 | Poems and Sonnets |  |
85
GLANCES.
I
Some of those looks I never shall forget,Some of those looks you gave me long ago;
To you at all events, I own, I owe
Remembrance sweeter even than regret;
When I recall your eyes my eyes are wet,
You used to glance at me sometimes just so—
Just so it was—ah! you would hardly know,
But I remember how the lightnings met—
The sudden mutual flashing of the eyes
When one struck strongly on a common chord
That used the other's action to applaud;
Though unto height of threescore years I rise
And every other pleasure life denies
I have that recollection for reward,
86
II
Reward of having lived and sorrowed muchAnd sinned and suffered; why it was worth while
Creating one to get but one such smile,
To feel the passionate fervour of a touch
Of hands that used to send an electric shock
That shivered into pieces the rent rock
Of my poor heart in most emphatic style;
If now my life is desert, yet an isle,
A green oasis, blossoms in the past,
And worth the agony of all the rest
It is with one such vision to be blessed,
By one such memory to be followed fast,
To have one radiant recollection cast
Across the raging waters sore-distressed
87
III
Of present sad existence, to have knownAt least in dreams how wonderful is Love
When Beauty, girded sweetly, sits above,
The occupant of some soft grassy throne,
How rapturous a thing it is to own
Yourself defeated, over head and ears
Immersed in Passion's sea of smiles and tears,
When some one else's heart is there to moan
The music of response; at least I say
That Love is Beautiful, that Love is Fair,
And rosy is the circling of the air
Around the heads of lovers in the way;
If now in loveless paths my footsteps stray
Yet once for me the paths perfumed were.
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