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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
  
[section]
  
[section]
  
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 2. 
2 THE WIDOW

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25
SCREAMING TARN

The saddest place that e'er I saw
Is the deep tarn above the inn
That crowns the mountain-road, whereby
One southward bound his way must win.
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Sunk on the table of the ridge
From its deep shores is nought to see:
The unresting wind lashes and chills
Its shivering ripples ceaselessly.
Three sides 'tis banked with stones aslant,
And down the fourth the rushes grow,
And yellow sedge fringing the edge
With lengthen'd image all arow.
'Tis square and black, and on its face
When noon is still, the mirror'd sky
Looks dark and further from the earth
Than when you gaze at it on high.
At mid of night, if one be there,
—So say the people of the hill—
A fearful shriek of death is heard,
One sudden scream both loud and shrill.
And some have seen on stilly nights,
And when the moon was clear and round,
Bubbles which to the surface swam
And burst as if they held the sound.—
'Twas in the days ere hapless Charles
Losing his crown had lost his head,
This tale is told of him who kept
The inn upon the watershed:
He was a lowbred ruin'd man
Whom lawless times set free from fear:
One evening to his house there rode
A young and gentle cavalier.
With curling hair and linen fair
And jewel-hilted sword he went;
The horse he rode he had ridden far,
And he was with his journey spent.
357

He asked a lodging for the night,
His valise from his steed unbound,
He let none bear it but himself
And set it by him on the ground.
‘Here's gold or jewels,’ thought the host,
‘That's carrying south to find the king.’
He chattered many a loyal word,
And scraps of royal airs gan sing.
His guest thereat grew more at ease
And o'er his wine he gave a toast,
But little ate, and to his room
Carried his sack behind the host.
‘Now rest you well,’ the host he said,
But of his wish the word fell wide;
Nor did he now forget his son
Who fell in fight by Cromwell's side.
Revenge and poverty have brought
Full gentler heart than his to crime;
And he was one by nature rude,
Born to foul deeds at any time.
With unshod feet at dead of night
In stealth he to the guest-room crept,
Lantern and dagger in his hand,
And stabbed his victim while he slept.
But as he struck a scream there came,
A fearful scream so loud and shrill:
He whelm'd the face with pillows o'er,
And lean'd till all had long been still.
Then to the face the flame he held
To see there should no life remain:—
When lo! his brutal heart was quell'd:
'Twas a fair woman he had slain.
358

The tan upon her face was paint,
The manly hair was torn away,
Soft was the breast that he had pierced;
Beautiful in her death she lay.
His was no heart to faint at crime,
Tho' half he wished the deed undone.
He pulled the valise from the bed
To find what booty he had won.
He cut the straps, and pushed within
His murderous fingers to their theft.
A deathly sweat came o'er his brow,
He had no sense nor meaning left.
He touched not gold, it was not cold,
It was not hard, it felt like flesh.
He drew out by the curling hair
A young man's head, and murder'd fresh;
A young man's head, cut by the neck.
But what was dreader still to see,
Her whom he had slain he saw again,
The twain were like as like can be.
Brother and sister if they were,
Both in one shroud they now were wound,—
Across his back and down the stair,
Out of the house without a sound.
He made his way unto the tarn,
The night was dark and still and dank;
The ripple chuckling neath the boat
Laughed as he drew it to the bank.
Upon the bottom of the boat
He laid his burden flat and low,
And on them laid the square sandstones
That round about the margin go.
359

Stone upon stone he weighed them down,
Until the boat would hold no more;
The freeboard now was scarce an inch:
He stripp'd his clothes and push'd from shore.
All naked to the middle pool
He swam behind in the dark night;
And there he let the water in
And sank his terror out of sight.
He swam ashore, and donn'd his dress,
And scraped his bloody fingers clean;
Ran home and on his victim's steed
Mounted, and never more was seen.
But to a comrade ere he died
He told his story guess'd of none:
So from his lips the crime returned
To haunt the spot where it was done.
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