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Poems

By William Bell Scott. Ballads, Studies from Nature, Sonnets, etc. Illustrated by Seventeen Etchings by the Author and L. Alma Tadema
Scott, William Bell (1811-1890)

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LADY JANET, MAY JEAN.
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KRIEMHILD'S TRYSTE.
 I. 
I
 II. 
II
 III. 
III
  
WOODSTOCK MAZE.
  
THE WITCH'S BALLAD.
  
SAINT MARGARET.
  
THE RENDEZVOUS.
  
I GO TO BE CURED AT AVILION.'
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ANTHONY.
 I. 
[I]
 II. 
II
 III. 
III
 IV. 
IV
  
LOVE'S CALENDAR.
  
A BRIDAL RACE.
  
PARTING AND MEETING AGAIN.
  
LOVE.
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OUTSIDE THE TEMPLE.
 I. 
I BIRTH.
 II. 
II DEATH.
 III. 
III LIFE.
 IV. 
IV GAIN AND LOSS.
 V. 
V LOOKING FORWARD.
 VI. 
VI HOPE DEFERRED.
 VII. 
VII FAITH.
 VIII. 
VIII AT PRESENT.
 IX. 
IX SELF-DECEPTION.
 X. 
X CONTENTMENT IN THE DARK.
 XI. 
XI THE UNIVERSE VOID.
 XII. 
XII SPIRITUAL LONGINGS UNANSWERED.
 XIII. 
XIII DEVELOPMENT IN NATURE.
 XIV. 
XIV SCIENCE ABORTIVE.
 XV. 
XV ONENESS OF ALL.
 XVI. 
XVI A SYMBOL.
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PARTED LOVE.
 I. 
THE PAST.
 II. 
THE PRESENT.
 III. 
MORNING.
 IV. 
BY THE SEA-SIDE.
 V. 
EVENING.
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THE OLD SCOTCH HOUSE
 I. 
I.THE BOWER.
 II. 
II.A SPRING MORNING.
 III. 
III.MOTTOES.
 IV. 
IV.BELOW THE OLD HOUSE.
 V. 
V.THE MOON.
 VI. 
VI.THE GARDEN.
 VII. 
VII.IN THE GARDEN.
 VIII. 
VIII.IN THE GARDEN.
 IX. 
IX.AUTUMN SUNSHINE.
 X. 
X.THE ROBIN'S OCTOBER SONG.
 XI. 
XI.WINTER COMING.
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STUDIES FROM NATURE.
  
SUNDAY MORNING ALONE.
  
GREEN CHERRIES.
  
YOUTH AND AGE.
  
AN ARTIST'S BIRTHPLACE.
  
MORNING SLEEP.
  
MONODY.
  
THE DUKE'S FUNERAL.
  
MIDNIGHT.
  
THE SEA-SHORE.
  
REQUIEM.
  
BEDE IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.
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MISCELLANEOUS POEMS.
  
TO THE SPHINX
  
A DEDICATION.
  
A RHYME OF THE SUN-DIAL.
  
IN THE VALLEY.
  
MAY.
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SONNETS ON LITERARY SUBJECTS.
  
ON THE INSCRIPTION, KEATS' TOMBSTONE.
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WORDSWORTH.
 I. 
I
 II. 
II
 III. 
III
  
TO THE ARTISTS CALLED P. R. B.
  
ON CERTAIN CRITICS AT THE BEGINNING OF THE CENTURY.
  
THE EPITAPH OF HUBERT VAN EYCK.
  
FRAGMENT OF A SONNET BY RAPHAEL.
  
THE MUSICIAN.
  
TO MY BROTHER
  
SANDRART'S INSCRIPTION,
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OCCASIONAL SONNETS.
  
PYGMALION.
  
THE SWAN.
  
SPRING LOVE.
  
AN ANNIVERSARY.
  
THE MIDNIGHT CITY.
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KISSES.
 I. 
I
 II. 
II
  
THE TRAVELLER LOST.
  
THE NIGHTINGALE UNHEARD.
  
IN ROME, A.D. 150.
  
COMING AND GOING.
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MY. MOTHER.
  
(ST. LEONARDS, EDINBURGH, 1826.)
  
(PORTOBELLO, NEAR EDINBURGH, 1851.)
  
ASSISTANCE DELAYED.
  
UNWORTHY AMBITION.
  
MUSIC OF THE SPHERES.
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JUVENILE POEMS.
  
TO THE MEMORY OF PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY.
  
TO THE MEMORY OF JOHN KEATS.
  
THE INCANTATION OF HERVOR.
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FOUR ACTS OF SAINT CUTHBERT.
  
FIRST. SAINT CUTHBERT'S TRIAL OF FAITH.
  
SECOND. SAINT CUTHBERT'S PENANCE.
  
THIRD. SAINT CUTHBERT'S HERMITAGE.
  
FOURTH. SAINT CUTHBERT'S DEATH.
  
THE DANCE OF DEATH.
  
A FABLE.
  
DEDICATIO POSTICA.

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87

XIV
SCIENCE ABORTIVE.

With what vain speculations do we slake
The mental thirst! What matter, cycles hence,
If higher creatures at mankind's expense
Start into life with senses broad awake
To truths we only dream of; hands to shake
The pillars of the temple we but grope
Feebly about, who will gain entrance, cope
With the dæmon, and all prison-fetters break?
The churchyard dust a thousand times blown wide
Would see them, hear them not; the question men
Ten hundred various creeds and gods have raised
To answer, by Death's door we must abide;
Blinded by life itself, by fears half-crazed,
We raise another god and ask again!
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