The Collected Poems of Lord De Tabley [i.e. J. B. L. Warren] |
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| I. |
| II. |
| III. |
| IV. |
| V. |
| VI. |
| VII. |
| VIII. |
| IX. |
| X. |
| XI. |
| XII. |
| XIII. |
| XIV. |
| XV. |
| XVI. |
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AT HEAVEN'S GATE |
 | The Collected Poems of Lord De Tabley |  |
AT HEAVEN'S GATE
The last of all the starry flock,
Red Phosphor fades in amber skies,
Hoarse in the farmstead crows the cock,
Harsh from the glen the owl replies.
Red Phosphor fades in amber skies,
Hoarse in the farmstead crows the cock,
Harsh from the glen the owl replies.
Lovely and dim the star of morn,
A sphere of rayless ruby glows:
Until the Day divine is born
On cloudy bed of tinselled rose.
A sphere of rayless ruby glows:
Until the Day divine is born
On cloudy bed of tinselled rose.
When long-divided zones of pearl
Announce the silken steps of Day,
I wake before the silent merle,
I waken and I soar away.
Announce the silken steps of Day,
I wake before the silent merle,
I waken and I soar away.
The waves of heaven with cloudy crest
Come rippling eastward like a tide;
No longer in my moss-lined nest
The minstrel bird of heaven will bide.
Come rippling eastward like a tide;
No longer in my moss-lined nest
The minstrel bird of heaven will bide.
'Tis meet and right my lofty lyre
Shall greet Apollo's orient rays:
That I ascend, as stars retire,
And soaring trill my hymn of praise;
Shall greet Apollo's orient rays:
That I ascend, as stars retire,
And soaring trill my hymn of praise;
457
That first of nature's wakening choir,
Sweet incense to the Lord I bring:
That my devotion wafts me higher
Than clouds which tire an eagle's wing.
Sweet incense to the Lord I bring:
That my devotion wafts me higher
Than clouds which tire an eagle's wing.
The angel of the unrisen morn,
The herald bird with note of fire:
Within whose fervid breast are born
The longings of a world desire,
The herald bird with note of fire:
Within whose fervid breast are born
The longings of a world desire,
The pæan to the mighty power
Pervading heaven, pervading earth:
At whose command the genial hour
Breaks iris-tinted in its mirth.
Pervading heaven, pervading earth:
At whose command the genial hour
Breaks iris-tinted in its mirth.
Then I become a morning psalm,
And carol, where are never heard
In solitudes of astral calm
The twitter of a groundling bird.
And carol, where are never heard
In solitudes of astral calm
The twitter of a groundling bird.
Where heaven is near I sing alone;
For other feeble warbling throats
Fail far below my seraph zone,
Nor dare intrude their earthborn notes.
For other feeble warbling throats
Fail far below my seraph zone,
Nor dare intrude their earthborn notes.
Let Philomel's harmonious breath
Ring out her prelude of despair,
Can tales of turbid love and death
Pollute that pure and crystal air?
Ring out her prelude of despair,
Can tales of turbid love and death
Pollute that pure and crystal air?
Let the false cuckoo tell the vale
His double-noted name unblest;
Let greedy starlings rate and rail,
And jackdaws bicker round their nest.
His double-noted name unblest;
Let greedy starlings rate and rail,
And jackdaws bicker round their nest.
Let robins in malignant strife
Pipe triumph o'er a rival slain,
The red-breast hypocrites, whose life
Is sequel to the deeds of Cain.
Pipe triumph o'er a rival slain,
The red-breast hypocrites, whose life
Is sequel to the deeds of Cain.
From Thames to Nile let swallows cross,
Let petrels sing the dirge of wrecks.
I envy not the ringdove's gloss
Nor burnish of their tinselled necks.
Let petrels sing the dirge of wrecks.
I envy not the ringdove's gloss
Nor burnish of their tinselled necks.
458
I envy not the feather-eyes,
When Juno's fowl her train expands;
Nor when the halcyon's rainbow dyes
Recall some bird of tropic lands.
When Juno's fowl her train expands;
Nor when the halcyon's rainbow dyes
Recall some bird of tropic lands.
I have no beauty: wing and breast
Are dim, suffused with speckled greys;
A homely bird: yet from my nest
Ascends a strain of regal praise.
Are dim, suffused with speckled greys;
A homely bird: yet from my nest
Ascends a strain of regal praise.
I am the clarion of the morn:
Between the clouds I fade from sight.
The mountains hear my elfin horn;
I, singing, melt away in light.
Between the clouds I fade from sight.
The mountains hear my elfin horn;
I, singing, melt away in light.
I am all music, throat and breast,
And music from my trembling wing
Is shaken, as I poise at rest:
Soaring I never cease to sing.
And music from my trembling wing
Is shaken, as I poise at rest:
Soaring I never cease to sing.
I throb with full excess of song,
I quiver in melodious pain;
And, as I flutter, sweet and strong
My strain descends in golden rain.
I quiver in melodious pain;
And, as I flutter, sweet and strong
My strain descends in golden rain.
Mine is the glory of the praise
That does not seek itself to bless,
And mine the meed of blameless days,
Which heaven bends o'er with dove caress.
That does not seek itself to bless,
And mine the meed of blameless days,
Which heaven bends o'er with dove caress.
Mine is the soaring life afar,
Which, self-forgetting, heaven endears;
Mine is the radiance of the star,
And mine the music of the spheres.
Which, self-forgetting, heaven endears;
Mine is the radiance of the star,
And mine the music of the spheres.
September 29th, 1895.
| The Collected Poems of Lord De Tabley | |