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109
VALENTINES AND SONGS.
“For Lovers' eyes more sharply-sighted be
Than other men's, and in dear Love's delight
See more than any other eyes can see.
[OMITTED]
But they who love indeed, look otherwise
With pure regard and spotless true intent,
Drawing out of the object of their eyes
A more refinèd form which they present
Unto their mind void of all blemishment:
Which seeing now so inly fair to be
As outward it appeareth to the eye,
And with the spirit's proportion to agree,
Love thereon fixeth all his fantasie,
And fully setteth his felicitie,
Counting it fairer than it is indeed,
And yet indeed its fairness doth exceed!
Spenser's Hymn in honour of Beauty.
Than other men's, and in dear Love's delight
See more than any other eyes can see.
[OMITTED]
But they who love indeed, look otherwise
With pure regard and spotless true intent,
Drawing out of the object of their eyes
A more refinèd form which they present
Unto their mind void of all blemishment:
Which seeing now so inly fair to be
As outward it appeareth to the eye,
And with the spirit's proportion to agree,
Love thereon fixeth all his fantasie,
And fully setteth his felicitie,
Counting it fairer than it is indeed,
And yet indeed its fairness doth exceed!
Spenser's Hymn in honour of Beauty.
111
LUISA.
“Just like Love is yonder Rose,
Heavenly sweetness round it throws,
And in the midst of briars it blows,
Just like Love!”
Camoens.
Heavenly sweetness round it throws,
And in the midst of briars it blows,
Just like Love!”
Camoens.
I stood at eve upon the furrowed shore
With One, that as the tide its legions filed
Unto our feet, stooped down, and o'er and o'er
Wrote on the sand that only name, and smiled—
The stern, self-mocking smile joy owns no more—
To see the waves efface it. “Far more slow,”
He said, “are Time's dull waters in their flow
To wear away that name where it is writ
And graven deep, as with a pointed gem,
Upon the rock; yet vain to cancel it
All else, so must I leave it unto them!
This name, that I in weakness of self-scorn,
With idle finger have dishonoured thus,
Fair-written once in letters luminous,
Was shut and clasped within my heart's great Book—
For ever, as I deemed! rude hands have torn
112
Hath kept them; yet for sadness scarce can brook
Within that rifled volume now to look,
Or shut its golden clasps without a sigh!
113
THE SUMMER FRIEND.
TO C. M.
“It was not in the winter
Our loving lot was cast;
It was the time of roses,—
We plucked them as we pass'd.”
Hood.
Our loving lot was cast;
It was the time of roses,—
We plucked them as we pass'd.”
Hood.
Yes! ever with the Summer,
As flies across the sea
The Spring's first blithesome comer,
My thoughts fly swift to thee!
For they were wove of sunbeams,
The ties that hold us fast;
It was Summer when I saw thee first,
And when I saw thee last!
As flies across the sea
The Spring's first blithesome comer,
My thoughts fly swift to thee!
For they were wove of sunbeams,
The ties that hold us fast;
It was Summer when I saw thee first,
And when I saw thee last!
And short and bright as Summer
Our meetings still have been,
(Enough, enough of Winter
Hath ever come between!)
Till with a doubling sweetness
Thy smile is now a part
Of Summer,—Summer on the earth,
And Summer in the heart!
Our meetings still have been,
(Enough, enough of Winter
Hath ever come between!)
Till with a doubling sweetness
Thy smile is now a part
Of Summer,—Summer on the earth,
And Summer in the heart!
114
Still come, dear friend, in Summer,
That I may keep thee twined
With all its warm and golden gifts,
For ever to my mind!
Yet come, dear friend, in Winter,
To prove what half my heart
Hath guessed, that it is Summer still,—
My Summer where thou art!
That I may keep thee twined
With all its warm and golden gifts,
For ever to my mind!
Yet come, dear friend, in Winter,
To prove what half my heart
Hath guessed, that it is Summer still,—
My Summer where thou art!
February 13, 1851.
115
“QUI SAIT AIMER, SAIT MOURIR.”
“I burn my soul away!”
So spake the Rose and smiled; “within my cup
All day the sunbeams fall in flame,—all day
They drink my sweetness up!”
So spake the Rose and smiled; “within my cup
All day the sunbeams fall in flame,—all day
They drink my sweetness up!”
“I sigh my soul away!”
The Lily said; “all night the moonbeams pale
Steal round and round me, whispering in their play
An all too tender tale!”
The Lily said; “all night the moonbeams pale
Steal round and round me, whispering in their play
An all too tender tale!”
“I give my soul away!”
The Violet said; “the West wind wanders on,
The North wind comes; I know not what they say,
And yet my soul is gone!”
The Violet said; “the West wind wanders on,
The North wind comes; I know not what they say,
And yet my soul is gone!”
Oh, Poet, burn away
Thy fervent soul! fond Lover at the feet
Of her thou lovest, sigh! dear Christian, pray,—
And let the World be sweet!
Thy fervent soul! fond Lover at the feet
Of her thou lovest, sigh! dear Christian, pray,—
And let the World be sweet!
116
THE BROKEN CHAIN.
Captives, bound in iron bands,
Half have learned to love their chain;
Slaves have held up ransomed hands,
Praying to be slaves again:
So doth custom reconcile,
Soothing even pain to smile;
So a sadness will remain
In the breaking of the chain.
Half have learned to love their chain;
Slaves have held up ransomed hands,
Praying to be slaves again:
So doth custom reconcile,
Soothing even pain to smile;
So a sadness will remain
In the breaking of the chain.
But if chain were wove of flower,
Linked and looped to sister free,
With a Name and with an Hour,
Running down its Rosary;
Light as gossamers on green,
By their shining only seen;—
Would not something sad remain
In the breaking of the chain?
Linked and looped to sister free,
With a Name and with an Hour,
Running down its Rosary;
Light as gossamers on green,
By their shining only seen;—
Would not something sad remain
In the breaking of the chain?
But if chain were woven shining,
Firm as gold and fine as hair,
Twisting round the heart and twining,
Binding all that centres there
In a knot, that like the olden
May be cut, yet ne'er unfolden;—
Would not something sharp remain
In the breaking of the chain?
Firm as gold and fine as hair,
Twisting round the heart and twining,
Binding all that centres there
117
May be cut, yet ne'er unfolden;—
Would not something sharp remain
In the breaking of the chain?
118
A VALENTINE.
I said to One I loved, “Why art thou sad?”And he made answer, “There hath been a tune
Long floating round my brain; morn, night, and noon,
With inarticulate cadence making glad,
Yet vexing me, because I could not find
Words sweet enough to set to it, and bind
Its music round about my heart for aye.
Till, musing late above an ancient book,
The window being open, breezes fleet
Lifted the rare old page, and sudden shook
A loose leaf, writ with song, unto my feet:
In these quaint words methought lies hid the key
To all those cadences faint struggling round,
Now will I wed them to that melody,
And set my Life to music by their sound;
E'en so I practised them upon my lute
Early and late, yet found they would not suit
Together, though so sweet! and all the strain
Broke into discords! still the strain goes on,
But only angers me, its meaning gone;
Nor will I ever seek to find it words again!
February 13.
119
A VALENTINE.
TO C. M.
One said to me, “To-day
I go where I perchance may meet thy Friend,—
What shall I take from thee?” I answered, “Nay,
Nought have I left to send,
I go where I perchance may meet thy Friend,—
What shall I take from thee?” I answered, “Nay,
Nought have I left to send,
“For she hath all of mine
Already! only giving of her store—
A little miser!—through her usury fine
To draw on mine the more!
Already! only giving of her store—
A little miser!—through her usury fine
To draw on mine the more!
“More fit that she send back
What she hath won of me; but it were vain,—
What once hath been with Her will seek the track,
The wonted track, again!”
What she hath won of me; but it were vain,—
What once hath been with Her will seek the track,
The wonted track, again!”
February 13.
120
“ICH DIEN.”
She spake to him—that woman with a brow
Most like a Queen's,—“With all the sovereignty
That I was born to, crown and sceptre,
My soul hath parted—Be thou true to me;
Fain had I brought thee all; but vassal's vow
And bended knee were but for One; e'en so,
All state I may not share, I would forego!”
Most like a Queen's,—“With all the sovereignty
That I was born to, crown and sceptre,
My soul hath parted—Be thou true to me;
Fain had I brought thee all; but vassal's vow
And bended knee were but for One; e'en so,
All state I may not share, I would forego!”
“Once dwelt I in a Palace of Delight,
A lonely castle on enchanted seas;
Its hundred doors stood open day and night;
My thoughts gold-banded—honey-laden bees—
Passed to and fro for traffic; now all these
That I have slighted (like true friends of yore
Left for a stranger's smile), return no more.
A lonely castle on enchanted seas;
Its hundred doors stood open day and night;
My thoughts gold-banded—honey-laden bees—
Passed to and fro for traffic; now all these
That I have slighted (like true friends of yore
Left for a stranger's smile), return no more.
“And I may not return to them, or stand
Among them as in olden days, when well
They stored my treasure-caverns, for my hand
Hath lost its wonted gesture; and the spell—
Through murmuring one name this chance befell—
That gave those treasure-chambers to the clay,
Hath passed, forgotten, from my mind away!
Among them as in olden days, when well
They stored my treasure-caverns, for my hand
Hath lost its wonted gesture; and the spell—
Through murmuring one name this chance befell—
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Hath passed, forgotten, from my mind away!
“So let it pass!—it were a thought too bold
Within my grasp to keep these empires twain,
And living in two Worlds, the New and Old,
To serve in one, and in the other reign!
Would now that all mine ancient fair domain,
To spirits calm and free I might resign,
To take their joy in it, as I in thine!”
Within my grasp to keep these empires twain,
And living in two Worlds, the New and Old,
To serve in one, and in the other reign!
Would now that all mine ancient fair domain,
To spirits calm and free I might resign,
To take their joy in it, as I in thine!”
Her words were high, yet like proud music shook
From straining chords, that in their vibrant fall
Break over it, her faltering accents took
Them all in humbleness; she did recall
No gift for vaunting that had given all
For All or Nothing? pleading mournfully,
“I love, I serve,—oh, be thou true to me!”
From straining chords, that in their vibrant fall
Break over it, her faltering accents took
Them all in humbleness; she did recall
No gift for vaunting that had given all
For All or Nothing? pleading mournfully,
“I love, I serve,—oh, be thou true to me!”
122
THE BABES IN THE WOOD.
A LOVER'S DREAM.
So dreaming sad and true,
He deemed he saw two outcast children rove;
Oft had he nursed them fondly, so he knew
Their faces—Hope and Love!
He deemed he saw two outcast children rove;
Oft had he nursed them fondly, so he knew
Their faces—Hope and Love!
And ever farther North—
Such heavy doom lay on them through some sin
And sorrow not their own—they wandered forth,
And none did take them in.
Such heavy doom lay on them through some sin
And sorrow not their own—they wandered forth,
And none did take them in.
The wild wind round them strewed
Brown whirling leaves, and sighed amid its play,
While ever deeper in the wintry wood
Their small feet went astray.
Brown whirling leaves, and sighed amid its play,
While ever deeper in the wintry wood
Their small feet went astray.
Yet smiling as they sung
Their little songs, they held each other's hand,
And cheered each other onwards in a tongue
None else might understand.
Their little songs, they held each other's hand,
And cheered each other onwards in a tongue
None else might understand.
123
They fed each other kind—
For slender food these gentle Babes require—
With here and there a berry, left behind
On ragged thorn or brier.
For slender food these gentle Babes require—
With here and there a berry, left behind
On ragged thorn or brier.
And closer, as the dew
Fell dank, unto each other's side they crept;
And closer, closer to each other drew
For warmth, before they slept;
Fell dank, unto each other's side they crept;
And closer, closer to each other drew
For warmth, before they slept;
For by some law, these two
Together born, together linked for aye,
Could only die together! so they knew
What time their hour drew nigh.
Together born, together linked for aye,
Could only die together! so they knew
What time their hour drew nigh.
And oft amid the chill
They woke, and listened for each other's breath,
And felt a pulse beat feebly; all was still,
And yet it was not Death!
They woke, and listened for each other's breath,
And felt a pulse beat feebly; all was still,
And yet it was not Death!
“Still, Brother, thou art warm,”
They whispered to each other; till its fold
Relaxing languidly, each little arm
Grew stiff, and both were cold.
They whispered to each other; till its fold
Relaxing languidly, each little arm
Grew stiff, and both were cold.
No pious Robins there
Brought leaves; but smitten with a late remorse,
A pitying Spirit of the upper air
Wept kind above each corse;
Brought leaves; but smitten with a late remorse,
A pitying Spirit of the upper air
Wept kind above each corse;
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And from undying bowers
Shook on those Children, buried in the snow,
Sweet buds and blossoms of the very flowers
They played with long ago!
Shook on those Children, buried in the snow,
Sweet buds and blossoms of the very flowers
They played with long ago!
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