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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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30

AT SEA.

Now the tide is safe and high,
In the fresh'ning morning breeze,
Over the harbour bar we hie
Out into the open seas.
With these fisher lads so strong
And knowing in the water ways,
I'll try to make a summer song,
The fisher's summer life to praise.
It seems to me the rounded sea
Begins to swell above the shore,
And the great gull, that fisher free,
Dives right down a yard or more.
31

With main and jib we bound along,
Through showers of spray we rise and dip,
But as for making any song,
That needs a sea apprenticeship.
And now we meet the ocean swell,
The bow swings high up in the air;
My breath goes with it! I know well
The land is best for me, not there!
We islanders should love the sea,
The fresh wind, coiled nets, ballast heap,
And full brown sail; but as for me,
Again within that harbour's lee,
I let the sea-song go to sleep!
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