 | The Poems of Algernon Charles Swinburne |  |
137
TWO PRELUDES
I
LOHENGRIN
Love, out of the depth of things,
As a dewfall felt from above,
From the heaven whence only springs
Love,
As a dewfall felt from above,
From the heaven whence only springs
Love,
Love, heard from the heights thereof,
The clouds and the watersprings,
Draws close as the clouds remove.
The clouds and the watersprings,
Draws close as the clouds remove.
And the soul in it speaks and sings,
A swan sweet-souled as a dove,
An echo that only rings
Love.
A swan sweet-souled as a dove,
An echo that only rings
Love.
II
TRISTAN UND ISOLDE
Fate, out of the deep sea's gloom,
When a man's heart's pride grows great,
And nought seems now to foredoom
Fate,
When a man's heart's pride grows great,
And nought seems now to foredoom
Fate,
138
Fate, laden with fears in wait,
Draws close through the clouds that loom,
Till the soul see, all too late,
Draws close through the clouds that loom,
Till the soul see, all too late,
More dark than a dead world's tomb,
More high than the sheer dawn's gate,
More deep than the wide sea's womb,
Fate.
More high than the sheer dawn's gate,
More deep than the wide sea's womb,
Fate.
| The Poems of Algernon Charles Swinburne | |