 | The Collected Poems of Lord De Tabley |  |
MUTATION
If but a little while the flowers are new
Till broken over-ripely with great dew,
Shall Love remain untarnished till his close,
Clear in his depth, heart-perfect like a rose?
Till broken over-ripely with great dew,
Shall Love remain untarnished till his close,
Clear in his depth, heart-perfect like a rose?
Yet, O my love, one little changeful year
O'er Amor's laughing eyes will render sere
The pretty petals, and uncrimson soon
The brave new posies garlanded in June.
O'er Amor's laughing eyes will render sere
The pretty petals, and uncrimson soon
The brave new posies garlanded in June.
127
If I have led thee in sweet way of flowers,
If we have heard the dove's voice answer ours,
Where the sharp woods grew mellow nearer noon,
Shall love endure more than the cuckoo's tune?
If we have heard the dove's voice answer ours,
Where the sharp woods grew mellow nearer noon,
Shall love endure more than the cuckoo's tune?
If I have pastured at thy lips as well
As the bee trembles at the asphodel,
Are their ripe bloom and tender incense breath
Secure alone from stain of dust and death?
As the bee trembles at the asphodel,
Are their ripe bloom and tender incense breath
Secure alone from stain of dust and death?
Love in his sheaf has bound us breast to breast,
Why reason sourly at his harvest feast;
Or seek for ashes under every rose
That cinctures round his beaming tresses close?
Why reason sourly at his harvest feast;
Or seek for ashes under every rose
That cinctures round his beaming tresses close?
And yet, dear heart, this phantom clothed in fear,
Makes not in dearness thee one shade less dear;
And I will hunger for more love indeed,
If love be briefer than a wayside weed.
Makes not in dearness thee one shade less dear;
And I will hunger for more love indeed,
If love be briefer than a wayside weed.
I will not leave my ruler, tho' his reign
Change as a rose or like a crescent wane.
What answer shall we render, sweet, to these
Who hate our Lord, because his rule shall cease?
Change as a rose or like a crescent wane.
What answer shall we render, sweet, to these
Who hate our Lord, because his rule shall cease?
Say, with thy sweet lip rested under mine,
“Lord of an hour, thou only art divine.”
Sing, while I feel the perfume of thy breath,
“Love is eternal and more strong than death.”
“Lord of an hour, thou only art divine.”
Sing, while I feel the perfume of thy breath,
“Love is eternal and more strong than death.”
| The Collected Poems of Lord De Tabley | |