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The Poems of Richard Watson Gilder

Gilder, Richard Watson (1844-1909)

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THE NEW DAY
  
PRELUDE
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PART I
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PART II
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PART III
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 1. 
I—“THE PALLID WATCHER OF THE EASTERN SKIES”
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II—“MY LOVE FOR THEE DOTH MARCH LIKE ARMÈD MEN”
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III—“WHAT WOULD I SAVE THEE FROM?”
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IV—“WHAT WOULD I WIN THEE TO?”
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V—“I WILL BE BRAVE FOR THEE”
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VI—“LOVE ME NOT, LOVE, FOR THAT I FIRST LOVED THEE”
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VII—BODY AND SOUL
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VIII—“THY LOVER, LOVE, WOULD HAVE SOME NOBLER WAY”
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IX—LOVE'S JEALOUSY
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X—LOVE'S MONOTONE
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XI—“ONCE ONLY”
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XII—DENIAL
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XIII—“ONCE WHEN WE WALKED WITHIN A SUMMER FIELD”
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XIV—SONG
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XV—LISTENING TO MUSIC
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XVI—“A SONG OF THE MAIDEN MORN”
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XVII—WORDS IN ABSENCE
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XVIII—SONG
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XIX—THISTLE-DOWN
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XX—“O SWEET WILD ROSES THAT BUD AND BLOW”
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XXI—THE RIVER
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XXII—THE LOVER'S LORD AND MASTER
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XXIII—SONG
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XXIV—“A NIGHT OF STARS AND DREAMS”
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XXV—A BIRTHDAY SONG
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XXVI—“WHAT CAN LOVE DO FOR THEE, LOVE?”
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XXVII—“THE SMILE OF HER I LOVE”
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XXVIII—FRANCESCA AND PAOLO
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XXIX—THE UNKNOWN WAY
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XXX—THE SOWER
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XXXI—“WHEN THE LAST DOUBT IS DOUBTED”
  
INTERLUDE
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PART IV
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THE CELESTIAL PASSION
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LYRICS
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TWO WORLDS AND OTHER POEMS
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THE GREAT REMEMBRANCE AND OTHER POEMS
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IN PALESTINE AND OTHER POEMS
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POEMS
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“IN THE HIGHTS”
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THE FIRE DIVINE
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IN HELENA'S GARDEN

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“BECAUSE THE ROSE MUST FADE”

Because the rose must fade,
Shall I not love the rose?
Because the summer shade
Passes when winter blows,
Shall I not rest me there
In the cool air?
Because the sunset sky
Makes music in my soul,
Only to fail and die,
Shall I not take the whole
Of beauty that it gives
While yet it lives?
Because the sweet of youth
Doth vanish all too soon,
Shall I forget, forsooth,
To learn its lingering tune;
My joy to memorize
In those young eyes?
If, like the summer flower
That blooms—a fragrant death,
Keen music hath no power
To live beyond its breath,
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Then of this flood of song
Let me drink long!
Ah, yes, because the rose
Fades like the sunset skies;
Because rude winter blows
All bare, and music dies—
Therefore, now is to me
Eternity!
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