The Poetical Works of George Barlow In Ten [Eleven] Volumes |
 | I. |
 | II. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| III. |
| IV. |
| V. |
| VI. |
| VII. |
| VIII. |
| IX. |
| X. |
| XI. |
 | The Poetical Works of George Barlow |  |
91
SONNET V
ON READING “LES CONTEMPLATIONS” OF VICTOR HUGO
First through the early ways of love made bright
With tenderest blossoms, holding his strong hand
I wandered. Airs of morning soft and bland
Played round us; through the greenwood's dense delight
Of tangled flowers and shrubs shone Venus white:—
The silver-fringed small wavelets kissed the land;
We mixed with many a laughing lover-band;
The world was fair to touch and fair to sight.
With tenderest blossoms, holding his strong hand
I wandered. Airs of morning soft and bland
Played round us; through the greenwood's dense delight
Of tangled flowers and shrubs shone Venus white:—
The silver-fringed small wavelets kissed the land;
We mixed with many a laughing lover-band;
The world was fair to touch and fair to sight.
Then came a change. By many a river-steep
We passed: the blossoms less abundant grew.
Still the same gold stars watched above our sleep,
And the same high interminable blue.
At last before the poet who led and me
Following, a grey waste gleamed:—Death and the sea.
We passed: the blossoms less abundant grew.
Still the same gold stars watched above our sleep,
And the same high interminable blue.
At last before the poet who led and me
Following, a grey waste gleamed:—Death and the sea.
| The Poetical Works of George Barlow | |