 | The Complete Poetical Works of Robert Buchanan |  |
LESBIA.
(TO CATULLUS.)
‘Lesbia, illa Lesbia, quam Catullus unam
Plus quam se atque suos amavit omnes!’
Cat.
Plus quam se atque suos amavit omnes!’
Cat.
Hundreds of years ago
Your Lesbia lived and died
Yonder in Rome; yet lo!
Here she is at my side,
Merry and wanton-eyed!
Your Lesbia lived and died
Yonder in Rome; yet lo!
Here she is at my side,
Merry and wanton-eyed!
Dead, yet ever re-born!
Lost, yet ever found!
Still with the roses of Morn
And poppies of Midnight crown'd,—
Laughing, with zone unbound!
Lost, yet ever found!
Still with the roses of Morn
And poppies of Midnight crown'd,—
Laughing, with zone unbound!
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Still, my Catullus, here
Her Paphian rites are done!
Ever from year to year
She gladdeneth in the sun,
The wanton eternal one!
Her Paphian rites are done!
Ever from year to year
She gladdeneth in the sun,
The wanton eternal one!
Out of the ripe warm earth,
After the death-cold snow,
Bringing the old glad mirth
The rose and the rose-girl blow—
As in Rome so long ago!
After the death-cold snow,
Bringing the old glad mirth
The rose and the rose-girl blow—
As in Rome so long ago!
More than my eyes I love her,
Just as you loved her there,—
The same skies shine above her,
And the same bright golden hair
Flows on her shoulders bare!
Just as you loved her there,—
The same skies shine above her,
And the same bright golden hair
Flows on her shoulders bare!
Light from her eyes I borrow,
Clasp, kiss her, and adore;—
Under the earth to-morrow
She'll sleep as she slept before—
Then waken and love once more.
Clasp, kiss her, and adore;—
Under the earth to-morrow
She'll sleep as she slept before—
Then waken and love once more.
Tho' under the earth like thee
I slumber still as stone,
Roses will blossom, and she,
The rose-girl, stand full-blown,—
Laughing, with loosen'd zone!
I slumber still as stone,
Roses will blossom, and she,
The rose-girl, stand full-blown,—
Laughing, with loosen'd zone!
| The Complete Poetical Works of Robert Buchanan | |