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The Collected Works of William Morris

With Introductions by his Daughter May Morris
Morris, William (1834-1896)

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VOLUME I THE DEFENCE OF GUENEVERE AND OTHER POEMS
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VOLUME II THE LIFE AND DEATH OF JASON
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VOLUME III, IV, V, VI THE EARTHLY PARADISE
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VOLUME VII THE STORY OF GRETTIR THE STRONG. THE STORY OF THE VOLSUNGS AND NIBLUNGS
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VOLUME IX LOVE IS ENOUGH. POEMS BY THE WAY
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VOLUME X THREE NORTHERN LOVE STORIES. THE TALE OF BEOWULF
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VOLUME XII THE STORY OF SIGURD THE VOLSUNG AND THE FALL OF THE NIBLUNGS
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VOLUME XIV THE HOUSE OF THE WOLFINGS. THE STORY OF THE GLITTERING PLAIN
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VOLUME XV THE ROOTS OF THE MOUNTAINS
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VOLUME XVI NEWS FROM NOWHERE. A DREAM OF JOHN BALL. A KING'S LESSON
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VOLUME XVII THE WOOD BEYOND THE WORLD. CHILD CHRISTOPHER. OLD FRENCH ROMANCES
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VOLUME XXI THE SUNDERING FLOOD. UNFINISHED ROMANCES
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VOLUME XXIV SCENES FROM THE FALL OF TROY AND OTHER POEMS AND FRAGMENTS
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EARLY POEMS
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POEMS OF THE EARTHLY PARADISE TIME (About 1865-1870)
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THE WANDERERS
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THE STORY OF ARISTOMENES
  
THE STORY OF ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE
  
THE WOOING OF SWANHILD
  
IN ARTHUR'S HOUSE
  
[ANTHONY]
  
WRITTEN IN A COPY OF THE EARTHLY PARADISE, DEC. 25, 1870
  
VERSES FOR THE MONTHS EARTHLY PARADISE
  
HAPLESS LOVE
  
THE MOTHER UNDER THE MOULD
  
SAD-EYED AND SOFT AND GREY
  
RHYME SLAYETH SHAME
  
MAY GROWN A-COLD
  
AS THIS THIN THREAD
  
SONG
  
WHY DOST THOU STRUGGLE
  
O FAR AWAY TO SEEK
  
OUR HANDS HAVE MET
  
FAIR WEATHER AND FOUL
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LATE POEMS

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364

O FAR AWAY TO SEEK

O far away to seek, Close-hid for heart to find,
O hard to cast away, Impossible to bind!
A pain when sought and found, A pain when slipped away,
Yet by whatever name, Be nigh us, Love, today.
Sweet was the summer day, Before thou camest here,
But never sweet to me, And Death was drawing near!
Is it summer still? What meaneth the word Death,
What meaneth all the joy Thy mouth, Love, promiseth?
Wherefore must thou babble Of thy finding me alone?
What is this idle word, That thou may'st yet be gone?
Laugh, laugh, Love, as I laugh, When mine own love kisseth me
And saith no more of bliss Twixt lips and lips shall be.
O Love, thou hast slain time, How shall he live again?
We bless thy bitter wound, We bless thy sleepless pain—
Hope and fear slain each of each Doubt forgetting all he said
Death in some place forgotten Lingering, and half dead.
When my hand forgets her cunning I will loose thee, Love, and pray
—Ah and pray to what—For a never-ending day,
Where we may sit apart, Hapless, undying still,
With thoughts of the old story Our sundered hearts to fill.
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