 | Songs of the Seasons |  |
The Shepherd and his fleecy charge,
The simple watcher of the kine
Pasturing by the river's marge,
The Forest Ranger and the Deer
Under his ward and discipline,
Have well considered me, and steer
Their courses by my voice and sign.
The Eagle throned upon the crag,
The raven wheeling in the sky,
Acknowledge my uplifted flag,
And to my challenger reply.
Sounds come from places in whose heart
Silence had stored its mouldering urns;
And voices out of hollows start
To torture and affright the ear,
Or calm and ravish it, by turns.
Oh Spring! my long-imprisoned ward!
To whom redemption draweth near,
Consider how thy wooer woos—
How of his treasures (thou to choose)
The rarest are set forth, and how,
To win thine over-chaste regard,
He hath put all his energy
To task—the hand, the heart, the brow—
To keep dominion over thee!
The simple watcher of the kine
Pasturing by the river's marge,
The Forest Ranger and the Deer
Under his ward and discipline,
Have well considered me, and steer
Their courses by my voice and sign.
The Eagle throned upon the crag,
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Acknowledge my uplifted flag,
And to my challenger reply.
Sounds come from places in whose heart
Silence had stored its mouldering urns;
And voices out of hollows start
To torture and affright the ear,
Or calm and ravish it, by turns.
Oh Spring! my long-imprisoned ward!
To whom redemption draweth near,
Consider how thy wooer woos—
How of his treasures (thou to choose)
The rarest are set forth, and how,
To win thine over-chaste regard,
He hath put all his energy
To task—the hand, the heart, the brow—
To keep dominion over thee!
Last effort this! I have made pact
With my Snow Queen, who, when she shews,
Attracts as Presences attract
Through whom the sacred ichor flows—
By virtue of her chastity,
By virtue of the calm repose
Befitting conscious sovereignty
That sits at ease upon her brows.
With my Snow Queen, who, when she shews,
Attracts as Presences attract
Through whom the sacred ichor flows—
By virtue of her chastity,
By virtue of the calm repose
Befitting conscious sovereignty
That sits at ease upon her brows.
O consort mine! whom marriage vows
Bound to obedience, love, and honour,
Beseeching be in my behalf,
Or else commanding; for the staff
Fails me that propp'd—the sceptre, too,
Is heavy in my grasp; some few
Short hours are left us, and upon her,
When these are gone, the crown descends.
Give her thy token of amends;
Prepare the coronation Feast
And summon the anointing priest,
Bring all of thy regard to bear
On her, the adopted of my choosing,
As chaste, as royal, and as fair
As any shape in poet's musing;
Invest her with a robe of grace
Thou only can'st design and fashion,
Befitting faultless form, and face
Whose only fault is want of passion.
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Beseeching be in my behalf,
Or else commanding; for the staff
Fails me that propp'd—the sceptre, too,
Is heavy in my grasp; some few
Short hours are left us, and upon her,
When these are gone, the crown descends.
Give her thy token of amends;
Prepare the coronation Feast
And summon the anointing priest,
Bring all of thy regard to bear
On her, the adopted of my choosing,
As chaste, as royal, and as fair
As any shape in poet's musing;
Invest her with a robe of grace
Thou only can'st design and fashion,
Befitting faultless form, and face
Whose only fault is want of passion.
She lists, and listening obeys,
If 'tis obedience to command,
For, at the waving of her hand,
Are cast upon the waiting land
The tokens of her means and ways:
As moltings of angelic wings,
The down of cherubs, dropt in course
Of their celestial wanderings,
So, emblematic of their source
In the abodes of hallowed pleasure,
Descend the snow-flakes, all at leisure.
If 'tis obedience to command,
For, at the waving of her hand,
Are cast upon the waiting land
The tokens of her means and ways:
As moltings of angelic wings,
The down of cherubs, dropt in course
Of their celestial wanderings,
So, emblematic of their source
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Descend the snow-flakes, all at leisure.
Alas! my throne is tottering!
Awry the crown! My Snow Queen's power
Dissolves with the dissolving hour;
And, yielding to the breath of Spring,
The Vestals in her train have doffed
Allegiance with the outer garb.
Hard natures are becoming soft,
And out of chastity superb
And cold, there emanates
The flow that bursts our crystal gates.
Awry the crown! My Snow Queen's power
Dissolves with the dissolving hour;
And, yielding to the breath of Spring,
The Vestals in her train have doffed
Allegiance with the outer garb.
Hard natures are becoming soft,
And out of chastity superb
And cold, there emanates
The flow that bursts our crystal gates.
In vain, in vain, wind, sleet, and hail!
In vain the elemental war!
Nor drift nor cloud is of avail
To trouble her ascendant star!
The armies of my Snow Queen—where?
The mighty forces on the hill,
Assembled—sworn to do and dare—
That up to Heaven's own window sill
Clomb, and in shining phalanxes
Guarded the passes and the slopes—
Where are they? Scattered with my hopes—
Defeated—driven to the seas!
In vain the elemental war!
Nor drift nor cloud is of avail
To trouble her ascendant star!
The armies of my Snow Queen—where?
The mighty forces on the hill,
Assembled—sworn to do and dare—
That up to Heaven's own window sill
Clomb, and in shining phalanxes
Guarded the passes and the slopes—
Where are they? Scattered with my hopes—
Defeated—driven to the seas!
O Spring! Enchantress! spells thou hast
Surpassing the Magician's art—
Spells woven in a prisoned heart
That work out Liberty at last.
The law divine which sanction gave
To bind, prevails to ransom Thee;
So all great aimings to enslave
Provoke, alike from cell and grave,
The trumpet-shout of Liberty.
46
Spells woven in a prisoned heart
That work out Liberty at last.
The law divine which sanction gave
To bind, prevails to ransom Thee;
So all great aimings to enslave
Provoke, alike from cell and grave,
The trumpet-shout of Liberty.
I take my turn: go free, fair Ward!
Go free, and scatter Earth with flowers,
Moisten and mellow it with showers!
Summer will come and parch the sward,
And wither up thy promised joys;
Summer will come, and stay the trill
Of the aspiring lark, unvoice
The merle, and disenchant both hill
And grove of all their winsome charms.
Summer will come, and by her arms
Encircled,—on her breast of fire,
Inhaling meretricious breath,
Consenting to an early death,
Thou, my true sweet-heart, wilt expire!
Go free, and scatter Earth with flowers,
Moisten and mellow it with showers!
Summer will come and parch the sward,
And wither up thy promised joys;
Summer will come, and stay the trill
Of the aspiring lark, unvoice
The merle, and disenchant both hill
And grove of all their winsome charms.
Summer will come, and by her arms
Encircled,—on her breast of fire,
Inhaling meretricious breath,
Consenting to an early death,
Thou, my true sweet-heart, wilt expire!
But I, when from the temperate zone
Driv'n by thy petulance and scorn,
Go back to an unchalleng'd throne
With my Snow Queen; nor eve nor morn
Prevail within the Arctic Ring:
Only the Phantom of a Spring
Flutters about our Palaces—
Mayhap, thine unappeased ghost
Let loose to wander with the lost!
No imprint marks the Frozen seas
Crossed by this pallid visitor,
The pressure of her foot shows not
In flowers or verdure any more;
Nor with its presence are there brought
Regalements to the ear and eye,
Nor perfumes of delicious kind
That savour of Virginity.
Yet in my inmost heart enshrined
A truer image I bear forth
To my bleak Empire in the North
Of thee, my long-imprisoned Ward;
And sitting on its desolate Throne,
My melting moods—and such there be,
When I float icebergs out to sea,
When I let brave explorers free,
And at God's bidding sacrifice
My will, and bow to the All-Wise—
Lead me, fair Spring! to muse on Thee.
Driv'n by thy petulance and scorn,
Go back to an unchalleng'd throne
With my Snow Queen; nor eve nor morn
47
Only the Phantom of a Spring
Flutters about our Palaces—
Mayhap, thine unappeased ghost
Let loose to wander with the lost!
No imprint marks the Frozen seas
Crossed by this pallid visitor,
The pressure of her foot shows not
In flowers or verdure any more;
Nor with its presence are there brought
Regalements to the ear and eye,
Nor perfumes of delicious kind
That savour of Virginity.
Yet in my inmost heart enshrined
A truer image I bear forth
To my bleak Empire in the North
Of thee, my long-imprisoned Ward;
And sitting on its desolate Throne,
My melting moods—and such there be,
When I float icebergs out to sea,
When I let brave explorers free,
And at God's bidding sacrifice
My will, and bow to the All-Wise—
Lead me, fair Spring! to muse on Thee.
In this wide Empire of mine own
My rule is absolute, and none,
Even the Fire King, dare intrude,
Much less my sovereignty dispute.
Summer in vain hath urged her suit,
And Autumn, tendering ruddy fruit,
Towards that realm of solitude
Presses in vain! On wall of brass,
In characters of adamant,
(Such cypher only angels plant),
Th' inscription runs—“Thou shalt not pass.”
My rule is absolute, and none,
Even the Fire King, dare intrude,
48
Summer in vain hath urged her suit,
And Autumn, tendering ruddy fruit,
Towards that realm of solitude
Presses in vain! On wall of brass,
In characters of adamant,
(Such cypher only angels plant),
Th' inscription runs—“Thou shalt not pass.”
On my high feast days, to caress
The footstool of our Monarchy,
Thousands of living creatures press—
A medley of strange courtiers,
Blending with suave docility
And tenderness the rude reverse;
In visage and demeanor strange,
Unlike the life of temperate range!
The footstool of our Monarchy,
Thousands of living creatures press—
A medley of strange courtiers,
Blending with suave docility
And tenderness the rude reverse;
In visage and demeanor strange,
Unlike the life of temperate range!
My wondrous realm, to be devoid
Of monsters would be incomplete,
And without homage at my feet
Tendered, a kingdom unenjoyed.
Of monsters would be incomplete,
And without homage at my feet
Tendered, a kingdom unenjoyed.
In these high court days, I let drift
The dancing waves, and winds untie
Made captive in my warrings south:
Not like old Boreas, rude and swift,
These breathings of a balmy mouth,
Nor like the billows of his wrath
Made animate with show of power
That fain would intercept my path,
Unwitting of their destiny
And the inevitable hour.
The dancing waves, and winds untie
Made captive in my warrings south:
Not like old Boreas, rude and swift,
These breathings of a balmy mouth,
49
Made animate with show of power
That fain would intercept my path,
Unwitting of their destiny
And the inevitable hour.
Go free, ye winds! ye waves, go free!
Mine is no court effeminate,
I care not to uphold my state
By craft of show or luxury,
I care not that sooth things, like you,
Should in my stately prisons pine,
And with soft flatteries incline
My servitors to play th' untrue;
Rather than that, take Liberty!
More welcome your release to me
Than the great peril and the cost
Which wait upon old customs cross'd,
And manners of simplicity
Perverted, fallen through, and lost.
Mine is no court effeminate,
I care not to uphold my state
By craft of show or luxury,
I care not that sooth things, like you,
Should in my stately prisons pine,
And with soft flatteries incline
My servitors to play th' untrue;
Rather than that, take Liberty!
More welcome your release to me
Than the great peril and the cost
Which wait upon old customs cross'd,
And manners of simplicity
Perverted, fallen through, and lost.
With ransom I my festival
Combine, for ransom is delight,
The highest joy of conquering might—
The noblest pride of chivalry
Is the unloosing of the thrall!
Combine, for ransom is delight,
The highest joy of conquering might—
The noblest pride of chivalry
Is the unloosing of the thrall!
| Songs of the Seasons | |