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129
Clovelly Beach.
Oh, music! breathe me something old to-day,
Some fine air gliding in from far away,
Through to the soul that lies behind the clay.
Some fine air gliding in from far away,
Through to the soul that lies behind the clay.
This hour, if thou did'st ever speak before,
Speak in the wave that sobs upon the shore,
Speak in the rill that trickles from the moor.
Speak in the wave that sobs upon the shore,
Speak in the rill that trickles from the moor.
Known was this sea's slow chant when I was young;
To me these rivulets sing as once they sung,
No need this hour of human throat and tongue.
To me these rivulets sing as once they sung,
No need this hour of human throat and tongue.
The Dead who loved me heard this selfsame tide.
Oh that the Dead were listening by my side,
And I could give the fondness then denied.
Oh that the Dead were listening by my side,
And I could give the fondness then denied.
130
Once in the parlour of my mother's sire
One sang, “And ye shall walk in silk attire.”
Then my cold childhood woke to strange desire.
One sang, “And ye shall walk in silk attire.”
Then my cold childhood woke to strange desire.
That was an unconfessed and idle spell,
A drop of dew that on a blossom fell;
And what it wrought I cannot surely tell.
A drop of dew that on a blossom fell;
And what it wrought I cannot surely tell.
Far off that thought and changed, like lines that stay
On withered canvas, pink and pearly grey
When rose and violet hues have passed away.
On withered canvas, pink and pearly grey
When rose and violet hues have passed away.
Oh, had I dwelt with music since that night!
What life but that is life, what other flight
Escapes the plaguing doubts of wrong and right!
What life but that is life, what other flight
Escapes the plaguing doubts of wrong and right!
Oh, music! once I felt the touch of thee,
Once when this soul was as the chainless sea.
Oh, could'st thou bid me even now be free!
Once when this soul was as the chainless sea.
Oh, could'st thou bid me even now be free!
April 1865.
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