 | Poems: Second Series |  |
83
ANYONE TO ANYONE.
AN OLD, OLD STORY.
I.
Glide up, O sea, along the wastes of sand,
Glide foaming up and clasp the shadowy land,
And pant and break in yearning on the strand.
Glide foaming up and clasp the shadowy land,
And pant and break in yearning on the strand.
Rise up, O moon, over the rolling deep,
Rise up and bless the ripples as they creep,
And melt into the magic of their sleep.
Rise up and bless the ripples as they creep,
And melt into the magic of their sleep.
Look down on me, O eyes so darkly bright,
Languid with lustre like the summer night,
Look down and bathe me in your haze of light.
Languid with lustre like the summer night,
Look down and bathe me in your haze of light.
My soul went out in yearning towards the sea,
That swayed and murmured everlastingly:—
Its endless plaint was not of love for me.
That swayed and murmured everlastingly:—
Its endless plaint was not of love for me.
And towards the tender moonlight went my soul,
And felt far off the gleaming ripples roll,—
But on its throbbing tide no moonbeam stole.
And felt far off the gleaming ripples roll,—
But on its throbbing tide no moonbeam stole.
84
And then I looked deep into your dark eyes,
Deeper than summer depth of midnight skies,
And they looked back on me in sweet surprise—
Oh love—love—love.
Deeper than summer depth of midnight skies,
And they looked back on me in sweet surprise—
Oh love—love—love.
II.
Why did my heart awake,
And fling aside the weeds it never wore?
Why in that moment did my spirit slake
A thirst unfelt before?
And fling aside the weeds it never wore?
Why in that moment did my spirit slake
A thirst unfelt before?
Why, when the sky reveals
Mid depths of tempest gloom a rift of blue—
Gleams forth a light no darkness e'er conceals,
Nor storm cloud veils from view?
Mid depths of tempest gloom a rift of blue—
Gleams forth a light no darkness e'er conceals,
Nor storm cloud veils from view?
Or why, love! when I find
The year's first primrose on a sunny bank
Comes back a joy I never left behind—
A hope that never sank?
The year's first primrose on a sunny bank
Comes back a joy I never left behind—
A hope that never sank?
III.
May I not love you, dearest!
As I love the flowers of spring?
Listen to you with rapture
As I listen to birds that sing?
As I love the flowers of spring?
Listen to you with rapture
As I listen to birds that sing?
85
When shadow and light are mingled
Where clouds of sunset burn—
I am content to love them,
Careless of love's return.
Where clouds of sunset burn—
I am content to love them,
Careless of love's return.
I love them and bless their beauty—
May I not love you so?
Only my heart can answer:
My heart makes answer—No.
May I not love you so?
Only my heart can answer:
My heart makes answer—No.
IV.
I stood and watched the line of tender light
That would not fade away,
The streak of yellow sky that told how bright
Had been the summer day.
That would not fade away,
The streak of yellow sky that told how bright
Had been the summer day.
I stood and listened to the sweet refrain,
Whose liquid fountain rose
From some near grove—that voice of rapturous pain—
Of passionate repose.
Whose liquid fountain rose
From some near grove—that voice of rapturous pain—
Of passionate repose.
I stood and felt the warm and balmy breath
Of midnight breezes stir—
Fragrant from wandering over gorse and heath.
Through woods of birch and fir.
Of midnight breezes stir—
Fragrant from wandering over gorse and heath.
Through woods of birch and fir.
86
I stood entranced, till odour, light and song
Were waves that throbbed in me,
And on their bosom bore my soul along
To some mysterious sea.
Were waves that throbbed in me,
And on their bosom bore my soul along
To some mysterious sea.
O sea of love! thy pulsing passed away—
Its meaning yet unguessed:
I loved too well to marvel that I lay
In rapture on thy breast.
Its meaning yet unguessed:
I loved too well to marvel that I lay
In rapture on thy breast.
V.
I breathed the freedom of the air:
I drank it in, and was content:
It flowed around me everywhere:
Why should I marvel what it meant?
Then only when I gasped for breath
I knew its loss was more than death.
I drank it in, and was content:
It flowed around me everywhere:
Why should I marvel what it meant?
Then only when I gasped for breath
I knew its loss was more than death.
And in the common light of day
I saw the loveliness of earth:
Yet never blest the golden ray
Wherein its colours had their birth;
Till lost in void abysmal night
I knew how goodly was the light.
I saw the loveliness of earth:
Yet never blest the golden ray
Wherein its colours had their birth;
Till lost in void abysmal night
I knew how goodly was the light.
87
Nor did I marvel when I heard
My darling falter forth her love:
My soul was all too lightly stirred—
I never raised my eyes above:
Love seemed like air or light—but oh!
I learned my blessing in my woe.
My darling falter forth her love:
My soul was all too lightly stirred—
I never raised my eyes above:
Love seemed like air or light—but oh!
I learned my blessing in my woe.
VI.
Come rain of tears: the morn was all too bright:
Too darkly blue was the unclouded sky:
The sun has drunk the freshening dews of night,
And drained each chalice dry.
Too darkly blue was the unclouded sky:
The sun has drunk the freshening dews of night,
And drained each chalice dry.
And now the flowers hang down their drooping heads:
Dust hides the leaves: the grass is parched and wan:
The brooks are shrunken in their pebbly beds,
And scarcely trickle on.
Dust hides the leaves: the grass is parched and wan:
The brooks are shrunken in their pebbly beds,
And scarcely trickle on.
Come heavy clouds and hide the sultry blue:
Come welcome shade and veil the blinding light:
Come cooling rain and bathe the flowers in dew—
Fresh as the tears of night.
Come welcome shade and veil the blinding light:
Come cooling rain and bathe the flowers in dew—
Fresh as the tears of night.
Bless the sad earth—and bid her laugh again:
Give back to leaf and blade their tender grace:
Feed the faint streamlet: grant it life to gain
The river's wide embrace.
Give back to leaf and blade their tender grace:
Feed the faint streamlet: grant it life to gain
The river's wide embrace.
88
So when the sun long-hidden re-appears,
The gold fringed curtains of his tent withdrawn—
The earth will smile as brightly through her tears
As once after the dawn.
The gold fringed curtains of his tent withdrawn—
The earth will smile as brightly through her tears
As once after the dawn.
VII.
Once we wandered forth together:
All the world was wet with rain:
Storms will come in sunniest weather,
Darkening heavens without a stain.
All the world was wet with rain:
Storms will come in sunniest weather,
Darkening heavens without a stain.
Storms will come, and soak and sadden
All the leafy solitudes—
Hush the birds that sing to gladden
Mossy depths of summer woods.
All the leafy solitudes—
Hush the birds that sing to gladden
Mossy depths of summer woods.
Storms will come and gather thickly,
As our hearts are born to know:—
Come and pass again as quickly—
Oh! the wonder when they go.
As our hearts are born to know:—
Come and pass again as quickly—
Oh! the wonder when they go.
From the cloud's black fringes streaming
Burst the sun divinely bright:
Land and sea were lit and gleaming
In the mystic evening light.
Burst the sun divinely bright:
Land and sea were lit and gleaming
In the mystic evening light.
89
Hark! unnumbered notes are ringing
From the groves so lately dumb:
Oh! the rapture of their singing—
Love! the silence had to come.
From the groves so lately dumb:
Oh! the rapture of their singing—
Love! the silence had to come.
And the sparkling pearls that cluster
On each leaf in yonder copse—
Dearest! what a sunny lustre
Hides its light in tempest drops.
On each leaf in yonder copse—
Dearest! what a sunny lustre
Hides its light in tempest drops.
VIII.
Love not me, love! but the aspiration
That would make me what I am not now;
Love a spirit of thy heart's creation,
An imagined being pure as thou.
That would make me what I am not now;
Love a spirit of thy heart's creation,
An imagined being pure as thou.
Love not what I am—a narrow prison
Where the self within me pines forlorn:
Love the sun that is not yet arisen,
And the sadness of the glimmering morn.
Where the self within me pines forlorn:
Love the sun that is not yet arisen,
And the sadness of the glimmering morn.
Do not love this blaze of noonday fire,
But the stars to which it makes me blind:
Love the light that fades from my desire,
And the darkness that it leaves behind.
But the stars to which it makes me blind:
Love the light that fades from my desire,
And the darkness that it leaves behind.
90
Do not love the mirth, the ready laughter,
Happy in each moment as it flies,—
Careless of the past and the hereafter,
Of the life wherein each present dies.
Happy in each moment as it flies,—
Careless of the past and the hereafter,
Of the life wherein each present dies.
Love this anguish, this unblest endeavour
To become what I may never be:
So alone thy love will live for ever—
So alone be lavished, love! on me.
To become what I may never be:
So alone thy love will live for ever—
So alone be lavished, love! on me.
IX.
Such was the deep unuttered prayer,
That in my heart I dared to cherish:
It passed into the voids of air:
Ah! me, it was not doomed to perish.
That in my heart I dared to cherish:
It passed into the voids of air:
Ah! me, it was not doomed to perish.
I dreamed of more than earthly love:
God heard my vows that were not spoken:
And straightway like a fluttering dove
Joy fled away: The spell was broken.
God heard my vows that were not spoken:
And straightway like a fluttering dove
Joy fled away: The spell was broken.
X.
It has come then, the hour of even:
The earth has grown strangely still:
There's a flush in the western heaven,
In the air there's a sudden chill:
The earth has grown strangely still:
There's a flush in the western heaven,
In the air there's a sudden chill:
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And the hills lie lost in their shadows,
Dewy and dusky and dim:
And down in the river-meadows,
The chill white vapours swim.
Dewy and dusky and dim:
And down in the river-meadows,
The chill white vapours swim.
So lately the sun was reigning
Alone in the cloudless blue:
So lately his orb was waning,
Blood-red as it sank from view.
Alone in the cloudless blue:
So lately his orb was waning,
Blood-red as it sank from view.
Now the lingering light has ended:
The flush has melted away;
And earth and heaven are blended
In a mist of mournful grey.
The flush has melted away;
And earth and heaven are blended
In a mist of mournful grey.
XI.
So quickly disenchanted!
Oh! learn what life would teach:
The prize for which you panted
Is ashes if you reach.
Oh! learn what life would teach:
The prize for which you panted
Is ashes if you reach.
The silvery lake, whose vision
Solaced the desert land,
Changes in dumb derision
To wastes of burning sand.
Solaced the desert land,
Changes in dumb derision
To wastes of burning sand.
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The light is shining yonder:
It lures us on and on:
And westward we must wander,
Till all the light has gone.
It lures us on and on:
And westward we must wander,
Till all the light has gone.
XII.
Once, ere the day had broken,
By wayward fancy led—
The last word yet unspoken,
The last tear yet unshed—
By wayward fancy led—
The last word yet unspoken,
The last tear yet unshed—
Into the woods I wandered:
The leaves were wet with dew:—
Not yet my soul had squandered
The bliss it never knew.
The leaves were wet with dew:—
Not yet my soul had squandered
The bliss it never knew.
I breathed the air untainted,
The fragrant breath of morn:—
So sweet—my heart had fainted,
Its yearning bliss unborn.
The fragrant breath of morn:—
So sweet—my heart had fainted,
Its yearning bliss unborn.
There came a chilly shiver:
A wan and lonely breeze
Ruffled the sleeping river,
Sighed through the rustling trees.
A wan and lonely breeze
Ruffled the sleeping river,
Sighed through the rustling trees.
93
And then I knew my gladness:
My yearning found relief:
For the breath of joy is sadness;
And bliss is born of grief.
My yearning found relief:
For the breath of joy is sadness;
And bliss is born of grief.
XIII.
Some are content to take the faded flower,
And keep it for the old love's sake:
As if the mockery of a happier hour
Could comfort hearts that break.
And keep it for the old love's sake:
As if the mockery of a happier hour
Could comfort hearts that break.
They look again: its withered hues remind them
How sweetly mingled once they met:
They live again the woes that are behind them—
Their wounds are bleeding yet.
How sweetly mingled once they met:
They live again the woes that are behind them—
Their wounds are bleeding yet.
But wiser far, when once the flower had faded,
You tore it from your breast away:
Its mute familiar face in death upbraided:
You trod it into clay.
You tore it from your breast away:
Its mute familiar face in death upbraided:
You trod it into clay.
XIV.
I left you, and we were parted:
I swooned in a frozen sleep:
I prayed to be broken-hearted:
I prayed to have grace to weep.
I swooned in a frozen sleep:
I prayed to be broken-hearted:
I prayed to have grace to weep.
94
I wandered—I knew not whither:—
I wandered without a will
To the wastes of lonely heather,
Where the winds are never still.
I wandered without a will
To the wastes of lonely heather,
Where the winds are never still.
The wind with its voice of anguish
Came wailing and wuthering by:
And now it would droop and languish,
Now triumph in agony.
Came wailing and wuthering by:
And now it would droop and languish,
Now triumph in agony.
The breath of its life was blended
With mine that had ceased and swooned,
Till the trance of despair was ended,
And I woke and I knew my wound.
With mine that had ceased and swooned,
Till the trance of despair was ended,
And I woke and I knew my wound.
And a sudden strength was given,
As the wind bewailed my woes:
For I knew that grief has a Heaven
Set deep in its very throes.
As the wind bewailed my woes:
For I knew that grief has a Heaven
Set deep in its very throes.
XV.
Look back, O love-forsaken,
For else your eyes are blind:
The light that life has taken
Is shining far behind.
For else your eyes are blind:
The light that life has taken
Is shining far behind.
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Look back, the lake is gleaming,
That turned to wastes of sand:
The prize of all your dreaming
Still hangs to mock your hand.
That turned to wastes of sand:
The prize of all your dreaming
Still hangs to mock your hand.
Ah! Hope can bid the morrow
Dawn dazzling on the sight:
But mightier far is sorrow
That bathes the past in light.
Dawn dazzling on the sight:
But mightier far is sorrow
That bathes the past in light.
XVI.
And do not weep that God has quenched and hidden
A light He never gave:
The fruit of our desires is still forbidden:—
The present is its grave.
A light He never gave:
The fruit of our desires is still forbidden:—
The present is its grave.
We live our lives, not in passing minute
That is and then is not:
Else is the prize, as often as we win it,
Lost, faded and forgot.
That is and then is not:
Else is the prize, as often as we win it,
Lost, faded and forgot.
Life reaches forth into the far hereafter
Into the dimmest past:
Then heed no more the mocking wails of laughter
Of every demon blast.
Into the dimmest past:
Then heed no more the mocking wails of laughter
Of every demon blast.
96
For there and there the light of life is burning
Behind thee and before:
And in the very anguish of thy yearning
'Tis thine for evermore.
Behind thee and before:
And in the very anguish of thy yearning
'Tis thine for evermore.
Deep in our inmost hearts—whose depths are Heaven—
Past, present, future blend:
And there alone the gift of God is given,
Light without birth or end.
Past, present, future blend:
And there alone the gift of God is given,
Light without birth or end.
XVII.
Forgive me that I dared to falter
A moment from my faith to thee,
Dared to desert the hallowed altar
The memory of thy love for me.
A moment from my faith to thee,
Dared to desert the hallowed altar
The memory of thy love for me.
Forgive me that my trust was shaken,
Till God's own promise seemed a lie:
Thy heart is cold, and mine forsaken,
But love itself can never die.
Till God's own promise seemed a lie:
Thy heart is cold, and mine forsaken,
But love itself can never die.
The flame leaps up—and lives no longer—
The baffled flame of brief desire:
But unsubdued, from strong to stronger
Burns the white core of central fire.
The baffled flame of brief desire:
But unsubdued, from strong to stronger
Burns the white core of central fire.
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And oh! my love, 'twere darkest treason
No more to worship at the shrine—
The memory of that blessèd season,
That gave the spark of love divine.
No more to worship at the shrine—
The memory of that blessèd season,
That gave the spark of love divine.
XVIII.
Yet once again the music of your laughter
Rang through the ruined chambers of my soul:
And once again upon each mouldering rafter
A momentary glimpse of sunshine stole.
Rang through the ruined chambers of my soul:
And once again upon each mouldering rafter
A momentary glimpse of sunshine stole.
The laughter was of one who mocked and taunted:
The sunshine was a gleam of phantom white:
I sometimes wonder if my heart is haunted,
Like crumbling corridors in dead of night.
The sunshine was a gleam of phantom white:
I sometimes wonder if my heart is haunted,
Like crumbling corridors in dead of night.
Do they not say where'er a rebel passion,
For one mad moment set its bonds at nought—
There lingers yet, in some mysterious fashion,
A ghostly witness of the deed it wrought?
For one mad moment set its bonds at nought—
There lingers yet, in some mysterious fashion,
A ghostly witness of the deed it wrought?
And if the flood of pent-up flame may never
Find the fierce outlet of a stormy deed;
But rolls in surges through the heart for ever,
Till the black thunder clouds have ceased to feed.
Find the fierce outlet of a stormy deed;
But rolls in surges through the heart for ever,
Till the black thunder clouds have ceased to feed.
98
Where shall we find its dread undying traces—
Voices of mocking laughter—ghostly gleams?
Not in the loneliness of haunted places—
But in the ruins of the heart's own dreams.
Voices of mocking laughter—ghostly gleams?
Not in the loneliness of haunted places—
But in the ruins of the heart's own dreams.
XIX.
I saw thee for a little space:
I saw thee love! unseen of thee:
Thy lovely unimpassioned face
Turned for a moment full on me.
I saw thee love! unseen of thee:
Thy lovely unimpassioned face
Turned for a moment full on me.
Its blue eyes were as dark and deep
As when of old for me they shone:
Like mountain tarns in midnight sleep,
That stars unnumbered gaze upon.
As when of old for me they shone:
Like mountain tarns in midnight sleep,
That stars unnumbered gaze upon.
I watched them with as pure a love,
As innocent as I have found
In wonder of the deeps above,
Or of the flowers that laugh around.
As innocent as I have found
In wonder of the deeps above,
Or of the flowers that laugh around.
No storm of longing or despair
Troubled my deep serene delight:
I knew my love was passing fair:
I blessed God for so dear a sight.
Troubled my deep serene delight:
I knew my love was passing fair:
I blessed God for so dear a sight.
99
And then the glimpse of thee was o'er,
For other faces came between:
But this is mine for evermore:
I saw my love and was not seen.
For other faces came between:
But this is mine for evermore:
I saw my love and was not seen.
XX.
Ebb, ebb away, O wan and weary sea!
Sink down, pale moon! and let the darkness be:
O eyes that never more will shine on me,
Farewell! O love, farewell!
Sink down, pale moon! and let the darkness be:
O eyes that never more will shine on me,
Farewell! O love, farewell!
| Poems: Second Series | |