 | Love-Sonnets |  |
68
LX.
[To list vague music float o'er moonlit meres]
To list vague music float o'er moonlit meres,The drowsy county-cries at dim day-break;
To gaze on purple distance till it make
Our spirit pine to dwell beyond the spheres;
To pause in starlight by dim river-weirs,
To think of the belovèd half-awake
Till all the yearning breast bitterly ache,
And the o'erburdened heart find ease in tears;
Is it not pain? To drink immortal songs;
To pulse with ecstasy at heroic deeds;
To look on glories we may ne'er attain;
What quality in common here belongs
Which draws from us that blood the spirit bleeds
In all supreme delight? Is it not pain?
| Love-Sonnets | |