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. |
THE RED-BREAST |
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 | The Collected Poems of Lord De Tabley |  |
THE RED-BREAST
My red-breast, continue thy song beyond seasons
When the passage bird's mad lay is over and past;
Pipe sweet to my lady and trill her my reasons;
Be thy note weak as dew she will harken at last.
When the passage bird's mad lay is over and past;
Pipe sweet to my lady and trill her my reasons;
Be thy note weak as dew she will harken at last.
Alder droops and the aspen rocks as the year closes,
The daisy roots shiver expecting the snows.
As autumn and equinox alter the roses,
Reason with her, pretty bird, as it blows.
The daisy roots shiver expecting the snows.
As autumn and equinox alter the roses,
Reason with her, pretty bird, as it blows.
Tell her the emblem of leaves as they wither;
Lay at her feet broken buds, perished fruit;
Whisper my darling, that all things drift thither,
Where the lips of the queens of Love's garden are mute.
Lay at her feet broken buds, perished fruit;
Whisper my darling, that all things drift thither,
Where the lips of the queens of Love's garden are mute.
51
For the wood-bee has garnered his cells with bloom-harvest,
And among his sweet wealth he is drowsy and dumb.
For the squirrel has hidden, ere weather bite sharpest,
His acorns and beech-nuts as latter rains come.
And among his sweet wealth he is drowsy and dumb.
For the squirrel has hidden, ere weather bite sharpest,
His acorns and beech-nuts as latter rains come.
O my child, there is age, there is death; each a spectre;
One will wither, one whiten thy cheek's elfin rose;
Garner then, as a wise bee, some store of Love's nectar
To cherish thy heart in its seasons of snows!
One will wither, one whiten thy cheek's elfin rose;
Garner then, as a wise bee, some store of Love's nectar
To cherish thy heart in its seasons of snows!
| The Collected Poems of Lord De Tabley | |