The complete poetical works of Thomas Campbell Oxford edition: Edited, with notes by J. Logie Robertson |
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MOONLIGHT |
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 | The complete poetical works of Thomas Campbell |  |
MOONLIGHT
The kiss that would make a maid's cheek flush
Wroth, as if kissing were a sin,
Amidst the Argus eyes and din
And tell-tale glare of noon,
Brings but a murmur and a blush
Beneath the modest moon.
Wroth, as if kissing were a sin,
Amidst the Argus eyes and din
And tell-tale glare of noon,
Brings but a murmur and a blush
Beneath the modest moon.
Ye days, gone—never to come back,
When love returned entranced me so
That still its pictures move and glow
In the dark chamber of my heart—
Leave not my memory's future track;
I will not let you part.
When love returned entranced me so
That still its pictures move and glow
In the dark chamber of my heart—
Leave not my memory's future track;
I will not let you part.
309
'Twas moonlight when my earliest love
First on my bosom dropped her head;
A moment then concentrated
The bliss of years, as if the spheres
Their course had faster driven,
And carried, Enoch-like above,
A living man to Heaven.
First on my bosom dropped her head;
A moment then concentrated
The bliss of years, as if the spheres
Their course had faster driven,
And carried, Enoch-like above,
A living man to Heaven.
'Tis by the rolling moon we measure
The date between our nuptial night
And that blest hour which brings to light
The pledge of faith—the fruit of bliss,
When we impress upon the treasure
A father's earliest kiss.
The date between our nuptial night
And that blest hour which brings to light
The pledge of faith—the fruit of bliss,
When we impress upon the treasure
A father's earliest kiss.
The Moon's the Earth's enamoured bride;
True to him in her very changes,
To other stars she never ranges:
Though, cross'd by him, sometimes she dips
Her light in short offended pride,
And faints to an eclipse.
True to him in her very changes,
To other stars she never ranges:
Though, cross'd by him, sometimes she dips
Her light in short offended pride,
And faints to an eclipse.
The fairies revel by her sheen;
'Tis only when the Moon's above
The fire-fly kindles into love,
And flashes light to show it:
The nightingale salutes her Queen
Of Heaven, her heavenly poet.
'Tis only when the Moon's above
The fire-fly kindles into love,
And flashes light to show it:
The nightingale salutes her Queen
Of Heaven, her heavenly poet.
Then, ye that love! by moonlight gloom
Meet at my grave, and plight regard.
Oh! could I be the Orphéan bard
Of whom it is reported
That nightingales sung o'er his tomb,
Whilst lovers came and courted.
Meet at my grave, and plight regard.
Oh! could I be the Orphéan bard
Of whom it is reported
That nightingales sung o'er his tomb,
Whilst lovers came and courted.
| The complete poetical works of Thomas Campbell | |