SECRET OF ARCADY.

AT NIGHT'S HIGH NOON.

THE VOICE OF SPRING.

WHEN LOVE IS YOUNG.

AT THE END.

WHEN YOU ARE DEAD.

THE BIRDS AND I.

THE BIRDS COME BACK.

A WINTER'S DAWN.

DEAD MEN'S HOLIDAY.

WHEN YOU WERE HERE.

BECAUSE IT IS THE SPRING.

A VIOLET SPEAKS.

LEGEND OF A TOMB IN FLORENCE.

THE SUMMER'S QUEEN.

BEND LOW AND HARK.

A SONG FOR ROSALYS.

THE GENTLE GHOST OF JOY.

WHEN I WANDER AWAY WITH DEATH.

HAS LAVISH SUMMER BROUGHT THE ROSE?

THE MOOD OF A MAN.

JUNE'S DAUGHTER.

A SUMMER WOOING.

I HAVE CALLED THEE MANY A NIGHT.

A WHISPER TO THE MOON.

IN VENICE ONCE.

MY QUEEN OF MAY.

WHERE THE NIGHT'S PALE ROSES BLOW.

I HEARD A CRY IN THE NIGHT.

THE NAME ON A DOOR.

THE COSTLIEST GIFT.

TO HER WHO KNOWS.

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1.

I. LAND OF MY DREAMS.

2.

II. THOUGH WE WERE DUST.

3.

III. THE ROSE OF DAWN.

4.

IV. THOU REIGNEST STILL.

5.

V. TIME'S PRISONER.

6.

VI. “HAVE I NOT LEARNED TO LIVE WITHOUT THEE YET?”

7.

VII. A HEAVENLY BIRTHDAY.

8.

9.

IX. A SILENT VOICE.

10.

X. WERE BUT MY SPIRIT LOOSED UPON THE AIR.

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Of Life and Love.

THE LIFE-MASK OF KEATS.

SHALL I COMPLAIN?

THE NEW YEAR DAWNS.

OH, TRAVELLER BY UNACCUSTOMED WAYS.

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1.

I. GREAT LOVE IS HUMBLE.

2.

II. GREAT LOVE IS PROUD.

MIDWINTER FLOWERS.

WHEN WE CONFRONT THE VASTNESS OF THE NIGHT.

ON MEETING A SAILING VESSEL IN MID-OCEAN.

MIDNIGHT AT SEA.

YET, STRANGELY BEAUTIFUL YOUR FACE I FIND.

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A SUMMER'S DREAM.

1.

[I. What that dead summer was my heart knows well]

2.

[II. So Summer, with her slow, reluctant feet]

TO PRINCE ORIC.

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A POET'S SECOND LOVE.

1.

[I. I share your heart with her, its former Queen]

2.

[II. Not mine the spell to charm your lute to song]

A PLEA FOR THE OLD YEAR.

WHEN I AM DEAD.

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In Quest of Light.

MY FATHER'S HOUSE.

THE SONG OF THE STARS.

A QUESTION: AT SEA.

THE LAND OF GOLD.

A PRAYER IN THE DARK.

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At Death's Postern.

ACROSS THE SEA.

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ROBERT BROWNING.

1.

2.

II. THE POET OF HUMAN LIFE.

OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES.

SUMMONED BY THE KING.

PHILIP BOURKE MARSTON.

THE CLOSED GATE.

A DREAM IN THE NIGHT.

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Rondels and Rondeaux.

THOUGH WE REPENT.

THE SPRING IS HERE.

TO THE GHOST OF MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS.

AFTER SUPPING WITH A POET.

ROSAMOND'S ROSE.

TO A FAIR LADY.

TWO THRUSHES MET.

LOVE MAKES THE SPRING.

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THE KING DETHRONED.

I STUDIED LIFE.

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ADDITIONAL POEMS.

TO JULIA WARD HOWE.

IF ONCE, JUST ONCE.

THE BOLD GHOST.

FOR EASTER MORN.

LIFE'S SEASONS.

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297

AT THE END.

Time was when Love's dear ways I used to know—
That time 's at end, and Love has passed me by:
Be merciful, dear God, and let me die—
How can I lift my head from this last blow?

I cannot bear this life whence Faith has fled—
This jostling world in which I walk alone—
Where through long, lonesome nights old memories moan,
With human voices, that the dead is dead.

I cannot bear to meet the day's cold eyes—
The lonesome nights are bitter with my tears—
Shuddering I face the empty hideous years,
Sure that no trumpet 's call will bid my dead arise.

Since Love 's at end, be merciful, oh God!. ...
I ask no new-born hope, but only this,—
That I may die as died that vanished bliss,
And hide my fruitless pain 'neath some green sod.

298

Yet there—if the strong soul in me live on—
How deep soe'er the grave, what hope of rest?
Still shall I be discrowned and dispossest,
And find new tortures with new life begun.

The Heavens are deaf! No answer comes to prayer—
I face the cold scorn of the risen day—
Since Love that was my life has turned away,
And left me for companion my Despair.