Cosmo De' Medici An Historical Tragedy: And Other Poems: By Richard Hengist Horne |
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THE WATER-MILL. |
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 | Cosmo De' Medici |  |
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THE WATER-MILL.
Evening Scene near an old Water Mill, in company with C--- E---and Eva.
The spell of silence deep,
And dream that is not sleep,
Intensely reign above the magic scene;
O'er the weird pulse of air,
And wooded isle's dark hair,
And o'er the water's tomb-like depths serene.
And dream that is not sleep,
Intensely reign above the magic scene;
O'er the weird pulse of air,
And wooded isle's dark hair,
And o'er the water's tomb-like depths serene.
The influence of dream,
Tho' bound to sleep it seem,
A wider sphere with visions doth enwreath;
O'er Nature's zone 'tis wound,
Diffused through life around,
In joy, in sorrow, and perchance thro' death.
Tho' bound to sleep it seem,
A wider sphere with visions doth enwreath;
O'er Nature's zone 'tis wound,
Diffused through life around,
In joy, in sorrow, and perchance thro' death.
Oh, I have spent my youth
In sadness and in truth,
With feelings deep that no return have known;
So from fond hope I wove
Imaginings of love,
Tasted of heaven—awoke—and all was gone!
In sadness and in truth,
With feelings deep that no return have known;
So from fond hope I wove
Imaginings of love,
Tasted of heaven—awoke—and all was gone!
But now my heart hath found
A balm for every wound,
A refuge, a twin-spirit—long denied—
And mute with deep excess
Of unhoped happiness,
I stand with thee, fond Eva, by my side.
A balm for every wound,
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And mute with deep excess
Of unhoped happiness,
I stand with thee, fond Eva, by my side.
Dim Trance lies in the trees,
And Awe, that fear half sees!
With sense of elemental life we dwell;
In sweetness and mild pain,
Like some elysian strain,
Our souls yearn forth, and mingle with the spell.
And Awe, that fear half sees!
With sense of elemental life we dwell;
In sweetness and mild pain,
Like some elysian strain,
Our souls yearn forth, and mingle with the spell.
The mill-wheel's voice is mute,
No lonely owlets hoot,
Nor bat's wild cries, or frighten'd shade obtrude;
The wind lies clasp'd in death,
Who sucks its last faint breath,
And spell-bound on a stone sits Solitude!
No lonely owlets hoot,
Nor bat's wild cries, or frighten'd shade obtrude;
The wind lies clasp'd in death,
Who sucks its last faint breath,
And spell-bound on a stone sits Solitude!
The grief-hair'd willows weep
Slow dews, like tears of sleep,
And lost enchantments float by, silently;
Only a thrill around,
Seems often like a sound
Of whispers—trickling drops—and far-off sea.
Slow dews, like tears of sleep,
And lost enchantments float by, silently;
Only a thrill around,
Seems often like a sound
Of whispers—trickling drops—and far-off sea.
Athwart the distance dim,
Three magic cygnets swim,
With necks and wings unearthly in their motion:—
Like spirits, in their pride
And death-white shape, they glide
Now here—now there—dumb as our rapt devotion.
Three magic cygnets swim,
With necks and wings unearthly in their motion:—
Like spirits, in their pride
And death-white shape, they glide
Now here—now there—dumb as our rapt devotion.
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The dripping wing and hum
Of water-insects come
At intervals—but unlike life or breath:
O'er moveless reeds and grass
Illusive visions pass;
Oblivion floats in undecaying death!
Of water-insects come
At intervals—but unlike life or breath:
O'er moveless reeds and grass
Illusive visions pass;
Oblivion floats in undecaying death!
A pallid flickering gleams
With our clairvoyant dreams,
And steeps each sense in strangely-working charms;
While movelessly we lean,
United with the scene—
A trance that broods beneath o'ermarbled forms!
With our clairvoyant dreams,
And steeps each sense in strangely-working charms;
While movelessly we lean,
United with the scene—
A trance that broods beneath o'ermarbled forms!
Yet doth one vision flow,
For we are such as know
Each other's inmost thoughts and feelings deep;
So that the subtle power
Whose presence rules the hour,
Unites in us, and like one pulse doth creep.
For we are such as know
Each other's inmost thoughts and feelings deep;
So that the subtle power
Whose presence rules the hour,
Unites in us, and like one pulse doth creep.
The world is far away,
Its heart-ache and its clay;
And all the narrow springs of evil powers,
Like snakes in darkness wind,
Leaving no trace behind
To soil the beauty of our opiate bowers.
Its heart-ache and its clay;
And all the narrow springs of evil powers,
Like snakes in darkness wind,
Leaving no trace behind
To soil the beauty of our opiate bowers.
Each hope and passion wild
Sleeps like a languid child,
And dim Imagination glides, and rests!
His star-crown melts away—
Cloud-throne and sceptred sway—
Into one living dream, deep welling through our breasts.
Sleeps like a languid child,
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His star-crown melts away—
Cloud-throne and sceptred sway—
Into one living dream, deep welling through our breasts.
Ah, me! that thus sublime
Could pass an age of time—
A silent rapture of divinity!
With nought to think or move,
Save an absorbing Love,
Thrilling, and melting to eternity.
Could pass an age of time—
A silent rapture of divinity!
With nought to think or move,
Save an absorbing Love,
Thrilling, and melting to eternity.
But now the electric scene
Wanders—and Time again
Lifts his dull head, and shakes his locks all gray!
Slowly thy steps do wend,—
And silently, my friend,
Thou bear'st thy deep-devoted Love away.
Wanders—and Time again
Lifts his dull head, and shakes his locks all gray!
Slowly thy steps do wend,—
And silently, my friend,
Thou bear'st thy deep-devoted Love away.
Oh, shall I turn mine eyes
To gaze into thine eyes—
Or dream ungazing?—O'er the murmuring ford
Their hazy forms now pass,
Like ghosts o'er the morass,
And I am left alone—with thee, my soul's adored.
To gaze into thine eyes—
Or dream ungazing?—O'er the murmuring ford
Their hazy forms now pass,
Like ghosts o'er the morass,
And I am left alone—with thee, my soul's adored.
| Cosmo De' Medici | |