The In-Gathering Cimon and Pero: A Chain of Sonnets: Sebastopol etc. By John A. Heraud |
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EYES. |
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| I. |
| II. |
| III. |
| IV. |
 | The In-Gathering |  |
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EYES.
I.
When I look into thy eyes,Bright as are Italian skies,
Skies that clouds may never dull,
Large, and blue, and beautiful—
What, though ample, they are fine,
Juno's eyes are gross to thine;
What, though Eastern poets tell
Of eyes of fawn or of gazelle—
Thine have a sweeter, tenderer spell,
Yet are strong and full as well.
O, thine ample eyes are doves,
Mild, majestic, twin-born loves—
Changing still, as fancy moves,
Still as feeling prompts and proves,
To those birds of azure plume,
That in wavelets dip their wings,
And the different hues assume,
Which the sunlight on them flings,
Whiles on and with the waters they,
To and fro, still sport and play.
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II.
Thus my eyes still look on thine,And thy eyes thus dwell on mine;
In their pupils I abide—
Be thyself in mine descried.
There thou dwellest, and when closed,
In my heart thou hast reposed—
Yes, my heart, when shut are they,
Enshrines thee, like a templed fay;
Whenas I ope my eyes on day,
Often, oh! thou'st fled away.
Sometimes in my eyes thou art,
Ever—ever in my heart.
Yet from them not alway gone,
When my lids fall them upon;
Even then, they pictures make,
Where thy shadow seems to swim,
Like a swan on faery lake,
Silvered with the moonlight dim—
When dark the world without to me,
I am hid in love with thee.
| The In-Gathering | |