The Poetical Works of George Barlow In Ten [Eleven] Volumes |
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BROTHER AND SISTER
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| II. |
| III. |
| IV. |
| V. |
| VI. |
| VII. |
| VIII. |
| IX. |
| X. |
| XI. |
 | The Poetical Works of George Barlow |  |
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BROTHER AND SISTER
Oh, love, the difference when I met thine eyes!
How the sweet sunlight broke through doubtful skies,
Upon my heart and on the world's heart shed.
How swiftly I forgot thy brother's face,
As one forgets a pale white rose's grace
When lo! its sister rose of noblest red
Smiles with supreme exuberance instead,
Flooding with holier fragrance all the place!
How the sweet sunlight broke through doubtful skies,
Upon my heart and on the world's heart shed.
How swiftly I forgot thy brother's face,
As one forgets a pale white rose's grace
When lo! its sister rose of noblest red
Smiles with supreme exuberance instead,
Flooding with holier fragrance all the place!
So was it, lady, when the grey pure eyes
First smote me tenderly with quick surprise,
For then thou wast in very truth a queen
Surpassing page and maid who came before,
Crowned with an ecstasy unknown of yore,
Fiery with virgin glance as yet unseen,—
Touching to golden light the meadows green,
Redoubling all the music of the shore.
First smote me tenderly with quick surprise,
For then thou wast in very truth a queen
Surpassing page and maid who came before,
Crowned with an ecstasy unknown of yore,
Fiery with virgin glance as yet unseen,—
Touching to golden light the meadows green,
Redoubling all the music of the shore.
91
The difference is in the subtle sense
That this fair beauty, passionate, intense,
May be possessed and won and held by right,—
That passion's flush may gather on her face;
That hill and mead and river and leafy place
Which this day worship all her beauty bright
May worship love the conqueror ere the night,
When love leads captive their girl-sovereign's grace.
That this fair beauty, passionate, intense,
May be possessed and won and held by right,—
That passion's flush may gather on her face;
That hill and mead and river and leafy place
Which this day worship all her beauty bright
May worship love the conqueror ere the night,
When love leads captive their girl-sovereign's grace.
| The Poetical Works of George Barlow | |