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A Poet's Harvest Home

Being One Hundred Short Poems: By William Bell Scott ... With an Aftermath of Twenty Short Poems
Scott, William Bell (1811-1890)
  
[epigraph]
  
[dedication]

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POEMS.
  
PROLOGUE.
  
THE POET'S OPPORTUNITY.
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THE FOXGLOVE:
 I. 
I.
 II. 
II.
  
THE GARDEN BOWER.
  
THE ROBIN.
  
CONTENT.
  
PHEMIE BLAYNE.
  
THE SCHOOL-CHILDREN.
  
GLENKINDIE.
  
TELIESSIN.
  
HELP.
  
OISIN.
  
THE SEA.
  
THE TIDE.
  
AT SEA.
  
THE HURRICANE.
  
THE NORNS WATERING YGGDRASILL.
  
THOROLF AND GUDRUN.
  
THE NYMPH OF ARCADIE.
  
CUPID AMONG THE MAIDENS.
  
MUSIC.
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THE OLD OLD STORY.
 I. 
I.
 II. 
II.
  
THE APPLE TREE.
  
THE APPLE.
  
APPLE GATHERING.
  
A BIRTHDAY.
  
BEFORE MARRIAGE.
  
TO THE DEAD.
  
ELIJAH.
  
LOVE AND DEATH.
  
THE OFFERING.
  
THE EMPEROR JULIAN ON GERMAN DRINK.
  
THE CANDIDATE.
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THE SPHYNX.
 I. 
I.
 II. 
II.
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NATURE.
 I. 
[I.]
 II. 
II.
  
HORTUS PARADISI.
  
ST. COLUMBA.
  
OF ME.
  
LITTLE BOY.
  
BAGATELLE.
  
MARE SERENITATIS.
  
A GENIUS?
  
THE TWO SIDES.
  
SELF-ACCUSATION.
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THE SUN-DIAL.
 I. 
I.
 II. 
II.
  
MORALITY.
  
A GHOST.
  
A LOWLAND WITCH BALLAD.
  
MORNING.
  
SILENCE.
  
HERO-WORSHIP.
  
ROSE-LEAVES.
  
PARACELSUS.
  
RABELAIS.
  
A SIMILE.
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OF POETRY.
 I. 
I. THE POET.
 II. 
II. THE POET'S BOOK.
 III. 
III. ART FOR ART'S SAKE.
 IV. 
IV. ANCIENT FORMS.
 V. 
V. ON READING MR. THEODORE WATTS' SONNET, ‘THE SONNET'S VOICE.’
 VI. 
VI. REMONSTRANCE.
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OF POETS.
 I. 
I. STRATFORD.
 II. 
II. SHAKESPEARE.
 III. 
III. THE KESSELSTADT MASK.
 IV. 
IV. DANTE. I.
 V. 
V. DANTE. II.
 VI. 
VI. DANTE AND BEATRICE.
 VII. 
VII. WORDSWORTH.
 VIII. 
VIII. SOUTHEY.
 IX. 
IX. BURNS.
 X. 
X. CHATTERTON.
 XI. 
XI. SAPPHO.
 XII. 
XII. ORPHEUS.
 XIII. 
XIII. BYRON.
 XIV. 
XIV. SHELLEY. I.
 XV. 
XV. SHELLEY. II.
  
THE FALLING LEAF.
  
LEFT ALONE.
  
AUBADE.
  
A GARLAND, FOR ADVANCING YEARS.
  
AN AUTUMN EVENING.
  
END OF HARVEST.
  
MEMORY.
  
SEEKING FORGETFULNESS.
  
CONTINUITY OF LIFE.
  
EXPERIENCE.
  
AGE.
  
BIRTHDAY, ÆT. 70.
  
A-DIEU.
  
EPILOGUE.
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An Aftermath.
  
INTRODUCTORY SONNET.
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NEW YEAR BELLS.
 I. 
TWO EPOCHS. I. 1831.
 II. 
TWO EPOCHS. II. 1881.
  
RHYME OF LOVE.
  
SPRING.
  
WM. BLAKE'S DESIGNS FOR THE GRAVE.
  
CHRISTIANITY AND PAGANISM.
  
INFANCY.
  
AN ANNIVERSARY: THE 31st.
  
DANTE IN EXILE.
  
THE INFERNO.
  
RAPHAEL'S MADONNA DI SAN SISTO.
  
MERRY ENGLAND.
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THE AUTO DA FE.
 I. 
I. SAINT DOMINIC.
 II. 
II. TORQUEMADA.
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CARDINAL NEWMAN.
 I. 
I.
 II. 
II.
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THE SICKLE.
 I. 
I.
 II. 
II.
 III. 
III.
 IV. 
IV.
  
VOICES OF SUNSET CLOUDS.
  
A LAST WALK, IN ILLNESS.
  
THE FURTHER SHORE.

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176

RAPHAEL'S MADONNA DI SAN SISTO.

Once and once only, and no more,
Art hath reached the topmost bough;
The goodliest fruit of all his store
Our well-filled garner holds till now.
Lo! from a life-filled atmosphere
She comes with silent step, with mild
And plaintive eyes bent sadly here
Holding her prize of prizes, her man-child,
King of the world-expected year,
Safe within her queenly arms
Above all harms.
Once and once only, and no more,
Out of the sensuous classic night,
Born of the dusk mid-christian lore,
Into our midday's questioning light:
Behold! Ideal womanhood,
Maternity, supremely good,
Self sacrificing, without stain;
Goddess eternally serene,
Yet robed in thoughtful mortal mien;
177

And once, no more, the painter's art
Hath touched this mystery on the heart.
Behold her here, untouched by pain
But with foreknowledge of the day
Still far away
In darkness on the mount of death
Defiled by malefactor's breath—
When “It is finished” he shall cry,
And the immortal seem to die.
Finished? nay, but just begun
Beneath the sun.
Look at him here a child to-day.
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