 | Ailes d'Alouette |  |
WHEN LIKE A LARK THE SOVL VPSPRINGS
OF VERSE SHE MAKES HER AIRY WINGS
OH MAY THESE VERSES PAIR AND PAIR
SOME HEART IN HEAVENWARD FLIGHT VPBEAR
OF VERSE SHE MAKES HER AIRY WINGS
OH MAY THESE VERSES PAIR AND PAIR
SOME HEART IN HEAVENWARD FLIGHT VPBEAR
1
THE NIGHT HAS A THOVSAND EYES
The
night has a thousand eyes,
And the day but one;
Yet the light of the bright world dies
With the dying sun.
And the day but one;
Yet the light of the bright world dies
With the dying sun.
The mind has a thousand eyes,
And the heart but one;
Yet the light of a whole life dies
When love is done.
And the heart but one;
Yet the light of a whole life dies
When love is done.
2
IN AN ALBVM
AS a faded flower
Found in a book
Brings back some hour,
Some word or look;
Found in a book
Brings back some hour,
Some word or look;
So, though ill-wrought
My verses be,
May they bring one thought
Of thy friend to thee!
My verses be,
May they bring one thought
Of thy friend to thee!
3
A VALENTINE
WHAT is my wish for thee, sweet Valentine?
A song of Spring, while Winter yet is here,
Heralding Summer in the silent year,
Be thine!
A song of Spring, while Winter yet is here,
Heralding Summer in the silent year,
Be thine!
And for myself canst thou my wish divine?
To think my greeting may be in thy sight
Welcome as Summer's heralds,—this delight
Be mine!
To think my greeting may be in thy sight
Welcome as Summer's heralds,—this delight
Be mine!
4
IN APRIL
WHAT tidings hath the swallow heard,
That bid her leave the lands of Summer
For woods and fields, where April yields
Bleak welcome to the blithe new-comer?
That bid her leave the lands of Summer
For woods and fields, where April yields
Bleak welcome to the blithe new-comer?
O heart, that hast despaired of Spring,
Learn the sweet lesson of the swallow,
To have no fear, though days be drear,
But sunshine and soft airs must follow!
Learn the sweet lesson of the swallow,
To have no fear, though days be drear,
But sunshine and soft airs must follow!
5
AN APRIL SHOWER
THE primrose head is bowed with tears,
The wood is rippling through with rain,
Though now the heaven once more appears,
And beams the bounteous sun again.
From every blade and blossom-cup
The earth sends thankful incense up.
The wood is rippling through with rain,
Though now the heaven once more appears,
And beams the bounteous sun again.
From every blade and blossom-cup
The earth sends thankful incense up.
O happy hearts of flower and field,
That soon as grief be overpast
Your fragrant thankfulness can yield
For troubled skies and rainful blast!
I would that I as soon could see
The blessings of adversity!
That soon as grief be overpast
Your fragrant thankfulness can yield
For troubled skies and rainful blast!
I would that I as soon could see
The blessings of adversity!
6
A SPRING EVENING
ACROSS the glory of the evening skies
A veil is drawn of shadowed mists that rise
From lavishness of God's late gift the rain.
A veil is drawn of shadowed mists that rise
From lavishness of God's late gift the rain.
So, after farewell said, fond memories
Of words and looks the sweetest come again
Across the glowing heart, a veil of pain.
Of words and looks the sweetest come again
Across the glowing heart, a veil of pain.
7
JVNE IN LONDON
SOVNDS of the riverside are in my ear
Through the long day;
The merry haymakers I plainly hear,
The tossing hay.
Through the long day;
The merry haymakers I plainly hear,
The tossing hay.
O cruel dreams, that through the roaring town
Mine ears engage!
Alas, poor lark! whose home was once the down,
But now a cage!
Mine ears engage!
Alas, poor lark! whose home was once the down,
But now a cage!
8
A BIRTHDAY IN NOVEMBER
WHAT bird's song for her birthday can I find?
What blossom by the rain not rent & bowed?
What green-left spray, of summer to remind,
When woods are leafless, and the wind is loud?
What blossom by the rain not rent & bowed?
What green-left spray, of summer to remind,
When woods are leafless, and the wind is loud?
Sweeter my song shall be than wood-birds sing,
Fairer my flower than summer rose shall prove,
Greener my leaf-crown than the woods in spring,
A simple verse that breathes of living love.
Fairer my flower than summer rose shall prove,
Greener my leaf-crown than the woods in spring,
A simple verse that breathes of living love.
9
A DECEMBER GREETING
FLOWERS I give for a gift of flowers,
Lilies with lilies pay;
Yours were a gift of golden hours,
But how can mine be gay?
Lilies with lilies pay;
Yours were a gift of golden hours,
But how can mine be gay?
My flowers are verses, the sad year's last,
Yet haply not all in vain,
For the grace of your gift to my soul has passed,—
May it here be given again!
Yet haply not all in vain,
For the grace of your gift to my soul has passed,—
May it here be given again!
10
DECAY
O LVSTRE of decay!
The daylight glides away
In glow of richer glory than at noon;
Autumn, that steals the flower,
Gives the tree golden dower,
And crimsons walls that will be leafless soon.
The daylight glides away
In glow of richer glory than at noon;
Autumn, that steals the flower,
Gives the tree golden dower,
And crimsons walls that will be leafless soon.
O dimness of decay!
The sunset hastes away,
And leaves the world the lone & darkling night;
And Autumn when he flies
Leaves only howling skies,
And trees that toss their naked boughs in fright.
The sunset hastes away,
And leaves the world the lone & darkling night;
And Autumn when he flies
Leaves only howling skies,
And trees that toss their naked boughs in fright.
11
LATET ANGVIS
AH! full of purest influence
On human mind and mood,
Of holiest joy to human sense
Are river, field and wood;
And better must all childhood be
That knows a garden and a tree.
On human mind and mood,
Of holiest joy to human sense
Are river, field and wood;
And better must all childhood be
That knows a garden and a tree.
For where can one diviner gleam
On leagues of houses lie?
And what of Heaven can childhood dream
That scarce has seen the sky?
Yet sin and sorrow's pedigree
Spring from a Garden and a Tree.
On leagues of houses lie?
And what of Heaven can childhood dream
That scarce has seen the sky?
Yet sin and sorrow's pedigree
Spring from a Garden and a Tree.
12
THE TROVBLED SEA
THE weary ever-wandering waves,
That know no change from their unrest,
Make murmuring in hollow caves,
And sighing on the soft sand's breast,
That they for ever to and fro
Beneath the pitiless sky must go.
That know no change from their unrest,
Make murmuring in hollow caves,
And sighing on the soft sand's breast,
That they for ever to and fro
Beneath the pitiless sky must go.
The toiling tempest-driven ships,
That buffet with the angry foam,
Escape at last its hungry lips
And hail their white-cliffed harbour-home.
But the wild waves no rest may know,
But toss for ever to and fro.
That buffet with the angry foam,
Escape at last its hungry lips
And hail their white-cliffed harbour-home.
But the wild waves no rest may know,
But toss for ever to and fro.
13
ONE DEED OF GOOD
IF I might do one deed of good,
One little deed before I die,
Or think one noble thought that should
Hereafter not forgotten lie,
I would not murmur though I must
Be lost in Death's unnumbered dust.
One little deed before I die,
Or think one noble thought that should
Hereafter not forgotten lie,
I would not murmur though I must
Be lost in Death's unnumbered dust.
The filmy wing, that wafts the seed
Vpon the careless wind to earth,
Lives only for a moment's deed,
To find the germ fit place for birth;
For one swift moment of delight
It whirls,—then withers out of sight.
Vpon the careless wind to earth,
Lives only for a moment's deed,
To find the germ fit place for birth;
For one swift moment of delight
It whirls,—then withers out of sight.
14
SVRSVM CORDA
HOW can the out-worn heart
To earth that clings
From self-spun cerements start
On rainbow wings?
To earth that clings
From self-spun cerements start
On rainbow wings?
How from its husk had flown
The butterfly
Save with its wings were grown
Love of the sky?
The butterfly
Save with its wings were grown
Love of the sky?
15
Y WYDDFA
THE SVMMIT OF SNOWDON
‘THE Place of Presence!’ Viewless phantoms crowd
In mist and cloud;
And in dark chasm and deep abyss beneath
Hides dreadful Death.
In mist and cloud;
And in dark chasm and deep abyss beneath
Hides dreadful Death.
Not his nor theirs the Presence nor the Place!
Close to the face
Of Heaven we stand, and more in love than fear
Feel God is here.
Close to the face
Of Heaven we stand, and more in love than fear
Feel God is here.
16
SIGHT AND INSIGHT
BY land and sea I travelled wide,
My thought the earth could span;
And wearily I turned and cried
‘O little world of man!’
My thought the earth could span;
And wearily I turned and cried
‘O little world of man!’
I wandered by a greenwood's side
The distance of a rod;
My eyes were opened, and I cried
‘O mighty world of God!’
The distance of a rod;
My eyes were opened, and I cried
‘O mighty world of God!’
17
WITHIN THE GENTLE HEART LOVE SHELTERS HIM, AS BIRDS WITHIN THE GREEN SHADE OF THE GROVE.
LOVE in the heart is as a nightingale
That sings in a green wood;
And none can pass unheeding there, nor fail
Of impulses of good.
That sings in a green wood;
And none can pass unheeding there, nor fail
Of impulses of good.
Though cruel brief be Love's bright hour of song,
Yet let him sing his fill!
For other hearts the echoes shall prolong
When Love's own voice is still.
Yet let him sing his fill!
For other hearts the echoes shall prolong
When Love's own voice is still.
18
SAPPHIRES
WONDERFVL is the sea,
And the sky above the hill,
But the eyes of a maiden be
More wondrous still.
And the sky above the hill,
But the eyes of a maiden be
More wondrous still.
For not the nightly skies
Such depths discover,
As, when she loves, her eyes
Do to her lover.
Such depths discover,
As, when she loves, her eyes
Do to her lover.
19
ADORATION
MAIDEN, do you wonder why my eyes
So deeply gaze in thine?
Not alone because night's clearest skies
With no such lustre shine;
So deeply gaze in thine?
Not alone because night's clearest skies
With no such lustre shine;
But that deep within the world there lies
A mystery divine;
And I know not where, save in such eyes,
To worship at its shrine.
A mystery divine;
And I know not where, save in such eyes,
To worship at its shrine.
20
CÆLI
IF stars were really watching eyes
Of angel armies in the skies,
I should forget all watchers there,
And only for your glances care.
Of angel armies in the skies,
I should forget all watchers there,
And only for your glances care.
And if your eyes were really stars
With leagues that none can mete for bars
To keep me from their longed-for day,
I could not feel more far away.
With leagues that none can mete for bars
To keep me from their longed-for day,
I could not feel more far away.
21
A REPROACH AND THE ANSWER
THE Sun cried to the laughing Sea,
‘Leave thy sweet wiling!
Hast thou no depths of love in thee,
Too deep for smiling?’
But ever, till the day was done,
The Sea turned laughing to the Sun.
‘Leave thy sweet wiling!
Hast thou no depths of love in thee,
Too deep for smiling?’
But ever, till the day was done,
The Sea turned laughing to the Sun.
But in the darkness and the storm,
Could he discover
What terrors toss, what fears deform
His laughing lover?
Oh, vainly love prays love look sad
When his mere presence makes her glad.
Could he discover
What terrors toss, what fears deform
His laughing lover?
Oh, vainly love prays love look sad
When his mere presence makes her glad.
22
SEAWEED
ALAS, poor weed! The careless tide
Has left thee with his lightest foam;
And now a desert drear and wide
Divides thee from thy wished-for home.
The tide may bear thee back once more,
But canst thou live thy life of yore?
Has left thee with his lightest foam;
And now a desert drear and wide
Divides thee from thy wished-for home.
The tide may bear thee back once more,
But canst thou live thy life of yore?
Alas, I too am left awhile
By her I love in lightest play;
On distant loves I see her smile,
I hear her laughter far away.
Her heart may turn to me again,
But can my heart forget the pain?
By her I love in lightest play;
On distant loves I see her smile,
I hear her laughter far away.
Her heart may turn to me again,
But can my heart forget the pain?
23
O LOVE FORGIVE
O LOVE forgive!
The sunny slopes forgive the passing cloud,
And we who live
Less near to heaven than they should be less proud.
The sunny slopes forgive the passing cloud,
And we who live
Less near to heaven than they should be less proud.
No punishment
Can pass the pain e'er to have grieved thee;
And I present
My heart thus chastened thy new slave to be.
Can pass the pain e'er to have grieved thee;
And I present
My heart thus chastened thy new slave to be.
24
'TWIXT THEE AND ME
I WILL not reason why I love,
Or what I love in thee.
There breathes some secret from above
In every flower we see.
Or what I love in thee.
There breathes some secret from above
In every flower we see.
Suddenly as we pass we own
Some glimpse or scent divine.
Such secret to none others known
My heart has found in thine.
Some glimpse or scent divine.
Such secret to none others known
My heart has found in thine.
25
I GIVE MY HEART
I GIVE my heart! An empty hand
Were never gift to thee!
But oh, that thou couldst understand
What means this gift from me!
Were never gift to thee!
But oh, that thou couldst understand
What means this gift from me!
No mist that melts into the air,
Nor rain into the sea,
Doth more its whole of being share
Than I do, love, with thee!
Nor rain into the sea,
Doth more its whole of being share
Than I do, love, with thee!
26
IN A DISTANT LAND
MY heart has wandered far from me
On wings of love to-night,
Has passed a thousand leagues of sea
Swifter than swallow's flight.
On wings of love to-night,
Has passed a thousand leagues of sea
Swifter than swallow's flight.
What doth thy journey profit thee,
Thou idle wanderer,
Who canst not take my eyes to see
Nor tongue to talk with her!
Thou idle wanderer,
Who canst not take my eyes to see
Nor tongue to talk with her!
27
A SONG
WHEN softer breezes blow
And Winter flies,
How blue the rivers flow
Beneath blue skies!
And Winter flies,
How blue the rivers flow
Beneath blue skies!
Ah, darling, it is sweet
After long pain
When your glad eyes repeat
My love again!
After long pain
When your glad eyes repeat
My love again!
28
A WHITE DOVE ON A THVNDERCLOVD
A WHITE dove on a thunder-cloud,
A white sail on a sullen sea;
But sail nor dove is white as love
That in sorrow came to me.
A white sail on a sullen sea;
But sail nor dove is white as love
That in sorrow came to me.
The white dove fled, and tempest came;
The white sail vanished from the sea;
But my white dove that is my true love
Can never depart from me.
The white sail vanished from the sea;
But my white dove that is my true love
Can never depart from me.
29
A MOMENT
WHEN the lightning flashes by night,
The raindrops seem
A million jewels of light
In the moment's gleam.
The raindrops seem
A million jewels of light
In the moment's gleam.
And often in gathering fears
A moment of love
To jewels will turn the tears
That it cannot remove.
A moment of love
To jewels will turn the tears
That it cannot remove.
30
THE SHADOW OF LOVE
THE branching shades in woodland glades
Seem to the under fern
Wide as the night that leaves no light,—
No shape can they discern.
Seem to the under fern
Wide as the night that leaves no light,—
No shape can they discern.
And we, who seek in senses weak
Love's form to entertain,—
So far Love's whole o'erspreads the soul,—
Too oft see only pain.
Love's form to entertain,—
So far Love's whole o'erspreads the soul,—
Too oft see only pain.
31
FAST AND LOOSE
LOVE holds me so!
I would that I could go!
I flutter up and down, and to and fro,
In vain,—Love holds me so!
I would that I could go!
I flutter up and down, and to and fro,
In vain,—Love holds me so!
Love let me go.—
I seek him high and low;
I wander up and down, and to and fro,
In vain, in vain; and life is cruel woe,
Since Love has let me go.
I seek him high and low;
I wander up and down, and to and fro,
In vain, in vain; and life is cruel woe,
Since Love has let me go.
32
LOVE'S MEINIE
THERE is no summer ere the swallows come,
Nor Love appears,
Till Hope, Love's light-winged herald, lifts the gloom
Of years.
Nor Love appears,
Till Hope, Love's light-winged herald, lifts the gloom
Of years.
There is no summer left when swallows fly,
And Love at last,
When hopes which filled its heaven droop & die,
Is past.
And Love at last,
When hopes which filled its heaven droop & die,
Is past.
33
A LOST VOICE
A THOVSAND voices fill my ears
All day until the light grows pale;
But silence falls when night-time nears,
And where art thou, sweet nightingale?
All day until the light grows pale;
But silence falls when night-time nears,
And where art thou, sweet nightingale?
Was that thine echo, faint and far?
Nay, all is hushed as heaven above;
In earth no voice, in heaven no star,
And in my heart no dream of love.
Nay, all is hushed as heaven above;
In earth no voice, in heaven no star,
And in my heart no dream of love.
34
A GHOST
I MET a ghost in an old bare house,
That looked with lustreless eyes at me,
And drove from my eyes sweet dreams & drowse,
Till the morning made it flee.
That looked with lustreless eyes at me,
And drove from my eyes sweet dreams & drowse,
Till the morning made it flee.
My house is builded of years decayed,
And in vain I fill it with new glad light,
For a love that is lost is a ghost unlaid
That troubles the silent night.
And in vain I fill it with new glad light,
For a love that is lost is a ghost unlaid
That troubles the silent night.
35
A LOST LOVE
AS our childhood's world of wood and field,
That strangers now possess;
As a dead mother's face in sleep revealed
To her child in its loneliness:
That strangers now possess;
As a dead mother's face in sleep revealed
To her child in its loneliness:
As a dream of home to an exile banished
For ever beyond the sea;
So vainly sweet, O love long vanished,
Is the sound of thy name to me!
For ever beyond the sea;
So vainly sweet, O love long vanished,
Is the sound of thy name to me!
36
GATHERED ROSES
ONLY a bee made prisoner,
Caught in a gathered rose!
Was he not 'ware a flower so fair
For the first gatherer grows?
Caught in a gathered rose!
Was he not 'ware a flower so fair
For the first gatherer grows?
Only a heart made prisoner,
Going out free no more!
Was he not 'ware a face so fair
Must have been gathered before?
Going out free no more!
Was he not 'ware a face so fair
Must have been gathered before?
37
DROPPED PRIMROSES
THEY grew in the grassy byway,
With the hazel wands o'erhead;
They lie in the dusty highway,
Dying, or dead.
With the hazel wands o'erhead;
They lie in the dusty highway,
Dying, or dead.
O flowers, too soon forsaken!
O tender hearts grief-torn!
By a light love idly taken,
And left forlorn!
O tender hearts grief-torn!
By a light love idly taken,
And left forlorn!
38
AFTER LOVE'S DEATH
AFTER the sunshine, night;
After the summer, rain;
After days of delight
Come days of pain.
After the summer, rain;
After days of delight
Come days of pain.
After the darkness, light;
After the Winter, Spring.—
After Love's death, delight
Ah, who can bring!
After the Winter, Spring.—
After Love's death, delight
Ah, who can bring!
39
LIGHT AT EVENTIDE
WHAT heart except to die can find
The rain-beat roses,
Though storms be past and heaven grow kind
Ere daylight closes?
The rain-beat roses,
Though storms be past and heaven grow kind
Ere daylight closes?
O sunless lives, long taught to bend
By years of sadness,
What can ye do if sorrows end
But die of gladness?
By years of sadness,
What can ye do if sorrows end
But die of gladness?
40
WAITING
WHEN rose-leaves in long grasses fall
To hide their shattered head,
All tenderly the grasses tall
Bow down to veil the dead.
To hide their shattered head,
All tenderly the grasses tall
Bow down to veil the dead.
And there are hearts content to wait
Still as the grasses lie,
Till those they love, however late,
Turn there at last to die.
Still as the grasses lie,
Till those they love, however late,
Turn there at last to die.
41
THE DIFFERENCE
SWEETER than voices in the scented hay,
Or laughing children gleaning ears astray,
Or Christmas songs that shake the snows above,
Is the first cuckoo, when he comes with love.
Or laughing children gleaning ears astray,
Or Christmas songs that shake the snows above,
Is the first cuckoo, when he comes with love.
Sadder than birds on sunless summer eves,
Or drip of raindrops on the Autumn leaves,
Or wail of wintry waves on frozen shore,
Is Spring that comes but brings us love no more.
Or drip of raindrops on the Autumn leaves,
Or wail of wintry waves on frozen shore,
Is Spring that comes but brings us love no more.
42
DE PROFVNDIS
BELOW the dark waves where the dead go down
Are gulfs of night more deep;
But little care they whom the waves once drown
How far from light they sleep.
Are gulfs of night more deep;
But little care they whom the waves once drown
How far from light they sleep.
But who, in deepest sorrow though he be,
Fears not a deeper still?
Would God that sorrow were as the salt sea,
Whose topmost waters kill!
Fears not a deeper still?
Would God that sorrow were as the salt sea,
Whose topmost waters kill!
43
RELIEF
BLANK has the day been,
Blind all the sky;
White has the way been,
Chill the snows lie.
Blind all the sky;
White has the way been,
Chill the snows lie.
Only at nightfall,
Heard faint and low,
Hark! 'tis the light fall,
Rain on the snow.
Heard faint and low,
Hark! 'tis the light fall,
Rain on the snow.
44
DO THE DEAD THINK OF THE LIVING
DO the dead think of the living,
In the blue Heaven overhead,
All repenting, all forgiving,
As the living of the dead?
In the blue Heaven overhead,
All repenting, all forgiving,
As the living of the dead?
Yes, but while we weep, surveying
Pathways long and lonely feet,
They in Heaven smile softly, saying,
‘'Tis to-morrow and we meet!’
Pathways long and lonely feet,
They in Heaven smile softly, saying,
‘'Tis to-morrow and we meet!’
45
EARTH'S ANGELS
WHAT though no more in human guise,
On radiant pinions borne,
Are angels seen of mortal eyes,—
Earth is not left forlorn.
On radiant pinions borne,
Are angels seen of mortal eyes,—
Earth is not left forlorn.
Some bird that sings in hopeless hours
God's messenger may be;
And I have seen in primrose flowers
God's angels smile on me.
God's messenger may be;
And I have seen in primrose flowers
God's angels smile on me.
46
ANGELS' TEARS
THE lily weeps at even,
For vapours fallen anew
From the clear vault of heaven
Turn at her touch to dew.
'Tis only so heaven's tearless eyes
With mortal woes can sympathise.
For vapours fallen anew
From the clear vault of heaven
Turn at her touch to dew.
'Tis only so heaven's tearless eyes
With mortal woes can sympathise.
Know ye the white-souled maiden
That's like the lily-bell?
When her soft eyes are laden
With teardrops, men may tell
Thc Angels' sympathy appears
Made visible in human tears.
That's like the lily-bell?
When her soft eyes are laden
With teardrops, men may tell
Thc Angels' sympathy appears
Made visible in human tears.
47
PATIENCE
STILL are the ships that at anchor ride,
Waiting fair winds or turn of the tide;
Nothing they fret, though they go not yet
Out on the glorious ocean wide.
O wild hearts, that yearn to be free,
Look and learn from the ships of the sea!
Waiting fair winds or turn of the tide;
Nothing they fret, though they go not yet
Out on the glorious ocean wide.
O wild hearts, that yearn to be free,
Look and learn from the ships of the sea!
Bravely the ships in the tempest tossed
Buffet the waves till the sea be crossed;
Not in despair of the haven fair,
Though winds blow backward, and leagues be lost.
O weary hearts, that yearn for sleep,
Look and learn from the ships on the deep!
Buffet the waves till the sea be crossed;
Not in despair of the haven fair,
Though winds blow backward, and leagues be lost.
O weary hearts, that yearn for sleep,
Look and learn from the ships on the deep!
48
SO LONG AGO
CHILD of the dark eyes, do you know
What it is makes me kiss you so?
'Tis that your eyes are dark and deep,
And Love iu their low depths seems to sleep,
As in those of my love when he kissed me so,
Long ago, ah! long ago.
What it is makes me kiss you so?
'Tis that your eyes are dark and deep,
And Love iu their low depths seems to sleep,
As in those of my love when he kissed me so,
Long ago, ah! long ago.
Child of the dark hair, can you guess
Why from your head I cut a tress?
Because his lock, of the same dark hue,
I burnt in scorn when he proved untrue.
But now I could look on it calmly, so;
It was so long, so long ago.
Why from your head I cut a tress?
Because his lock, of the same dark hue,
I burnt in scorn when he proved untrue.
But now I could look on it calmly, so;
It was so long, so long ago.
49
A LA CHALEVR DV JOVR
LANDS of our childish dreams,
Of flowers and happy streams,
Too far, too far beyond recall ye fade.
Children and butterflies,
What gain ye, growing wise,
To make amends for happiness decayed?
Of flowers and happy streams,
Too far, too far beyond recall ye fade.
Children and butterflies,
What gain ye, growing wise,
To make amends for happiness decayed?
The wood's enchanted ways,
Trees that were haunts of fays,
All, all have lost their spell; and what remains
Save memory, and troth-plight
With some far-off delight
For Eden's outcast, toiling on hot plains?
Trees that were haunts of fays,
All, all have lost their spell; and what remains
Save memory, and troth-plight
With some far-off delight
For Eden's outcast, toiling on hot plains?
50
WHEN IN THE WOODS I WANDERED
WHEN in the woods I wandered,
The gift of bird-like song
Came on me full and strong,
And many a verse I squandered
The woods and ways along.
The gift of bird-like song
Came on me full and strong,
And many a verse I squandered
The woods and ways along.
But now my verse, though pondered
With labour sad and long,
Strives vainly to be strong.
Ah me! the gift so squandered!
Ah me! the birdlike song!
With labour sad and long,
Strives vainly to be strong.
Ah me! the gift so squandered!
Ah me! the birdlike song!
51
THE FORSAKEN DOVE
ONCE, in the dying day,
Into the golden skies,
On wings as gold as they
I watched a wood-dove rise.
Into the shining clouds afar
He shot, and vanished like a star.
Into the golden skies,
On wings as gold as they
I watched a wood-dove rise.
Into the shining clouds afar
He shot, and vanished like a star.
But all the moonless night
I heard in the dark wood
One plaining her sad plight
In doleful solitude.
O cruel light to take my love!
O lonely night! O forlorn dove!
I heard in the dark wood
One plaining her sad plight
In doleful solitude.
O cruel light to take my love!
O lonely night! O forlorn dove!
52
AFTER STORM
WIND and wave are sleeping now,
Leaps no more the lashing surge,
And the lighthouse on the brow
Glimmers to the distant verge.
Still below, vague and low,
Croons the sea her solemn dirge.
Leaps no more the lashing surge,
And the lighthouse on the brow
Glimmers to the distant verge.
Still below, vague and low,
Croons the sea her solemn dirge.
Sail and seagull all are flown,
Safe in haven or cleft they lie;
And the stately moon alone
Moves along the stainless sky.
Still for aye, night and day,
The sea-voices moan and sigh.
Safe in haven or cleft they lie;
And the stately moon alone
Moves along the stainless sky.
Still for aye, night and day,
The sea-voices moan and sigh.
53
MAY MEMORIES
i
OH, FOR the light-heartedLife, and the passionate
Pulse, and the fetterless
Feet, and the strong
Stream of enthusiast
Thought, when the spirit of
Spring like a Bacchanal
Bore me along!
Oh, the luxuriant
Leaves, and the effluent
Flowers, and the resonant
Raptures of song!
54
ii
Oh, for the mirth-bringingMorns, and the nectarous
Noons, and the exquisite
Eves, when the fair
Face of the noiseless queen
Night, with her eloquent
Eyes, and her azure
Abysses, lay bare;
And like a breath from the
Briar, from the sensitive
Soul rose the innocent
Incense of prayer!
55
A THOVGHT OF SVMMER
I WOVLD be a cloud
Halfway up to heaven;
Not aloft and proud,
Nor too low, and driven
In a whirl of rain
O'er the shivering plain.
Halfway up to heaven;
Not aloft and proud,
Nor too low, and driven
In a whirl of rain
O'er the shivering plain.
But a cloud all white
In a heaven all blue,
Hanging in men's sight
Half a long day through,
And when daylight goes,
Dying in soft rose.
In a heaven all blue,
Hanging in men's sight
Half a long day through,
And when daylight goes,
Dying in soft rose.
56
OLD AND NEW
WHERE are they hidden, all the vanished years?
Ah, who can say!
Where is the laughter flown to, and the tears?
Perished? Ah, nay!
Beauty & strength are born of sun & showers;
These too shall surely spring again in flowers.
Ah, who can say!
Where is the laughter flown to, and the tears?
Perished? Ah, nay!
Beauty & strength are born of sun & showers;
These too shall surely spring again in flowers.
Yet let them sleep, nor seek herein to wed
Effect to cause,
For Nature's subtlest influences spread
By viewless laws.
This only seek, that each new year may bring,
Born of past griefs and joys, a fairer Spring!
Effect to cause,
For Nature's subtlest influences spread
By viewless laws.
This only seek, that each new year may bring,
Born of past griefs and joys, a fairer Spring!
57
A DEDICATION
NOT of his treasures gives the sea,
Not gold or jewels to the land,
Nor of all precious things that he
Has ravished with his robber hand.
With worthless weeds he wreathes her o'er,
With shells unvalued lines the shore.
Not gold or jewels to the land,
Nor of all precious things that he
Has ravished with his robber hand.
With worthless weeds he wreathes her o'er,
With shells unvalued lines the shore.
Ev'n so his reverent love he shows
By giving not his costless pelf,
But that which of his being grows,
True gift it is to give of self.
For my poor gift let this atone:
I give thee what is most my own.
By giving not his costless pelf,
But that which of his being grows,
True gift it is to give of self.
For my poor gift let this atone:
I give thee what is most my own.
THE END
| Ailes d'Alouette | |