 | The Collected Poems of Lord De Tabley |  |
AURORA
By the primrose bank and meadow,
Rippling curls, rare feet in shadow,
Whither, sweet, away?
Listen, rise and follow lightly,
Wind the fluttering fingers tightly;
Greet thee, love, to-day.
Rippling curls, rare feet in shadow,
Whither, sweet, away?
Listen, rise and follow lightly,
Wind the fluttering fingers tightly;
Greet thee, love, to-day.
335
Young and lonely keep no measure.
Mint of youth is current treasure,
Age but dross and scorn.
Many sweet mouths are not tasted,
Sweetest kisses won and wasted,
Hour and year forsworn.
Mint of youth is current treasure,
Age but dross and scorn.
Many sweet mouths are not tasted,
Sweetest kisses won and wasted,
Hour and year forsworn.
When the ripe hour whispers “reap,”
Turning towards that loveless sleep
Who would sourly say,
Fresh cheeks wear not weeping stain.
Love is spoil, and wedded pain
Taint their rose away!
Turning towards that loveless sleep
Who would sourly say,
Fresh cheeks wear not weeping stain.
Love is spoil, and wedded pain
Taint their rose away!
Answer, love, “though love's best sweet,
Like an angel's glorious feet,
Flash and pass no more,”—
Answer, sweet, “love may not last,
But the perfume of its past
Lives in riper store.”
Like an angel's glorious feet,
Flash and pass no more,”—
Answer, sweet, “love may not last,
But the perfume of its past
Lives in riper store.”
Wavering sets the longest noon:
Winter crowns the fiercest June,
Summer melts the snow.
Eyes can answer, hands as well,
Rusting years unlearn their spell:
Answer, dearest, so—
Winter crowns the fiercest June,
Summer melts the snow.
Eyes can answer, hands as well,
Rusting years unlearn their spell:
Answer, dearest, so—
Fortune plays not twice the giver:
Leave it once and lose it ever.
As we speak 'tis flown.
Grasp it with no palsied hand,
Bend the years at thy command,
Now and thrice thine own.
Leave it once and lose it ever.
As we speak 'tis flown.
Grasp it with no palsied hand,
Bend the years at thy command,
Now and thrice thine own.
| The Collected Poems of Lord De Tabley | |