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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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 2. 
2 THE WIDOW

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12
HELL AND HATE

Two demons thrust their arms out over the world,
Hell with a ruddy torch of fire,
And Hate with gasping mouth,
Striving to seize two children fair
Who play'd on the upper curve of the Earth.
485

Their shapes were vast as the thoughts of man,
But the Earth was small
As the moon's rim appeareth
Scann'd through an optic glass.
The younger child stood erect on the Earth
As a charioteer in a car
Or a dancer with arm upraised;
Her whole form—barely clad
From feet to golden head—
Leapt brightly against the uttermost azure,
Whereon the stars were splashes of light
Dazed in the gulfing beds of space.
The elder might have been stell'd to show
The lady who led my boyish love;
But her face was graver than e'er to me
When I look'd in her eyes long ago,
And the hair on her shoulders fal'n
Nested its luminous brown
I' the downy spring of her wings:
Her figure aneath was screen'd by the Earth,
Whereoff—so small that was
No footing for her could be—
She appeared to be sailing free
I' the glide and poise of her flight.
Then knew I the Angel Faith,
Who was guarding human Love.
Happy were both, of peaceful mien,
Contented as mankind longeth to be,
Not merry as children are;
And show'd no fear of the Fiends' pursuit,
As ever those demons clutched in vain;
486

And I, who had fear'd awhile to see
Such gentleness in such jeopardy,
Lost fear myself; for I saw the foes
Were slipping aback and had no hold
On the round Earth that sped its course.
The painted figures never could move,
But the artist's mind was there:
The longer I look'd the more I knew
They were falling, falling away below
To the darkness out of sight.

This poem was written December 16, 1913. It is the description of a little picture hanging in my bedroom: it had been painted for me as a New Year's gift more than thirty years before, and I described it partly because I never exactly knew what it meant. When the war broke out I remembered my poem and sent it to ‘The Times’, where it appeared in the ‘Literary Supplement’, September 24, 1914.

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