 | The new minnesinger and other poems |  |
66
EYES
Thine eyes are like new-open'd flowers,
So fresh, so dewy-bright,
Their very darkness but embowers
The secret of the light.
So fresh, so dewy-bright,
Their very darkness but embowers
The secret of the light.
No restless fire is theirs, no doubt
Of some sweet heart to win;
Enough for them the world without,
The fairer world within.
Of some sweet heart to win;
Enough for them the world without,
The fairer world within.
They do not ask for human gaze,
For tears, for passion's sighs;
No tender doubtful hopes they raise,
Those clear, deep-blossom'd eyes.
For tears, for passion's sighs;
No tender doubtful hopes they raise,
Those clear, deep-blossom'd eyes.
67
But O they wear the springtide's smile,
And must for ever keep!
They may be shadow'd for a while,
A little while in sleep:
And must for ever keep!
They may be shadow'd for a while,
A little while in sleep:
But other shadow must not e'er
Their morn-like beauty cloud;
And death—it must not ever dare
Their lovely lights to shroud.
Their morn-like beauty cloud;
And death—it must not ever dare
Their lovely lights to shroud.
Oh, if I were the golden sun
Whose warmth around them glows,
I could not set when day was done
For fear my flowers should close!
Whose warmth around them glows,
I could not set when day was done
For fear my flowers should close!
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