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Sonnets of the Wingless Hours

By Eugene Lee-Hamilton
Lee-Hamilton, Eugene
  
[epigraph]
  
[dedication]

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SECTION I. A WHEELED BED 1873-1893
  
TO THE MUSE. I.
  
TO THE MUSE II.
  
FAIRY GODMOTHERS.
  
IN DREAMS.
  
TWILIGHT.
  
TO HEALTH.
  
LOST YEARS.
  
FOR THE FLY-LEAF OF ‘LE MIE PRIGIONI.’
  
A SNAILS' DERBY.
  
RIVER BABBLE. I.
  
RIVER BABBLE. II.
  
TO OTHERS.
  
KING CHRISTMAS.
  
AN ELFIN SKATE. I.
  
AN ELFIN SKATE. II.
  
AN ELFIN SKATE. III.
  
TO MY WHEELED BED.
  
CORSO DE' FIORI.
  
AT REST.
  
EAGLES OF TIBERIUS.
  
TO MY TORTOISE CHRONOS.
  
THE SUN-DIAL. I.
  
THE SUN-DIAL. II.
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SECTION II. BRUSH AND CHISEL
  
ON A GROUP OF FRA ANGELICO'S ANGELS.
  
THE EVER YOUNG. I.
  
THE EVER YOUNG. II.
  
THE EVER YOUNG. III.
  
ON RAPHAEL'S ARCHANGEL MICHAEL.
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ON TWO OF SIGNORELLI'S FRESCOES.
 I. 
I.—THE RISING OF THE DEAD.
 II. 
II.—THE BINDING OF THE LOST.
  
THE WAIFS OF TIME.
  
TO THE SO-CALLED VENUS OF MILO. I.
  
TO THE SO-CALLED VENUS OF MILO. II.
  
ON AN ILLUSTRATION IN DORÉ'S DANTE. I.
  
ON AN ILLUSTRATION IN DORÉ'S DANTE. II.
  
ON MANTEGNA'S DRAWING OF JUDITH. I.
  
ON MANTEGNA'S DRAWING OF JUDITH. II.
  
ON THE HORSES OF ST. MARK.
  
ON A SURF-ROLLED TORSO OF VENUS.
  
FADING GLORIES. I.
  
FADING GLORIES. II.
  
ON LEONARDO'S HEAD OF MEDUSA.
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SECTION III. LIFE AND FATE
  
THE RING OF FAUSTUS.
  
SUNKEN GOLD.
  
LIFE'S GAME.
  
SOULAC.
  
BY THE FIRE.
  
LETHE.
  
HOUNDS OF FATE.
  
THE ‘EISERNE JUNGFRAU.’
  
THE SLEDGE.
  
THE WRECK ROCK BELL.
  
THE SILENT FELLOW.
  
NERO'S SAND.
  
MEETING OF GHOSTS.
  
THE RANSOM OF PERU.
  
SIAMESE TWINS.
  
CÆSAR'S GHOST.
  
A SPANISH LEGEND.
  
IN THE WOOD OF DEAD SEA FRUIT.
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SECTION IV. THE AFTER-LIFE.
  
WAIFS OF A WORLD.
  
SEA-SHELL MURMURS.
  
IDLE CHARON.
  
THE OBOL.
  
ACHERON.
  
THE PHANTOM SHIP.
  
MY OWN HEREAFTER.
  
WINE OF OMAR KHAYYÁM.
  
A FLIGHT FROM GLORY.
  
FIREFLIES.
  
ALL SOULS' DAY. I.
  
ALL SOULS' DAY. II.
  
THE WRECK OF HEAVEN. I.
  
THE WRECK OF HEAVEN. II.
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SECTION V. MISCELLANEOUS.
  
WHAT THE SONNET IS.
  
WINTER.
  
SONNET GOLD. I.
  
SONNET GOLD. II.
  
OBERON'S LAST COUNCIL. I.
  
OBERON'S LAST COUNCIL. I.
  
IN MEMORIAM.
  
ROMAN BATHS.
  
SPRING.
  
TO PHILIP MARSTON.
  
OXFORD.
  
MUSSET'S LOUIS D'OR.
  
PROMETHEAN FANCIES. I.
  
PROMETHEAN FANCIES. II.
  
GOLD OF MIDAS.
  
BAUDELAIRE.
  
NIGHT.
  
THE DEATH OF PUCK. I.
  
THE DEATH OF PUCK. II.
  
TO FLORENCE SNOW.
  
TO A HANDFUL OF MUMMY WHEAT.
  
ON THE FLY-LEAF OF DANTE'S ‘VITA NUOVA.’
  
FAITH.
  
FUMES OF CHARCOAL. September, 1889. I.
  
FUMES OF CHARCOAL. September, 1889. II.
  
ON THE FLY-LEAF OF LEOPARDI'S POEMS.
  
THE GRAVE OF OMAR KHAYYÁM.
  
TO MY TORTOISE ANANKÉ.
  
EPILOGUE TO THESE SONNETS.

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58

THE ‘EISERNE JUNGFRAU.’

TO FATE.

Thou art that Virgin all of screws and steel,
Born in some feudal dungeon of the Rhine,
Whose arms were lined with knives; whose gory shrine
Stood in the torture-room with rack and wheel.
First at her feet they made the victim kneel,
Then kiss her lips; and, on a silent sign,
Her steel arms opened—daggers line on line—
And gave the hug that never walls reveal.
Thy arms of horror close not upon all:
Long whiles they never move; and nothing shows
What means the silent riddle of thy face.
But now and then, when scarcely we recall
What thing thou art, they turn upon their screws
And lock us in their murderous embrace.
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