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The coming of love

Rhona Boswell's story and other poems: By Theodore Watts-Dunton
Watts-Dunton, Theodore (1832-1914)
  
[dedication]

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[section]
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THE COMING OF LOVE
collapse sectionI. 
Part I PERCY BEFORE THE COMING OF LOVE
 I. 
I A STARRY NIGHT AT SEA
 II. 
II NATURE'S FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH
 III. 
III. THE LANGUAGE OF NATURE'S FRAGRANCY.
 IV. 
IV LOVE BRINGS WARNING OF NATURA MALIGNA.
 V. 
V MOTHER CAREY'S CHICKEN
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VI. SCENE: RINGTON PINGLE.
  
KAS-KAIRIN' CHORUS.
 VII. 
VII. NATURA BENIGNA REVEALED THROUGH A GYPSY CHILD.
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Part II THE DAUGHTER OF THE SUNRISE
 I. 
I RHONA'S FIRST KISS
 II. 
II THE GOLDEN HAND
 III. 
III RHONA'S LOVE LETTER AFTER PERCY'S FIRST STAY IN GYPSY DELL
 IV. 
IV PERCY READING THE LETTER AT RINGTON MANOR
 V. 
V EVENING ON THE RIVER
 VI. 
VI THE NATURE WORSHIPPER AND WOMAN'S WITCHERY
 VII. 
VII. “KISSING THE MAY BUDS.”
 VIII. 
VIII OCEAN-SORCERY
 IX. 
IX “GYPSY HEATHER.”
 X. 
X THE MUSIC OF NATURA MYSTICA
 XI. 
XI. THE HAUNTED GIRL.
collapse sectionXII. 
XII LOVE'S CALENTURE
  
[subsection]
  
[subsection]
  
[subsection]
  
THE LETTER
 XIII. 
XIII THE FIRST DUKKERIPEN OF THE STARS
 XIV. 
XIV THE PROMISE OF THE SUNRISE
 XV. 
XV THE MIRRORED STARS AGAIN
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XVI THE PROMISE OF THE SUNRISE RENEWED
  
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[subsection]
  
THE LARK RISING FROM THE HAY-FIELD.
  
THE BIRDS OF THE DINGLE.
  
THE SPIRIT OF THE SUNRISE.
 XVII. 
XVII NATURA MALIGNA
 XVIII. 
XVIII THE PROMISE AGAIN RENEWED
 XIX. 
XIX NEW YEAR'S EVE IN THE ALPS.
 XX. 
XX NATURA BENIGNA
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CHRISTMAS AT THE MERMAID
  
THE EVENING AFTER WILL'S RETURN TO STRATFORD-ON-AVON
  
ON SEEING KIT MARLOWE SLAIN AT DEPTFORD
  
DAVID GWYNN'S STORY OF HOW HE AND THE GOLDEN SKELETON CRIPPLED THE GREAT ARMADA SAILING OUT
  
WASSAIL CHORUS.
  
A TALK ON WATERLOO BRIDGE
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MISCELLANEOUS POEMS
  
A DEAD POET
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A GRAVE BY THE SEA
 I. 
I
 II. 
II
 III. 
III
 IV. 
IV
 V. 
V
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THE OMNIPOTENCE OF LOVE
 I. 
I THE SLAVE GIRL'S PROGRESS TO PARADISE
 II. 
II THE BEDOUIN-CHILD
  
JOHN THE PILGRIM
  
COLUMBUS
  
BEATRICE
  
THE THREE FAUSTS
  
TOAST TO OMAR KHAYYÀM
  
PRAYER TO THE WINDS
  
QUEEN KATHERINE
  
DICKENS RETURNS ON CHRISTMAS DAY
  
THE CHRISTMAS TREE AT “THE PINES”
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PROPHETIC PICTURES AT VENICE
 I. 
I THE WALTZ AT THE VENETIAN BALL
 II. 
II THE TEMPTATION
 III. 
III PROPHETIC PICTURES ON THE WALLS.
 IV. 
IV PROPHECY OF THE FIRST PICTURE
 V. 
V PROPHECY OF THE SECOND PICTURE
 VI. 
VI PROPHECY OF THE THIRD PICTURE
  
NEW YEAR'S MORNING, 1867, AFTER THE LIBERATION OF VENICE
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WHAT THE SILENT VOICES SAID
 I. 
I IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY
 II. 
II THE GOLDEN HAND
 III. 
III THE GOLDEN SCROLL
 IV. 
IV THE MINSTER SPIRITS
 V. 
V THE SILENT VOICES
 VI. 
VI WHAT THE VOICES SAID
  
COLERIDGE
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CHRISTINA ROSSETTI
 I. 
I
 II. 
II
  
TO A SLEEPER AT ROME
  
IN A GRAVEYARD
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TWO LETTERS TO A FRIEND
 I. 
Letter I. AFTER THE WEDDING
 II. 
Letter II. AFTER DEATH'S MOCKERY
  
ANCESTRAL MEMORY
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APOLLO IN PARIS
 I. 
I
 II. 
II
 III. 
III
  
ENVOY.
  
AT THE THÉATRE FRANÇAIS
  
TO MADAME CARNOT
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THE LAST WALK FROM BOAR'S HILL
 I. 
I
 II. 
II
 III. 
III
  
THE OCTOPUS OF THE GOLDEN ISLES
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LOVE HOLDS OF HEAVEN IN FEE
 I. 
I
 II. 
II
  
THE WOOD-HAUNTER'S DREAM
  
MIDSHIPMAN LANYON
  
A REMINISCENCE OF THE OPEN-AIR PLAYS
  
LECONTE DE LISLE
  
TO BRITAIN AND AMERICA
  
TO MRS. GARFIELD

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53

VIII
OCEAN-SORCERY

(Percy on the deck of “The Petrel” after he has been separated from Rhona.)
Was it indeed but two sweet years ago
When once a sailor on a star-lit sea
Babbled about its spell, and did not know
How Love makes Nature breathe her poesy?
When did the sea-spell vanish? On that day
When his beloved petrel flew away.
But as for them who bade him, made him, come,
Though love had crowned him man, to thee, wild Ocean,
Prated of some nepenthe in thy foam
To quell his love as by a magic potion—
Some anodyne within thy billowy swirl
To soothe the body—make the soul forget
Its guileless passion for a “guileful girl”
54

Whose beauty caught him in a “Gypsy net”—
They should be here to see these billows heaving
Beneath yon Southern Cross that holds the sky,
They should be here to see how thou art weaving
Pictures of home by ocean-sorcery!
A dingle's fragrance breathed from every billow,
Sweeter than Orient frankincense and myrrh—
A slim girl-angler shown beneath a willow,
Leaning against its mossy bole for pillow,
Must needs recall his every thought to her!
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