 | Chambers Twain |  |
iii
I. PART I.
1
CHAMBERS TWAIN
Hermann Neumann
The heart hath chambers twain,
Wherein
Dwell Joy and Pain.
Wherein
Dwell Joy and Pain.
Joy in his chamber stirs,
While Pain
Sleeps on in hers.
While Pain
Sleeps on in hers.
Oh, Joy, refrain, refrain!
Speak low;
You may awaken Pain.
Speak low;
You may awaken Pain.
2
ON READING ‘THE ROOTS OF THE MOUNTAINS’
A great hand opens portals wide.My soul, my soul,
We twain may pass, still side by side,
These golden gates that lift a scroll
High o'er us weary—Here Abide!
4
REQUIESCAT
Browning is dead. Great Spirit, He shall rest!Ye little poets raking in his dust!
Oh heart that drank his music, to exchange
This uproar of small voices for his song!
5
1889
A voice unheard these many years;
A face long summers shut from sight;
That face I saw, that voice to-night
Gave quiet in a world of fears.
A face long summers shut from sight;
That face I saw, that voice to-night
Gave quiet in a world of fears.
Sister, ten years may serve for tears:
In twice ten years I shall not miss
His very look; the ring of his
Great voice abideth in mine ears.
In twice ten years I shall not miss
His very look; the ring of his
Great voice abideth in mine ears.
6
THE PROTEST OF SPRING
One is dead!Green month of bursting flower and leaf,
One is dead!
For joy of life thy tears are shed;
Naught naught to thee are these of grief:
April! fling wide thy disbelief
That one is dead.
10
ANNIVERSARY
A year ago the friends who pressed
To deck thy bridal could not know
What twin souls waited, each confessed,
A year ago.
To deck thy bridal could not know
What twin souls waited, each confessed,
A year ago.
Twin souls, but half estrangèd yet;
Like single gazers (seemed it so?)
In some fair city newly met
A year ago.
Like single gazers (seemed it so?)
In some fair city newly met
A year ago.
How we this fuller joy should prove,
How each to other closer grow,
Surpassed our knowledge, dearest love,
A year ago.
How each to other closer grow,
Surpassed our knowledge, dearest love,
A year ago.
15
TWO PICTURES BY FLORENCE SMALL
AUTUMN LEAVES
Oh, Autumn leaves!Bind in thy tresses, maiden fair,
These Autumn leaves.
See Hope fulfilled in rangèd sheaves;
See in dead Nature Love's despair;
For brooding joy, for russet care,
These Autumn leaves.
16
SHAUGHBRIDGE, DEVON
This grey old bridge shall be my seat:
Up here I catch the silver tones
Of maidens who on nimble feet
Pass and repass the stepping-stones.
Up here I catch the silver tones
Of maidens who on nimble feet
Pass and repass the stepping-stones.
On nimble feet, with merry din,
The blithesome party lightly trips:
They'd scream if one should tumble in;
They laugh if any maiden slips.
The blithesome party lightly trips:
They'd scream if one should tumble in;
They laugh if any maiden slips.
19
IN A BACHELOR'S GARDEN
But now she stooped—best friends must part;
Then plucked—half jesting was she not?
(And blushed—it lay so near my heart!)
Yon flower that pleads ‘Forget-me-not.’
Then plucked—half jesting was she not?
(And blushed—it lay so near my heart!)
Yon flower that pleads ‘Forget-me-not.’
Ah, ageing heart, old memories throng!
Again, meseems, her kiss strikes hot;
Her voice, long mute, bursts into song
Who planted that Forget-me-not.
Again, meseems, her kiss strikes hot;
Her voice, long mute, bursts into song
Who planted that Forget-me-not.
20
THE STREAM OF LIFE
Says Mrs. Grundy—‘I adjust
These stepping-stones your feet to guide:
A fool you must be, man, to trust
Your handsome legs for length of stride!’
These stepping-stones your feet to guide:
A fool you must be, man, to trust
Your handsome legs for length of stride!’
Says Mrs. Grundy: ‘Be discreet;
You shall escape all taint of sin.
A careless man? You'll wet your feet.
A clumsy man? You'll tumble in!’
You shall escape all taint of sin.
A careless man? You'll wet your feet.
A clumsy man? You'll tumble in!’
21
SONG
If I were in the valley-land,
And you far up the mountain blue,
Would you just turn and wave your hand,
And bid me strive to follow you?
And you far up the mountain blue,
Would you just turn and wave your hand,
And bid me strive to follow you?
If I were in the tossing sea,
And you upon the quiet shore,
Would you send out your help to me,
And bid me to my life once more?
And you upon the quiet shore,
Would you send out your help to me,
And bid me to my life once more?
If I were cast from heaven's gate,
And you within so glad and fair,
I know you would come forth and wait
Beside me, love, in my despair.
And you within so glad and fair,
I know you would come forth and wait
Beside me, love, in my despair.
40
AFTER ORCHARDSON
In old days when Love ruled the roastThe sorriest remnants tasted rare:
Now Love sits watching like a ghost
A very banquet served ‘with Care.’
A CHALLENGE
Or well or ill my song may fare;Love, let thy heart approve it first:
If thy pulse quickens I may dare
Each bloodless critic to his worst.
SHOULD NEWSPAPER ARTICLES BE SIGNED?
A critic whose name don't appearSaid, ‘This warfare of words is severe;
But the plan is to stand
With your head in the sand,
And such hits as you get don't appear!’
46
GRAYS INN
Now Night, with gentle breath, has wroughtSome rest within my brain:
The spirit that so vainly sought,
Now, outward gazing, seems to gain
The end of all this tangled skein
Of cabined, cribbed, unresting thought.
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