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Poetical Works of Robert Bridges excluding the eight dramas

Bridges, Robert Seymour (1844-1930)

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Prometheus the Firegiver
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PROMETHEUS THE FIREGIVER
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[FIRST PART]
  
ODE.
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SECOND PART
  
ODE.
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DEMETER
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DEMETER
 I. 
ACT I
 II. 
ACT II
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ACT III
  
ODE.
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Eros & Psyche
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[In midmost length of hundred-citied Crete]
 I. 
FIRST QUARTER
 II. 
SECOND QUARTER
 III. 
THIRD QUARTER
 IV. 
FOURTH QUARTER
  
THE GROWTH OF LOVE
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Shorter Poems
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BOOK I
  
[dedication]
 1. 
1 ELEGY
 2. 
2 ELEGY
 3. 
3
 4. 
4 THE CLIFF-TOP
 5. 
5
 6. 
6
 7. 
7
 8. 
8
 9. 
9
 10. 
10
 11. 
11
 12. 
12
 13. 
13
 14. 
14 ELEGY
 15. 
15 RONDEAU
 16. 
16 TRIOLET
 17. 
17 TRIOLET
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BOOK II
  
[dedication]
 1. 
1
 2. 
2 PASSER-BY
 3. 
3 LATE SPRING EVENING
 4. 
4 WOOING
 5. 
5
 6. 
6 A WATER-PARTY
 7. 
7 THE DOWNS
 8. 
8 SPRING
 9. 
9 SPRING
 10. 
10 ELEGY
 11. 
11 DEJECTION
 12. 
12 MORNING HYMN
 13. 
13
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BOOK III
  
[dedication]
 1. 
1
 2. 
2 LONDON SNOW
 3. 
3 THE VOICE OF NATURE
 4. 
4 ON A DEAD CHILD
 5. 
5 THE PHILOSOPHER TO HIS MISTRESS
 6. 
6
 7. 
7 INDOLENCE
 8. 
8
 9. 
9
 10. 
10
 11. 
11
 12. 
12
 13. 
13
 14. 
14
 15. 
15
 16. 
16 SONG
 17. 
17
 18. 
18
 19. 
19
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BOOK IV
  
[dedication]
 1. 
1
 2. 
2
 3. 
3
 4. 
4
 5. 
5 LAST WEEK OF FEBRUARY, 1890
 6. 
6 APRIL, 1885
 7. 
7
 8. 
8
 9. 
9
 10. 
10
 11. 
11
 12. 
12
 13. 
13 THE WINDMILL
 14. 
14
 15. 
15
 16. 
16
 17. 
17
 18. 
18
 19. 
19 ANNIVERSARY
 20. 
20
 21. 
21
 22. 
22
 23. 
23
 24. 
24
 25. 
25
 26. 
26
 27. 
27
 28. 
28
 29. 
29
 30. 
30 LAUS DEO
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BOOK V
  
[dedication]
 1. 
1 THE WINNOWERS
 2. 
2 THE AFFLICTION OF RICHARD
 3. 
3
 4. 
4 THE GARDEN IN SEPTEMBER
 5. 
5
 6. 
6 LARKS
 7. 
7 THE PALM WILLOW
 8. 
8 ASIAN BIRDS
 9. 
9 JANUARY
 10. 
10 A ROBIN
 11. 
11
 12. 
12 NIGHTINGALES
 13. 
13
 14. 
14 FOUNDER'S DAY. A SECULAR ODE ON THE NINTH JUBILEE OF ETON COLLEGE
 15. 
15
 16. 
16 NORTH WIND IN OCTOBER
 17. 
17 FIRST SPRING MORNING
 18. 
18 A VILLAGER
 19. 
19
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New Poems
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ECLOGUE I THE MONTHS
  
BASIL AND EDWARD
  
JANUARY
  
FEBRUARY
  
MARCH
  
APRIL
  
MAY
  
JUNE
  
JULY
  
AUGUST
  
SEPTEMBER
  
OCTOBER
  
NOVEMBER
  
DECEMBER
  
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ECLOGUE II GIOVANNI DUPRÈ
  
LAWRENCE AND RICHARD
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ECLOGUE III FOURTH OF JUNE AT ETON
  
RICHARD AND GODFREY
 4. 
4 ELEGY
 5. 
5
 6. 
6 THE SOUTH WIND
 7. 
7
 8. 
8
 9. 
9
 10. 
10 SEPTUAGESIMA
 11. 
11
 12. 
12
 13. 
13 PATER FILIO
 14. 
14 NOVEMBER
 15. 
15 WINTER NIGHTFALL
 16. 
16
 17. 
17
 18. 
18 WISHES
 19. 
19 A LOVE LYRIC
 20. 
20 ΕΡΩΣ
 21. 
21 THE FAIR BRASS
 22. 
22 THE DUTEOUS HEART
 23. 
23 THE IDLE FLOWERS
 24. 
24 DUNSTONE HILL
 25. 
25 SCREAMING TARN
 26. 
26 THE ISLE OF ACHILLES
 27. 
27 AN ANNIVERSARY
 28. 
28 REGINA CARA
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Later Poems
 1. 
1 RECOLLECTIONS OF SOLITUDE
 2. 
2 A VIGNETTE
 3. 
3 MILLICENT
 4. 
4 VIVAMUS
 5. 
5
 6. 
6
 7. 
7 MELANCHOLIA
 8. 
8 TO THE PRESIDENT OF MAGDALEN COLLEGE, OXFORD
 9. 
9 TO JOSEPH JOACHIM
 10. 
10 TO THOS. FLOYD
 11. 
11 LA GLOIRE DE VOLTAIRE
 12. 
12 TO ROBERT BURNS
 13. 
13 THE PORTRAIT OF A GRANDFATHER
 14. 
14 AN INVITATION TO THE OXFORD PAGEANT, JULY 1907
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15 ODE TO MUSIC
 I. 
I
 II. 
II
 III. 
III
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IV
 1. 
1
 2. 
2
 3. 
3
 V. 
V
 VI. 
VI
 VII. 
VII
 VIII. 
VIII
 IX. 
IX
 X. 
X
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16 A HYMN OF NATURE
 I. 
I
 II. 
II
 III. 
III
 IV. 
IV
 V. 
V
 VI. 
VI
 VII. 
VII
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Poems in Classical Prosody
 1. 
1 EPISTLE I TO L. M. WINTRY DELIGHTS
 2. 
2 EPISTLE II TO A SOCIALIST IN LONDON
 3. 
3 EVENING
 4. 
4 POVRE AME AMOUREUSE
 5. 
5 THE FOURTH DIMENSION
 6. 
6 JOHANNES MILTON, Senex
 7. 
7 PYTHAGORAS
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Elegiacs
 8. 
8 AMIEL
 9. 
9
 10. 
10 WALKING HOME
 11. 
11 THE RUIN
 12. 
12 REVENANTS
 13. 
13
 14. 
14 ANNIVERSARY
 15. 
15 COMMUNION OF SAINTS
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EPITAPHS
 16. 
16
 17. 
17
 18. 
18
 19. 
19
 20. 
20 IBANT OBSCURI
 21. 
21 PRIAM & ACHILLES
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October & OTHER POEMS
  
[dedication]
 1. 
1 OCTOBER
 2. 
2 THE FLOWERING TREE
 3. 
3 NOEL: CHRISTMAS EVE, 1913
 4. 
4 IN DER FREMDE
 5. 
5 THE PHILOSOPHER AND HIS MISTRESS
 6. 
6 NARCISSUS
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7 OUR LADY
 I. 
I.
 II. 
II.
  
8 THE CURFEW TOWER
 9. 
9 FLYCATCHERS
 10. 
10 GHOSTS
 11. 
11 Ετωσιον αχθος αρουρης
 12. 
12 HELL AND HATE
 13. 
13 ODE ON THE TERCENTENARY COMMEMORATION OF SHAKESPEARE
 14. 
14 THE CHIVALRY OF THE SEA
 15. 
15 FOR ‘PAGES INÉDITES’, ETC.
 16. 
16 GHELUVELT
 17. 
17 THE WEST FRONT
  
18 TRAFALGAR SQUARE
 19. 
19 CHRISTMAS EVE, 1917
 20. 
20 THE EXCELLENT WAY
 21. 
21 ENGLAND TO INDIA
 22. 
22 BRITANNIA VICTRIX
 23. 
23 POOR CHILD
 24. 
24 TO PERCY BUCK
 25. 
25 TO HARRY ELLIS WOOLDRIDGE
 26. 
26 FORTUNATUS NIMIUM
 27. 
27 DEMOCRITUS
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New Verse
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PART ONE NEO-MILTONIC SYLLABICS
 1. 
1 CHEDDAR PINKS
 2. 
2 POOR POLL
 3. 
3 THE TAPESTRY
 4. 
4 KATE'S MOTHER
 5. 
5 THE COLLEGE GARDEN
 6. 
6 THE PSALM
 7. 
7 COME SE QUANDO
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PART TWO ACCENTUAL MEASURES
 8. 
8 TO FRANCIS JAMMES
 9. 
9 MELANCHOLY
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PART THREE OLD STYLES
 10. 
10 BUCH DER LIEDER
 11. 
11 EMILY BRONTË
 12. 
12 THE TRAMPS
 13. 
13 THE GREAT ELM
 14. 
14 THE SLEEPING MANSION
 15. 
15 VISION
 16. 
16 LOW BAROMETER
 17. 
17 A DREAM
 18. 
18 TO HIS EXCELLENCY
 19. 
19 Spoken by Sir Johnston Forbes-Robertson at the opening of the Theatre of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art by H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, May 27, 1921.
 20. 
20 HODGE
 21. 
21
 22. 
22 SIMPKIN
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PART FOUR STONE'S QUANTITIVE PROSODY
 23. 
23 TO CATULLUS
 24. 
24 TO SIR THOS. BARLOW, P.R.C.P.
 25. 
25 ΠΟΙΚΙΛΟΘΡΟΝ'
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Two Pieces
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1 VERSES WRITTEN FOR MRS. DANIEL
  
TO EMILY DANIEL
  
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[section]
  
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 2. 
2 THE WIDOW

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252

8
SPRING

ODE I

INVITATION TO THE COUNTRY

Again with pleasant green
Has Spring renewed the wood,
And where the bare trunks stood
Are leafy arbours seen;
And back on budding boughs
Come birds, to court and pair,
Whose rival amorous vows
Amaze the scented air.
The freshets are unbound,
And leaping from the hill,
Their mossy banks refill
With streams of light and sound:
And scattered down the meads,
From hour to hour unfold
A thousand buds and beads
In stars and cups of gold.
Now hear, and see, and note,
The farms are all astir,
And every labourer
Has doffed his winter coat;
And how with specks of white
They dot the brown hillside,
Or jaunt and sing outright
As by their teams they stride.
253

They sing to feel the Sun
Regain his wanton strength;
To know the year at length
Rewards their labour done;
To see the rootless stake
They set bare in the ground,
Burst into leaf, and shake
Its grateful scent around.
Ah now an evil lot
Is his, who toils for gain,
Where crowded chimneys stain
The heavens his choice forgot;
'Tis on the blighted trees
That deck his garden dim,
And in the tainted breeze,
That sweet Spring comes to him.
Far sooner I would choose
The life of brutes that bask,
Than set myself a task,
Which inborn powers refuse:
And rather far enjoy
The body, than invent
A duty, to destroy
The ease which nature sent;
And country life I praise,
And lead, because I find
The philosophic mind
Can take no middle ways;
She will not leave her love
To mix with men, her art
Is all to strive above
The crowd, or stand apart.
254

Thrice happy he, the rare
Prometheus, who can play
With hidden things, and lay
New realms of nature bare;
Whose venturous step has trod
Hell underfoot, and won
A crown from man and God
For all that he has done.—
That highest gift of all,
Since crabbed fate did flood
My heart with sluggish blood,
I look not mine to call;
But, like a truant freed,
Fly to the woods, and claim
A pleasure for the deed
Of my inglorious name:
And am content, denied
The best, in choosing right;
For Nature can delight
Fancies unoccupied
With ecstasies so sweet
As none can even guess,
Who walk not with the feet
Of joy in idleness.
Then leave your joyless ways,
My friend, my joys to see.
The day you come shall be
The choice of chosen days:
You shall be lost, and learn
New being, and forget
The world, till your return
Shall bring your first regret.
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