 | Impressions of Italy and Other Poems |  |
106
ONCE I WALKED THROUGH A WORLD.
Once I walked through a world where was change, alteration—
But now I feel held in some strange spell-like thrall;
One feature—one feature presents all Creation,
One self-same appearance and tone runs through all!
But now I feel held in some strange spell-like thrall;
One feature—one feature presents all Creation,
One self-same appearance and tone runs through all!
No variety greets me in Evening or Morning,
In the Earth's face beneath, or the Heaven's field above;
In the flower's rich investing, the star's bright adorning—
Oh! what can the Power be that rules me, but Love?
In the Earth's face beneath, or the Heaven's field above;
In the flower's rich investing, the star's bright adorning—
Oh! what can the Power be that rules me, but Love?
The sweet air seems his breath, the soft sunshine his smiling
And the solid Earth nought but his Shadow—and now,
While he reigns o'er my heart—all bewildering, beguiling,
I still ask, if 'tis pleasure or pain?—answer thou!
And the solid Earth nought but his Shadow—and now,
While he reigns o'er my heart—all bewildering, beguiling,
I still ask, if 'tis pleasure or pain?—answer thou!
| Impressions of Italy and Other Poems | |