 | Narcissus and Other Poems |  |
165
SONG OF LOVE.
Arise! the morning breaks; afar
The white Dawn spreads her wings o'er darkened seas,
And, robed in pearly light, upon the breeze
Rides like a silver star:
Through rosy clouds and emerald fields of sky
Her gleaming forehead forward set
And feet with foam of eastern oceans wet
Hasten their flight on high;
And from her scarcely parted lips
Softly o'er rock and woodland slips
Love's fragrance in a sigh.
The white Dawn spreads her wings o'er darkened seas,
And, robed in pearly light, upon the breeze
Rides like a silver star:
Through rosy clouds and emerald fields of sky
Her gleaming forehead forward set
And feet with foam of eastern oceans wet
Hasten their flight on high;
And from her scarcely parted lips
Softly o'er rock and woodland slips
Love's fragrance in a sigh.
Arise! about the ivy stirs the gale
In gentle whispers to the summer morn,
And to the bridal of the light is borne
Earth's sweetest incense. Thee we hail
O gracious Dawn, delight of all our days,
And to thy praise
Our voices rise to thee o'er hill and dale.
In gentle whispers to the summer morn,
And to the bridal of the light is borne
Earth's sweetest incense. Thee we hail
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And to thy praise
Our voices rise to thee o'er hill and dale.
This day is given to Love: the rose to-day.
Blushes a brighter hue: the lark on high
Carols a fuller music, to allay
A fuller ecstasy;
The sky is clothed in light from cloud to cloud,
The whole Earth sparkles in the sun,
And till the pleasant day is done
All Nature sings aloud.
Blushes a brighter hue: the lark on high
Carols a fuller music, to allay
A fuller ecstasy;
The sky is clothed in light from cloud to cloud,
The whole Earth sparkles in the sun,
And till the pleasant day is done
All Nature sings aloud.
Arise, my love; all Nature sings to thee:
Thine is her beauty, thine her breadth of light,
And thine the calm of evening, and of night
The nameless mystery.
Her song is of thy grace for evermore;
It fills and overflows my ears,
Hushing the harsh reverberating years
With all unlovely lore
To an enchanted tide of melody
That rises still and falls within my heart,
Till I too know myself a part
Of thy Tranquillity.
Thine is her beauty, thine her breadth of light,
And thine the calm of evening, and of night
The nameless mystery.
Her song is of thy grace for evermore;
It fills and overflows my ears,
Hushing the harsh reverberating years
With all unlovely lore
To an enchanted tide of melody
That rises still and falls within my heart,
Till I too know myself a part
Of thy Tranquillity.
167
Arise! step outwards from the shade:
To greet thy waking eyes were all things made,
And, seeing thee, all forms that pass and fade
Shall quicken into life and know
That from eternity they flow
In thy smile unafraid.
To greet thy waking eyes were all things made,
And, seeing thee, all forms that pass and fade
Shall quicken into life and know
That from eternity they flow
In thy smile unafraid.
Arise, my love; O we are one, are one;
Fold, closer fold thine arms about my life,
That I may find in thee through worlds of strife
A calm distraught of none.
Within my heart thou movest on for aye,
A voice, a harmony divine:
Where Nature holds her hidden inmost sway,
Mixing thy soul with mine,
I see thee boundless as the boundless deep,
A pure soul flowing freely unto right,
And dowered so with Nature's changeless might
Thy star-lit course to keep.
Fold, closer fold thine arms about my life,
That I may find in thee through worlds of strife
A calm distraught of none.
Within my heart thou movest on for aye,
A voice, a harmony divine:
Where Nature holds her hidden inmost sway,
Mixing thy soul with mine,
I see thee boundless as the boundless deep,
A pure soul flowing freely unto right,
And dowered so with Nature's changeless might
Thy star-lit course to keep.
Arise, O loved one; with this only kiss
I seal all future years to be
Ours by most holy memory
Of this, of this.
Together love shall crown us from the skies,
Together lead us through the glad sunrise,
Together fold us when the daylight dies
In equal bliss.
I seal all future years to be
Ours by most holy memory
Of this, of this.
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Together lead us through the glad sunrise,
Together fold us when the daylight dies
In equal bliss.
This day and all days flowing hence shall be
Love's and love's only: He shall sing
New life to us from everything—
From cloud and tree,
From cliff and mountain and the dreaming sea,
From wind and waterfall,
From Earth's glad sounds, and all
Her glorious interchange of harmony;
From the year's gathered store of joy and woe,
From all the future linked to all the past,
And, where our lot is cast,
From voices bright and forms that round us flow
Swifter and swifter to the last;
Until as to the verge we run
His very self through all shall shine
Athwart the mists of earth, divine,
And blend our souls in one.
Love's and love's only: He shall sing
New life to us from everything—
From cloud and tree,
From cliff and mountain and the dreaming sea,
From wind and waterfall,
From Earth's glad sounds, and all
Her glorious interchange of harmony;
From the year's gathered store of joy and woe,
From all the future linked to all the past,
And, where our lot is cast,
From voices bright and forms that round us flow
Swifter and swifter to the last;
Until as to the verge we run
His very self through all shall shine
Athwart the mists of earth, divine,
And blend our souls in one.
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