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Poems and dramas of George Cabot Lodge

Lodge, George Cabot (1873-1909)

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VOLUME I
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THE SONG OF THE WAVE AND OTHER POEMS
  
[dedication]
  
EXORDIUM
  
A FIRST WORD
  
THE OCEAN SINGS
  
THE SONG OF THE WAVE
  
THE EAST WIND
  
THE NORSEMEN
  
“WAS HAT MAN DIR, DU ARMES KIND, GETHAN?”
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THE SONG OF THE SWORD
  
PRELUDE
  
INVOCATION
  
THE SONG
  
AFTER-WORD
  
BALLAD
  
DAWN
  
SUNSET
  
THE GATES OF LIFE
  
MOTHERS OF MEN
  
LOVE IN AGE
  
A MEMORY
  
AGE
  
EVENING
  
TO A WOMAN
  
THE END
  
NEANT
  
YOUTH
  
SERENADE
  
SONG
  
SONG
  
[Silent, alone! Around the wrinkled earth]
  
THEY
  
TO A BUST OF THE MATER DOLOROSA
  
TO PSYCHE
  
THE WILL
  
TUCKANUCK
  
PASTORAL
  
FALL
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SONNETS
 1. 
I TO SILENCE
 2. 
II TO THE EARTH
 3. 
III ESSEX
 4. 
IV ESSEX
 5. 
[V Toward thine Eastern window when the morn]
 6. 
VI FOG AT SEA
 7. 
VII NIRVANA
 8. 
VIII NIRVANA
 9. 
IX PASSING DAYS
 10. 
X ON AN ÆOLIAN HARP
 11. 
XI THE SPHINX
 12. 
[XII Whiles were, I almost seemed to understand]
 13. 
XIII TO THE MEMORY OF W. H. P.
 14. 
XIV INSOMNIA
 15. 
[XV I stood upon the old Earth's breast and gazed]
 16. 
[XVI Our lips are laughing while our eyes are wet]
 17. 
XVII THE GATE OF DREAMS
 18. 
XVIII TO GIACOMO LEOPARDI
 19. 
XIX TO J. T. S.
 20. 
XX TO THE CHILDREN OF THE MUSE
 21. 
XXI L'ENFANT DU SIÈCLE
 22. 
XXII AUX MODERNES
 23. 
XXIII AUX MODERNES
 24. 
[XXIV Of this that I have written none is mine]
 25. 
XXV TO A STATUE
 26. 
XXVI A DREAM
 27. 
XXVII “ELI! ELI! LAMA SABACTHANI!”
 28. 
XXVIII DANTE
 29. 
XXIX LOVE
 30. 
XXX LOVE
 31. 
[XXXI I dreamed of Thee, O Wonder, with the sheen]
 32. 
[XXXII She came once only in a dream of death]
 33. 
[XXXIII The low moon quivers on the hyacinth sky,]
 34. 
[XXXIV Tell me again, and then lift up to me]
 35. 
[XXXV Give me thy pitiful, soft-moulded hand]
 36. 
[XXXVI If I have touched thy heart, as Solomon]
 37. 
XXXVII TOO SOON
 38. 
XXXVIII TOO LATE
 39. 
XXXIX THE NIGHT-WIND
 45. 
[XL And they shall say to thee, “He died distraught]
  
A LAST WORD
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POEMS (1899–1902)
  
TO W. W.
  
OUTWARD
  
THE VOYAGE
  
A SONG FOR WAKING
  
THE GREEK GALLEY
  
THE WORLD'S TOO LONG ABOUT US
  
LES BOURGEOIS
  
A SONG FOR REVOLUTION
  
THE HERITAGE
  
THE PASSAGE
  
DAY AND DARK
  
RETROSPECT
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SONNETS
 1. 
[I Cut loose! Hoist sail! Leave the familiar shores]
 2. 
[II Would I were hopeful as the tender leaves]
 3. 
[III The earth is glad of travail and labouring]
 4. 
[IV How long the impassive feet of Time have trod]
 5. 
[V Most lone and loveliest star, in glimmering spheres]
 6. 
[VI Most lone and loveliest star, in glimmering spheres]
 7. 
[VII Mine is the bellowing, all-receiving sea]
 8. 
VIII THE POET
  
ODE TO THE SEA
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ODE TO THE EARTH
 1. 
I
 2. 
II
 3. 
III
 4. 
IV
 5. 
V
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THE JOURNEY ON
 1. 
I
 2. 
II
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FOR E. L.
 1. 
I
 2. 
II
 3. 
III
 4. 
IV
 5. 
V
 6. 
VI
 7. 
VII
 8. 
VIII
 9. 
IX
 10. 
X
 11. 
XI
 12. 
XII
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THE SONNETS OF ISHTAR
 1. 
[I I am the world's imperishable desire]
 2. 
[II My face lives always in the quenchless light]
 3. 
III Once was my name as fire, and once my wine
 4. 
IV For me, the eldest and the loveliest God,
  
AD SERVAM
  
TANNHÄUSER TO VENUS
  
TWILIGHT
  
SONG
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SONNETS
 1. 
[I Strong saturation of sea! O widely flown,]
 2. 
[II How many a life must thou the journey keep]
 3. 
[III Come home to me at last! Come home to me]
 4. 
[IV Hush, child! Be still and give thy fingers rest]
 5. 
[V Then cried the song of Life: “The flowers that fall]
  
DEATH IN YOUTH
  
LULLABY
  
AFTER DEATH
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WOMEN
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FIRST
 1. 
[I She said: “O take me! Let my life become]
 2. 
[II He said: “Enough! I take you and repay]
 3. 
[III She said: “Thank God! Beloved, I merely ask]
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SECOND
 1. 
[I “Sweet from my sin I rise before you, rise]
 2. 
[II He said, “I take you. Yet the laughter slips]
 3. 
[III “Heart to my heart,” she cried, “and mouth to mine]
  
AT DAYBREAK
  
THE FINAL WORD
  
TO C. L. G.
  
THE SONG OF MAN
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CAIN
 1. 
ACT I
 2. 
ACT II
 3. 
ACT III
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VOLUME II
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THE GREAT ADVENTURE
  
[dedication]
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I LIFE
 1. 
[I Pride, power and substance of created things]
 2. 
II PRIMAVERA
 3. 
[III Life gives the pass-key of his treasure-house]
 4. 
[IV Unspeakable are the felicities]
 5. 
[V We trod into the starlight, into the night]
 6. 
[VI Twilight of Truth's unfettered wanderings]
 7. 
VII TUCKANUCK
 8. 
[VIII Powerful, patient, vast serenity ]
 9. 
[IX Shall we return, return once more and stand ]
 10. 
[X There may we learn at daybreak and nightfall, ]
 11. 
[XI We loved too perfectly for praise ]
 12. 
[XII We loved the illimitable night ]
 13. 
[XIII We found a symbol and significance ]
 14. 
[XIV How often in the tranquil evenings ]
 15. 
[XV O South-wind, silvered by the crescent moon ]
 16. 
[XVI In some clear, crystalline, calm-murmuring ]
 17. 
XVII ODYSSEUS
 18. 
XVIII KALYPSO
 19. 
XIX EGYPT
 20. 
[XX In Time's cathedral Memory, like a ghost]
 21. 
[XXI O Memory, Mistress of the heart's despair]
 22. 
[XXII. Days that have been and nevermore shall be]
 23. 
XXIII QUESTIONS
 24. 
XXIV TO NIGHT
 25. 
[XXV Thus were our lives resolved! “The Dawn,” we said]
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II LOVE
  
[dedication]
 1. 
[I O sea, nature's eternal palimpsest,]
 2. 
[II She is the sea's star-smitten amethyst;]
 3. 
[III Thunder, like thunder of the wind-scourged sea,]
 4. 
[IV Her soul is free from Time's fantastic trance:]
 5. 
[V Her days are like the white processional]
 6. 
[VI Her hair is hued like shadow where light is]
 7. 
[VII I give my whole life for her dwelling-place]
 8. 
[VIII She moulded life, with hands subtle and wise,]
 9. 
[IX That day of the innumerable days]
 10. 
[X In the shadow and glamour of the ways]
 11. 
[XI My lips were bruised against her lips, my eyes]
 12. 
[XII Her breast is perfumed and profound as sleep]
 13. 
[XIII We shared the silent faith and truth of things]
 14. 
[XIV My lips shut hard against her lyric throat]
 15. 
[XV She stood in the weird moonlight of a dream]
 16. 
[XVI Her eyes are spacious as the starlight is]
 17. 
[XVII We strayed in Time's dream-haunted night]
 18. 
[XVIII We loved the moon in strange sweet ways]
 19. 
[XIX She said: “Heart breaks—yet, strangely, into song]
 20. 
[XX When she returns to me, when there is sound]
 21. 
[XXI What save her memory has Time left to me]
 22. 
[XXII Remembrance is a desolate loneliness]
 23. 
[XXIII I know in some far, fabled place]
 24. 
[XXIV I thought she came in hushed and secret wise]
 25. 
[XXV Vainly the days return, in vain by night]
 26. 
[XXVI She said: “I know the miracle is this]
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III DEATH
  
TRUMBULL STICKNEY OCTOBER 11TH MCMIV
 1. 
[I The House of Life has many mansions, where]
 2. 
[II “He sought, believed, dared, found and bore away]
 3. 
[III “Nothing is spared,” he said, “nothing is lost]
 4. 
[IV “That we, however least, however less]
 5. 
[V He felt the blind, lost loneliness increase]
 6. 
[VI He said: “What death leaves derelict is dead]
 7. 
[VII “We serve no God, nor in the retinue]
 8. 
[VIII I well remember how one yesterday]
 9. 
[IX “At least,” he said, “we spent with Socrates]
 10. 
[X He said: “We are the Great Adventurers,]
 11. 
[XI Above his heart the rose is red]
 12. 
[XII We knew he lived alone with loneliness]
 13. 
[XIII In silence, solitude and stern surmise]
 14. 
[XIV At last the light leaped in his patient eyes]
 15. 
[XV With life and lips he said tremendous things]
 16. 
[XVI Times were when, reeling on his eminence]
 17. 
[XVII I saw that day in his dead eyes]
 18. 
[XVIII There moved a Presence always by his side]
 19. 
[XIX Because for some tremendous cause he chose]
 20. 
[XX All thro' the night most strange it was to see]
 21. 
[XXI The stately silence, the perpetual peace]
 22. 
[XXII We said no word of all men use to say]
 23. 
[XXIII We bore the chill, persistent dread]
 24. 
XXIV DAYS
 25. 
[XXV O Memory, Lord of broken and broadcast]
 26. 
[XXVI It is not that we loved him, as in sooth]
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THE SOUL'S INHERITANCE AND OTHER POEMS
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THE SOUL'S INHERITANCE
 1. 
I
 2. 
II
 3. 
III
 4. 
IV
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PILGRIMS
 1. 
I
 2. 
II
 3. 
III
 4. 
IV
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LIFE IN LOVE
 1. 
I
 2. 
II
 3. 
III
 4. 
IV
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LOVE IN LIFE
 1. 
I
 2. 
II
 3. 
III
 4. 
IV
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UNISON
 1. 
I
 2. 
II
 3. 
III
 4. 
IV
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STRENGTH AND SOLITUDE
 1. 
I
 2. 
II
 3. 
III
 4. 
IV
  
THE NOCTAMBULIST
  
FAITH
  
THE CITY
  
LOWER NEW YORK
  
[We have loathed him, we have loved him, we have lived for him and died for him]
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SUN, MOON AND STARS
 1. 
I THE SUN
 2. 
II THE MOON
 3. 
III THE STARS
  
ILION
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HERAKLES
  
[prologue]
  
[castlist]
 1. 
FIRST SCENE
 2. 
SECOND SCENE
 3. 
THIRD SCENE
 4. 
FOURTH SCENE
 5. 
FIFTH SCENE
 6. 
SIXTH SCENE
 7. 
SEVENTH SCENE
 8. 
EIGHTH SCENE
 9. 
NINTH SCENE
 10. 
TENTH SCENE
 11. 
ELEVENTH SCENE
 12. 
TWELFTH SCENE

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38

LOVE IN AGE

It was never more than a face,
An impression merely; a bit
Of failing landscape—her grace
Just caught as the rain-cloud split
And the air grew warm a space.
And now it is many years,
And I, with my thin hair gray,
Face wrinkled—perhaps by tears!—
'T is strange how my yesterday
Of dead youth reappears.
I wonder if after all
I've any right to complain!
As the shadows weave on the wall,
And we feel the wash of rain
Through the light grown thin and small;
As we sit and cherish the hearth,
While the dead come one by one
And mime their long-quenched mirth,
I feel I have grown alone
And cold on a living earth.
39

Well, one of the dear mute things
That climb up out of the dark
Is this face, this moment that clings
To life and me, like a spark
That all the dead sunlight flings.
Just rain-starred, blowing grass,
The scent of the fluent air,
Her profile—eyes like glass
That kept a jewel, hair
All mystery—I thought to pass
And she turned—one look to me
Carelessly, then away
Out over the flat gray sea
Where the white squall fled away
And the light broke scatteredly.
And then I knew that her face
Was all in my blood; half-blind,
I paused, eyes closed, a space—
And after?—naught but wind
And the clouds blown fine as lace.
And there—the story's told;
And hardly worth, you'll say—
Perhaps to yourself: “He's old
And wanders”—yet far away
40

I know that the days were gold
As the past says, “I shall repay.”
And the memory, three parts grief,
Is exquisite and real
With a joy unlived; but chief,
As the warm drops heartward steal,
With a present strange belief
That all we have been and done
And lived and suffered and loved
Comes back as we sit alone
In the old years, sure and proved,
And gives us the crown we won.
And says, “The living was worth;
The little laugh, much tears,
The fight ye fought on earth,
All come in the latter years
More real in a richer birth.”
Ah! there's the old, old pain—
I stand in the sultry air
And think I see again,
Dimly, her wind-blown hair
Through the drift of seaward rain.
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