 | Pampinea and other poems |  |
68
LAMIA.
“Go on your way, and let me pass.
You stop a wild despair.
I would that I were turned to brass
Like that grim dragon there,
You stop a wild despair.
I would that I were turned to brass
Like that grim dragon there,
“Which, couchant by the groined gate,
In weather foul or fair,
Looks down serenely desolate,
And nothing does but stare!
In weather foul or fair,
Looks down serenely desolate,
And nothing does but stare!
69
“What care I for the burgeoned year,
The sad leaf or the gay?
Let Launcelot and Guinevere
Their falcons fly this day.
The sad leaf or the gay?
Let Launcelot and Guinevere
Their falcons fly this day.
“Twill be as royal sport, pardie,
As falconers have tried
At Astolat—but let me be!
I would that I had died.
As falconers have tried
At Astolat—but let me be!
I would that I had died.
“I met a woman in the glade:
Her hair was soft and brown,
And long bent silken lashes weighed
Her ivory eyelids down.
Her hair was soft and brown,
And long bent silken lashes weighed
Her ivory eyelids down.
“I kissed her hand, I called her blest,
I held her true and fair—
She turned to shadow on my breast,
And melted in the air!
I held her true and fair—
She turned to shadow on my breast,
And melted in the air!
70
“And, lo! about me, fold on fold,
A golden serpent hung—
An eye of jet, a skin of gold,
A garnet for a tongue!
A golden serpent hung—
An eye of jet, a skin of gold,
A garnet for a tongue!
“O, let the petted falcons fly
Right merry in the sun;
But let me be! for I shall die
Before the year is done.”
Right merry in the sun;
But let me be! for I shall die
Before the year is done.”
| Pampinea and other poems | |