Sketches from Life in Town and Country And some Verses: By Edward Carpenter: With Portrait |
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TO THE MUSE OF MEASURED VERSE
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 | Sketches from Life in Town and Country |  |
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TO THE MUSE OF MEASURED VERSE
On the Occasion of Adopting New Forms
O Muse, I said, your tenderest refrain(Muse of soft lullaby and lispéd rhyme)
Sing for my farewell song, who from this time
Must steer my bark upon a stormier main.
My sail is set. I know not if again
Under your shoreward boughs in Spring's sweet prime
I'll glide, or dream to the soft rippling chime
The calm struck from my keel. Henceforth I strain
My lyre to Life's profounder diapason:
The rhythm of ocean-waves o'erruns my strings—
Of waves which over harbour-wall and bason
The flooding tide inevitably flings;
On whose high crests new-freighted vessels hasten
To music of the wind's tempestuous wings.
| Sketches from Life in Town and Country | |