University of Virginia Library

GHAZELES.

I.

Sister! I will go with Thee;
How can I not go with Thee?
What am I for, but to share
Thought, and joy, and woe with Thee?
I have known the unstainèd peace
Children only know—with Thee;
I have watched the chequered blooms
Of my fortune blow—with Thee;
I must part the scanty hope
Our low fates bestow—with Thee;
Wish I with the great to live,
With the wealthy? No! with Thee;
Nature's hand has mated us,—
Who but I can go with Thee?

II.

There are few to whom, expiring, I would say, Forget me not?
The busy world, the many-minded,—why should it forget me not?
I have never worn its honours, never won its open shame,
Never bent before it, never wooed it to forget me not;
But if e'er my hand has wakened grateful hearts to yearn to mine,
If I ever earned kind friendship, let those friends forget me not.
And for Her who was and is my soul of soul—my life of life—
'Twould be wicked doubt to ask it—Leila will forget me not.
Then mayst thou of all remembrance—thou whose knowledge only sleeps
In the free-will of thy justice—Father—thou—forget me not!

III. WRITTEN AT AMALFI.

It is the mid-May Sun, that, rayless and peacefully gleaming,
Out of its night's short prison, this blessèd of lands is redeeming;
It is the fire evoked from the hearts of the citron and orange,
So that they hang, like lamps of the day, translucently beaming;
It is the veinless water, and air unsoiled by a vapour,
Save what, out of the fullness of life, from the valley is steaming;
It is the olive that smiles, even he, the sad growth of the moonlight,
Over the flowers, whose breasts triple-folded with odours are teeming;
Yes, it is these bright births, that to me are a shame and an anguish,
They are alive and awake,—I dream, and know I am dreaming;
I cannot bathe my soul in this ocean of passion and beauty,—
Not one dew-drop is on me of all that about me is streaming;
Oh! I am thirsty for Life,—I pant for the freshness of Nature,
Bound in the World's dead sleep—dried up by its treacherous seeming.

IV. TO ------.

Wherever Beauty is, I find thee there,—
Through every veil and guise, I find thee there:
Where the low zephyr dreams among thick flowers,
Embalmer of sweet thoughts! I find thee there;
Where full cascades leap down with curvèd steps,
Form of essential Grace! I find thee there;
In the broad mirror of the summer-sea,
Crystal entire of Truth! I find thee there;
In the unshaded presence of the sun,
Illuminating Mind! I find thee there;
In the mild splendours which enjoy the night,
Radiance of gentlest Love! I find thee there;
In the ecstatic realms that Prayer reveals,
There, Humble Holiness! I find thee there.

V.

My own friend, my old friend!
Time's a soldier bold, friend!
Of his lofty prowess
Many a tale is told, friend!
Nations are his puppets,
To be bought and sold, friend!
He can mock the conqueror,
Rase his strongest hold, friend!
Fool the stern philosopher,
Win the miser's gold, friend!
But though earthly nature
Has so frail a mould, friend!
What the tyrant cannot do
Is to make us cold, friend!

VI.

I've a Friend, a staunch Friend; listen, listen, Mary, mine!
There's none such wherever Phœbus winds his airy line;
When I rise at morn-time,—ere the grass his dewy tears
Dries away, she meets me, beckoning oft with wary sign,
That I tread discreetly, while she shows how round about
With marigolds and violets she has pranked her dairy fine,—
That the milk, fresh steaming, may be sweeter to my lips,
Crowned with glowing blossoms,—so too is it, faery mine!
When at eve out-wearied I approach, she brings me down
What her own white hands have pressed—a flask of chary wine.
There it is,—the nectar! where then is the Friend I mean?
Where but here, beside me? kiss me, bless me, Mary mine

VII.

Shade not the light within thine eyes,
The wondrous light within thine eyes;
The Sun is all too fierce to hold
Light such as that within thine eyes,—
Yet is the passion of his warmth
Less deep than that within thine eyes;
The Moon is all too cold to wear
Light such as that within thine eyes,—
Yet is her flame less silver-clear
Than that which glows within thine eyes.
Thou art my Heaven; my Sun and Moon
Are the mere light within thine eyes;
Nature, that gave the world those orbs,
Gave me the light within thine eyes;—
I, and I only, can repose
Within the light within thine eyes;
Oh! Leila, what would be my gloom,
Without the light within thine eyes?

VIII.

All things once are things for ever;
Soul, once living, lives for ever;
Blame not what is only once,
When that once endures for ever;
Love, once felt, though soon forgot,
Moulds the heart to good for ever;
Once betrayed from childly faith,
Man is conscious man for ever:
Once the void of life revealed,
It must deepen on for ever,
Unless God fill up the heart
With himself for once and ever:
Once made God and man at once,
God and man are one for ever.