 | Poems Lyrical and Dramatic |  |
189
THREE SONNETS.
I.
The foul frog buried in the marsh and mire
Croaks all night long 'neath the immaculate star:
May I not then lift eyes and voice afar,
Winged to thy feet with chaste adoring fire?
Croaks all night long 'neath the immaculate star:
May I not then lift eyes and voice afar,
Winged to thy feet with chaste adoring fire?
I dream of thee sweet dreams that never tire,
Though the great gulf of heaven my passage bar,
And wide as worlds asunder lie we are,—
Perchance I would not wish thy presence nigher.
Though the great gulf of heaven my passage bar,
And wide as worlds asunder lie we are,—
Perchance I would not wish thy presence nigher.
Man may not see divinity too near,
Poisons with hopes and fears all loveliest things,
Stains with blood-offerings base the holiest shrine.
Poisons with hopes and fears all loveliest things,
Stains with blood-offerings base the holiest shrine.
190
But I will sing of thee 'twixt tear and tear,
As with the dew and day-star on his wings
Sweet Heine sang the palm-tree and the pine.
As with the dew and day-star on his wings
Sweet Heine sang the palm-tree and the pine.
II.
Lo, some young aspirant on winds of hope
Springs from the earth upon a boundless flight,
Voyaging towards the morning and the light,
And sings his soul out under heaven's wide cope.
Springs from the earth upon a boundless flight,
Voyaging towards the morning and the light,
And sings his soul out under heaven's wide cope.
But, once the sunrise gates refuse to ope
A path to lightning wings that cleave and smite,
Lower and lower, spirit-broken quite,
He drops down, in the misty vales to grope.
A path to lightning wings that cleave and smite,
Lower and lower, spirit-broken quite,
He drops down, in the misty vales to grope.
And I, poor wonderer, lifted eyes afar,
And swooned with glory, and winnowed the wild air,
Singing, and soaring up and up to thee.
And swooned with glory, and winnowed the wild air,
Singing, and soaring up and up to thee.
So when at highest I failed to touch thy star,
Down, down, down, drunk with sin and with despair,
I sank, and grovelled in the riotous sea.
Down, down, down, drunk with sin and with despair,
I sank, and grovelled in the riotous sea.
191
III.
One said unto a statue, “Thou art mine.
Silver and gold and corals have I thrown
Into the balance, and thou art mine own
To stand forever in my temple's shrine.
Silver and gold and corals have I thrown
Into the balance, and thou art mine own
To stand forever in my temple's shrine.
“Yet my blood foams not at thy sight like wine,
But aches with dull despair e'en to the bone,
For who may wed with pure impassive stone?
In vain, in vain for me thou art divine.
But aches with dull despair e'en to the bone,
For who may wed with pure impassive stone?
In vain, in vain for me thou art divine.
“Mine art thou, yet thou art not mine at all,
Thou art remoter than the utmost deep;
Two solitudes we are that yearn apart.”
Thou art remoter than the utmost deep;
Two solitudes we are that yearn apart.”
I thank the gulf set 'twixt us, and the wall,
The sea, the laws of man, since less I weep
The greater gulf of sin 'twixt heart and heart.
The sea, the laws of man, since less I weep
The greater gulf of sin 'twixt heart and heart.
| Poems Lyrical and Dramatic | |