 | Song in September |  |
178
TO A PROUD BEAUTY
The cloud that sails,
A silver lamb in blue,
Not long prevails
By innocence of hue.
A silver lamb in blue,
Not long prevails
By innocence of hue.
The stream that goes
Like violets melted there,
In rains and snows
Is neither blue nor fair.
Like violets melted there,
In rains and snows
Is neither blue nor fair.
The star that takes
The wilderness with joy
Time's hammer breaks,
The rods of heaven destroy.
The wilderness with joy
Time's hammer breaks,
The rods of heaven destroy.
Then be not proud
That beauty loves to wear
Thy face, thy cloud
Of king-compelling hair.
That beauty loves to wear
Thy face, thy cloud
Of king-compelling hair.
179
For like a dream
The loveliness shall pass:
A flash, a beam,
A breathing on the glass!
The loveliness shall pass:
A flash, a beam,
A breathing on the glass!
Thou dost not think
That June perceives the way
Toward the brink
Of beauty in decay;
That June perceives the way
Toward the brink
Of beauty in decay;
But thither tend
Thy bosom-breaking charms
Where Death shall bend
Thee backward in his arms!
Thy bosom-breaking charms
Where Death shall bend
Thee backward in his arms!
| Song in September | |