 | Moth-Wings |  |
MOTH-WINGS
Like moth-wings that to moon or star
Impossibly aspire,
My twy-winged verses fail how far
Of vision and desire!
Impossibly aspire,
My twy-winged verses fail how far
Of vision and desire!
Yet forth, ye light-winged dreams—whate'er
The world assess your worth—
Some other soul perhaps to bear
A moth-flight from the Earth!
The world assess your worth—
Some other soul perhaps to bear
A moth-flight from the Earth!
91
III. PART III
93
THE DAYBREAK
A dying star above, and snows as wan
As faces of the dead.
But look! the East is golden; night is gone;
Yon peak will soon be red.
As faces of the dead.
But look! the East is golden; night is gone;
Yon peak will soon be red.
Truth broadens o'er the world; old heights grow cold;
Old lights fade one by one.
Nay, fear not! Though our eyes may not behold,
Our children shall have sun.
Old lights fade one by one.
Nay, fear not! Though our eyes may not behold,
Our children shall have sun.
94
THE TURNING OF THE WHEEL
When the rose has lost her sweetness,
And the dancing hours their fleetness,
What shall pay,
Day by day,
For waste and woe and well-a-way?
And the dancing hours their fleetness,
What shall pay,
Day by day,
For waste and woe and well-a-way?
Hope is bankrupt and has nothing;
Love is flown for evermore;
Life must beg her food and clothing
Of the friends she scorned before
Love is flown for evermore;
Life must beg her food and clothing
Of the friends she scorned before
95
A GUESS AT AN OLD RIDDLE
A cloud hath hid the star in heaven;
But still in the blue wave under
It peeps or glances, it sleeps or dances,
A sparkle, a gleam, a wonder.
But still in the blue wave under
It peeps or glances, it sleeps or dances,
A sparkle, a gleam, a wonder.
What if the soul of man should be
A wave-reflected star,
An image broken, a shadow-token
Of something vast and far?
A wave-reflected star,
An image broken, a shadow-token
Of something vast and far?
96
GROWING DARKNESS
When daylight dies we look for little stars,
Jupiter, Venus, Sirius, Saturn, Mars,
Pricking the sapphire velvet, and the night
Deepening we measure by their growing light.
Jupiter, Venus, Sirius, Saturn, Mars,
Pricking the sapphire velvet, and the night
Deepening we measure by their growing light.
And when Love leaves us, many are the toys
We make believe with, and account as joys.
Alas! their waxing pleasure doth but show
More dark our loss is and more deep the woe.
We make believe with, and account as joys.
Alas! their waxing pleasure doth but show
More dark our loss is and more deep the woe.
97
THE BLAU-SEE
Hushed be your voices, soft your sighs
Beside this water! All blue eyes
That ever wept in Love's despair
Have rained their crystal sorrows there.
Beside this water! All blue eyes
That ever wept in Love's despair
Have rained their crystal sorrows there.
And as ye float thereon, half gay,
Half pensive, think: So life to-day
Floats light of heart upon the tears
Of all the myriad yesteryears!
Half pensive, think: So life to-day
Floats light of heart upon the tears
Of all the myriad yesteryears!
98
A WISH
When I am dead, I would this cote
Of clay where I have lodged might be
Quickly dismantled and forgot,
Rebuilt in grass or flower or tree.
Of clay where I have lodged might be
Quickly dismantled and forgot,
Rebuilt in grass or flower or tree.
Only may some light word of mine,
Or song, outlive my own repose,
A cloud that doth o'er sunset shine,
Or petal of a fallen rose!
Or song, outlive my own repose,
A cloud that doth o'er sunset shine,
Or petal of a fallen rose!
99
STAR-RISE
When the first star shines forth, the lark,
The singing star of day,
Drops from the heaven. She fears the dark
In that wide trackless way.
The singing star of day,
Drops from the heaven. She fears the dark
In that wide trackless way.
So in the heart, when Love awakes,
The joys that used to sing
Fall silent. All the spirit quakes
At the strange shining thing.
The joys that used to sing
Fall silent. All the spirit quakes
At the strange shining thing.
100
A SUMMER NIGHT
A summer night, no wind there seemed,
There seemed no wave to be;
The moonbeams fell like a rain of diamonds
Drop by drop in the sea.
There seemed no wave to be;
The moonbeams fell like a rain of diamonds
Drop by drop in the sea.
So, when thought on a dream-tide swayeth
Beyond the will's control,
The morselled image of Heaven falleth
Gleam by gleam on the soul.
Beyond the will's control,
The morselled image of Heaven falleth
Gleam by gleam on the soul.
101
LOSS IN GAIN
The river 'mid his rushes
Is fairer than the sea,
And morning with her blushes
Than day in full degree.
Is fairer than the sea,
And morning with her blushes
Than day in full degree.
And Love, in dazzling splendour,
Alas! hath he not lost
Some thought, some thrill, more tender
That first the fancy crossed?
Alas! hath he not lost
Some thought, some thrill, more tender
That first the fancy crossed?
102
Εσπερε παντα φερεις
Gone from mine eyes her eyes,
Her kisses from my lips;
I wake to empty skies,
And mourn the stars' eclipse.
Her kisses from my lips;
I wake to empty skies,
And mourn the stars' eclipse.
How vacant is the light!
How lone the crowded streets!
Come eve! come love! come night,
With all thy stars and sweets!
How lone the crowded streets!
Come eve! come love! come night,
With all thy stars and sweets!
103
THE BLACKBIRD
O blackbird, who hath taught thee
The heartbreak in thy song,
In the shadowing after sunset
When April days grow long?
The heartbreak in thy song,
In the shadowing after sunset
When April days grow long?
What though the lark in heaven
Forget the Eden ban?
Thou art God's chosen singer
To soothe His exile, Man.
Forget the Eden ban?
Thou art God's chosen singer
To soothe His exile, Man.
104
DREAM-FADING
When the laughing wind doth wake
With light kisses
Curving love-lips on the lake,
Sweet her bliss is.
With light kisses
Curving love-lips on the lake,
Sweet her bliss is.
But the dreaming shadows die;
Now no longer
All her look is to the sky,
For Love is stronger.
Now no longer
All her look is to the sky,
For Love is stronger.
105
THE WINGED AND THE WINGLESS
What time men built in Babylon
That tower to touch the sky,
The lark in heaven looked down upon
The walls they deemed so high.
That tower to touch the sky,
The lark in heaven looked down upon
The walls they deemed so high.
And when to reach life's mystery
I strive with baffled brain,
Love lightly soars where I would be,
And sings “Your toil is vain!”
I strive with baffled brain,
Love lightly soars where I would be,
And sings “Your toil is vain!”
106
HONEY-TIDE
Gone, alas! another day
With its golden hours!
Dawn and noon and night of May,
Songs and stars and flowers!
With its golden hours!
Dawn and noon and night of May,
Songs and stars and flowers!
Swiftly runs the glowing sand
Through reluctant fingers.
Why should it be Sorrow's land
Only, where time lingers?
Through reluctant fingers.
Why should it be Sorrow's land
Only, where time lingers?
107
THE SPELL
With soft enchantment moon and star
Move o'er the sleeping world;
But all the birds safe nested are,
And all the flowers safe furled.
Move o'er the sleeping world;
But all the birds safe nested are,
And all the flowers safe furled.
One bird alone wakes all night long,
One flower drinks all the spell.
And oh! what passion in that song!
How pale that lily-bell!
One flower drinks all the spell.
And oh! what passion in that song!
How pale that lily-bell!
108
ON TURNER'S “EVENING” IN THE TATE GALLERY
The day is over—never to return!
Lament, dark sea! Lament, O desolate shore!
O'er other sunsets yonder star shall burn;
This day, this hour, this eve, shall come no more.
Lament, dark sea! Lament, O desolate shore!
O'er other sunsets yonder star shall burn;
This day, this hour, this eve, shall come no more.
O lingering gold, that lessens as I gaze!
Some joy within me seems to die with thee.
O diamond, brightening in the pearly haze!
Some hope grows brighter, as I gaze, in me.
Some joy within me seems to die with thee.
O diamond, brightening in the pearly haze!
Some hope grows brighter, as I gaze, in me.
109
NEW YEAR'S EVE
Oh, let me dream, as Earth herself is dreaming
In murmured songs and broken sighs of sleep!
Oh, let me seem, as Heaven itself is seeming,
A thought of God down-floating on the deep!
In murmured songs and broken sighs of sleep!
Oh, let me seem, as Heaven itself is seeming,
A thought of God down-floating on the deep!
Oh, let me keep, as Nature now is keeping,
The mute bar of the mighty antiphon!
Oh, let me sleep, as Time himself is sleeping
Wing-weary in the shadow of God's throne!
The mute bar of the mighty antiphon!
Oh, let me sleep, as Time himself is sleeping
Wing-weary in the shadow of God's throne!
110
THE CHILD OF NATURE BEFORE THE THRONE OF GOD
Thou hast given me Joy by handfuls, Love full measure,
Gladness in earth below and in heaven above;
All was given to spend and nothing to treasure,
Only the joy of Joy and the love of Love.
Gladness in earth below and in heaven above;
All was given to spend and nothing to treasure,
Only the joy of Joy and the love of Love.
So now I am come before Thee empty of hand;
But all my soul is full to the brim with Thee,
Lord and Giver of Love. The pool on the sand
Fills and o'erflows, to merge in the measureless sea.
But all my soul is full to the brim with Thee,
Lord and Giver of Love. The pool on the sand
Fills and o'erflows, to merge in the measureless sea.
111
SONG-SAVOUR
O gift, O priceless gift of song,
Of honey-savoured rhymes that fall
Unrecked as roseleaves 'mid the throng,
Yet find some lodging in us all;
Of honey-savoured rhymes that fall
Unrecked as roseleaves 'mid the throng,
Yet find some lodging in us all;
And hid 'mid half-worn memories,
Will sweeten many a loveless term,
And save youth's rainbow tapestries
From eld's corrupting moth and worm!
Will sweeten many a loveless term,
And save youth's rainbow tapestries
From eld's corrupting moth and worm!
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