Poems | ||
69
A DREAM OUT-OF-DOORS.
Though through the Pines a soughing wind,
There 's sun within the trembling breeze,
For continents do lie behind,
Of rarest Flowers and Strawberries;
Each chilling blast shakes Cherries down,
And tints the knurly Pear with brown.
There 's sun within the trembling breeze,
For continents do lie behind,
Of rarest Flowers and Strawberries;
Each chilling blast shakes Cherries down,
And tints the knurly Pear with brown.
Your sooty cloaks bright skies resume,
And weep with all-abandoned glee,
The darkening eve shoots rose perfume,
And cowslips nod, and Apple-tree
Outshines the tapestry of the King,
With red and white, a heapèd thing.
And weep with all-abandoned glee,
The darkening eve shoots rose perfume,
And cowslips nod, and Apple-tree
Outshines the tapestry of the King,
With red and white, a heapèd thing.
70
Storm, rage, and fret, thou sullen March,
Be black, or blue, or furious red,
Springs roundly the o'erhanging arch
With violets clustering o'er its head;
Thy sullen frowns I highly cheer,
The green fields float, thy atmosphere.
Be black, or blue, or furious red,
Springs roundly the o'erhanging arch
With violets clustering o'er its head;
Thy sullen frowns I highly cheer,
The green fields float, thy atmosphere.
And long behind the Wall I lay,
The gray stone wall with mosses laid,
And heard above my head the day
With eastern fingers twisting braid,
Swift flew the wind, but I was warm,
The sun was playing his gold charm.
The gray stone wall with mosses laid,
And heard above my head the day
With eastern fingers twisting braid,
Swift flew the wind, but I was warm,
The sun was playing his gold charm.
There as I lay, a drowsy eye
Leered at me curious, till I sank
And into sleepy lands did fly,
While Lethe murmured down the bank,
'Twas warmer then than by the fire,
More music in Apollo's lyre.
Leered at me curious, till I sank
And into sleepy lands did fly,
While Lethe murmured down the bank,
'Twas warmer then than by the fire,
More music in Apollo's lyre.
71
I dreamed that in the Church I stood,
Dim were mine eyes the sun did blind,
I never went to church for good,
Nor this time left my rule behind;
I went to find my love who played,
The School girl like a timid maid.
Dim were mine eyes the sun did blind,
I never went to church for good,
Nor this time left my rule behind;
I went to find my love who played,
The School girl like a timid maid.
They told me in the gallery then,
That I should find my love so dear;
My eyes were blind, and I was ten,
Yes ten good times the gallery near,
When sudden blindness o'er me came,
And still I went and still the same.
That I should find my love so dear;
My eyes were blind, and I was ten,
Yes ten good times the gallery near,
When sudden blindness o'er me came,
And still I went and still the same.
And when I reached the topmost stair,
Nor could my lovely Ellen see,
I shouted, Ellen, Ellen dear,—
She came from far behind to me;
You truant, was what I could say,
As in her sweet embrace I lay.
Nor could my lovely Ellen see,
I shouted, Ellen, Ellen dear,—
She came from far behind to me;
You truant, was what I could say,
As in her sweet embrace I lay.
72
And I awoke, and the east wind
Did clamor through the old stone wall,
And as I slept, soft clouds had lined
The spanning of the azure Hall,
There's rain meseems within the sky,
Since I in Ellen's arms did lie.
Did clamor through the old stone wall,
And as I slept, soft clouds had lined
The spanning of the azure Hall,
There's rain meseems within the sky,
Since I in Ellen's arms did lie.
Then blow cold March your trumpets shrill,
Send if you can a biting storm,
The nooks are sunny on the hill,
The mossy stones are smooth and warm,
For I can sleep and dream of thee,
Within whose heart is Spring for me.
Send if you can a biting storm,
The nooks are sunny on the hill,
The mossy stones are smooth and warm,
For I can sleep and dream of thee,
Within whose heart is Spring for me.
Poems | ||