 | Poems by Henry Septimus Sutton |  |
56
WOMAN.
Weak souls, self-prison'd, scorn their cells,
And leap forth freed, when Woman's nigh;
Sweet speech, like music-making bells,
Rings changes in her thoughtful eye,
Glad joy-peals, or slow-tolling knells
With echoes from on high.
And leap forth freed, when Woman's nigh;
Sweet speech, like music-making bells,
Rings changes in her thoughtful eye,
Glad joy-peals, or slow-tolling knells
With echoes from on high.
Magic and forceful fires in these,—
A woman's smiles, a woman's tears;—
Kind furnace fires that can unfreeze
Hearts bound in arctic ice for years;—
Flames that can ravish whom they seize,
And lift to heavenly spheres.
A woman's smiles, a woman's tears;—
Kind furnace fires that can unfreeze
Hearts bound in arctic ice for years;—
Flames that can ravish whom they seize,
And lift to heavenly spheres.
Their bliss, from her who nobly seek
And get, to sweet hope, meet reply,
No traitorous soul can ever speak,
Or even in far-off thought descry;—
Too blest, for whom first glows her cheek,
And speaks new tongues her eye!
And get, to sweet hope, meet reply,
No traitorous soul can ever speak,
Or even in far-off thought descry;—
Too blest, for whom first glows her cheek,
And speaks new tongues her eye!
57
Talk not of beauty; love will lie
Where beauty never boasts to dwell;
Love lighted purely from on high,
With sweet good sense and truth as well,
These, looking forth from Woman's eye,
Can weave the strongest spell.
Where beauty never boasts to dwell;
Love lighted purely from on high,
With sweet good sense and truth as well,
These, looking forth from Woman's eye,
Can weave the strongest spell.
'Tis said, indeed, that Love decays
When altar-oaths have join'd the hands;
That there's no talismanic phrase
Can hold him in enduring bands;—
Yes! and when drouth the deer dismays,
They flee to other lands;—
When altar-oaths have join'd the hands;
That there's no talismanic phrase
Can hold him in enduring bands;—
Yes! and when drouth the deer dismays,
They flee to other lands;—
Yes! and the frost-offended bird
Mourns, and at length away it hies;—
Yes! and the unkind deed or word,
Cold whispers from unloving eyes,
When these by Love's fine ear are heard,
What wonder if he flies?
Mourns, and at length away it hies;—
Yes! and the unkind deed or word,
Cold whispers from unloving eyes,
When these by Love's fine ear are heard,
What wonder if he flies?
Love, when by the contracting heart
He 's pinch'd and fretted, off may go;
The plumage fledging Cupid's dart
To strong-quill'd wings, in frost, can grow,—
Wings yet reluctant to depart,
Slow waving to and fro.
He 's pinch'd and fretted, off may go;
The plumage fledging Cupid's dart
To strong-quill'd wings, in frost, can grow,—
Wings yet reluctant to depart,
Slow waving to and fro.
58
O most God-worthy gift, to bless
The earth with gracious overflow!
Thou, Woman, art true prophetess
Of every heaven man shall know.—
Ye who her priceless love possess,
Oh never let it go!
The earth with gracious overflow!
Thou, Woman, art true prophetess
Of every heaven man shall know.—
Ye who her priceless love possess,
Oh never let it go!
| Poems by Henry Septimus Sutton | |