Poems Lyrical and Dramatic By Evelyn Douglas [i.e. J. E. Barlas] |
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BALLADE.
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 | Poems Lyrical and Dramatic |  |
87
BALLADE.
The soul that once her power confesses
All other loveliness denies,
To ponder o'er each charm which blesses
The brow that beauty deifies,
A pale cloud of the summer skies
Fringed with the sunset of her hair,
For some sweet spell our gazing ties
To linger chained for ever there.
All other loveliness denies,
To ponder o'er each charm which blesses
The brow that beauty deifies,
A pale cloud of the summer skies
Fringed with the sunset of her hair,
For some sweet spell our gazing ties
To linger chained for ever there.
The hand which strays among her tresses
To lose itself in Paradise
Through fragrant tangled wildernesses,
Where the enamoured moonbeam lies,
Would pause, a willing sacrifice,
A bird within a golden snare,
And freedom from that hour despise
To linger chained for ever there.
To lose itself in Paradise
Through fragrant tangled wildernesses,
Where the enamoured moonbeam lies,
Would pause, a willing sacrifice,
A bird within a golden snare,
And freedom from that hour despise
To linger chained for ever there.
88
The lip which once her soft cheek presses,
Or tastes the incense of her sighs,
Lives as the flower by Spring's caresses,
And withers when the sunshine flies.
Still would it feel each blush that dyes
Her wan neck warm the panting air,
And leave the red wine others prize
To linger chained for ever there.
Or tastes the incense of her sighs,
Lives as the flower by Spring's caresses,
And withers when the sunshine flies.
Still would it feel each blush that dyes
Her wan neck warm the panting air,
And leave the red wine others prize
To linger chained for ever there.
L'Envoy.
Oh, that I were a thought to riseIn her pure dreams, her soul, her prayer,
The laughter lurking in her eyes,
To linger chained for ever there.
| Poems Lyrical and Dramatic | |