Skip to main content

Full text of "The poetical works of George Meredith; with some notes"

See other formats 


Google 


This  is  a  digital  copy  of  a  book  that  was  preserved  for  generations  on  library  shelves  before  it  was  carefully  scanned  by  Google  as  part  of  a  project 

to  make  the  world's  books  discoverable  online. 

It  has  survived  long  enough  for  the  copyright  to  expire  and  the  book  to  enter  the  public  domain.  A  public  domain  book  is  one  that  was  never  subject 

to  copyright  or  whose  legal  copyright  term  has  expired.  Whether  a  book  is  in  the  public  domain  may  vary  country  to  country.  Public  domain  books 

are  our  gateways  to  the  past,  representing  a  wealth  of  history,  culture  and  knowledge  that's  often  difficult  to  discover. 

Marks,  notations  and  other  maiginalia  present  in  the  original  volume  will  appear  in  this  file  -  a  reminder  of  this  book's  long  journey  from  the 

publisher  to  a  library  and  finally  to  you. 

Usage  guidelines 

Google  is  proud  to  partner  with  libraries  to  digitize  public  domain  materials  and  make  them  widely  accessible.  Public  domain  books  belong  to  the 
public  and  we  are  merely  their  custodians.  Nevertheless,  this  work  is  expensive,  so  in  order  to  keep  providing  tliis  resource,  we  liave  taken  steps  to 
prevent  abuse  by  commercial  parties,  including  placing  technical  restrictions  on  automated  querying. 
We  also  ask  that  you: 

+  Make  non-commercial  use  of  the  files  We  designed  Google  Book  Search  for  use  by  individuals,  and  we  request  that  you  use  these  files  for 
personal,  non-commercial  purposes. 

+  Refrain  fivm  automated  querying  Do  not  send  automated  queries  of  any  sort  to  Google's  system:  If  you  are  conducting  research  on  machine 
translation,  optical  character  recognition  or  other  areas  where  access  to  a  large  amount  of  text  is  helpful,  please  contact  us.  We  encourage  the 
use  of  public  domain  materials  for  these  purposes  and  may  be  able  to  help. 

+  Maintain  attributionTht  GoogXt  "watermark"  you  see  on  each  file  is  essential  for  in  forming  people  about  this  project  and  helping  them  find 
additional  materials  through  Google  Book  Search.  Please  do  not  remove  it. 

+  Keep  it  legal  Whatever  your  use,  remember  that  you  are  responsible  for  ensuring  that  what  you  are  doing  is  legal.  Do  not  assume  that  just 
because  we  believe  a  book  is  in  the  public  domain  for  users  in  the  United  States,  that  the  work  is  also  in  the  public  domain  for  users  in  other 
countries.  Whether  a  book  is  still  in  copyright  varies  from  country  to  country,  and  we  can't  offer  guidance  on  whether  any  specific  use  of 
any  specific  book  is  allowed.  Please  do  not  assume  that  a  book's  appearance  in  Google  Book  Search  means  it  can  be  used  in  any  manner 
anywhere  in  the  world.  Copyright  infringement  liabili^  can  be  quite  severe. 

About  Google  Book  Search 

Google's  mission  is  to  organize  the  world's  information  and  to  make  it  universally  accessible  and  useful.   Google  Book  Search  helps  readers 
discover  the  world's  books  while  helping  authors  and  publishers  reach  new  audiences.  You  can  search  through  the  full  text  of  this  book  on  the  web 

at|http: //books  .google  .com/I 


dbjGoogle 


iaAHD'SESNFORD-JVOTOR°VH3VERSnY 


(  r" 


.^^l 


Digitized  bjGOOgle 


dbjGoogle 


dbjGoogle 


dbjGoogle 


dbjGoogle 


%,...,. .  IL,M,^ 


dbjGoogle 


dbjGoogle 


dbjGoogle 


THE  POETICAL  WORKS 

OF 

GEORGE  MEREDITH 


WITH  SOME  NOTES  BY 
G.   M.  TREVELYAN 


NEW  YORK 

CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 

1912 


dbjGoogle 


PubUBbed  October,  1912 


270534 


dbjGoogle 


PREFACE 

b  now  of  the  publication  of  this  complete  edition  of  Mnedith'a 
poHial  watke  in  one  volume,  I  have  t>een  saked  to  add  to  it  a  few 
wjlm,  m  the  first  instance  to  explain  mythological  and  historical 
aBn.'^iijiui,  not  equally  familiar  to  all  readera ;  and  in  the  second  place, 
to  e^lain  the  BUbject-mat4«r  of  particular  poems  and  passages.  The 
Doles  He  purely  eqilanatAry,  and  in  no  sense  critical  or  ^>preciative. 
It  is  hc^ied  that  their  seclusion  at  the  end  of  the  volu  iie  will  render 
Ibem  inofienaive  to  those  who  have  no  use  for  them.  In  preparing 
Ihoe  notes  I  have  had  the  advantage  of  possessinK  records  and 
manories  of  cODveisationa  in  former  yean  with  the  poet  himself,  both 
00  the  subject  of  the  general  ideas  expressed  in  his  poems,  and  on  the 
weuaag  and  purport  of  particular  passages. 

1  have  been  assisted  in  no  small  degree  by  the  suggestions  of  Miss 
Udian  Stawell,  who,  though  she  is  not  reeponsible  for  the  short- 
eomings  of  these 'notes,  has  much  increased  any  value  they  may 
powcBB.  I  have  also  received  most  useful  si^gestions  or  criticisms 
from  Mr.  J.  C.  Bailey,  Mr.  C.  P.  Sanger,  Mr.  O.  F.  Dowson, 
ProfesKir  Adolpbus  Jack,  and  others. 

The  test  is  that  of  the  Memorial  Editidn,  except  for  the  correction 
of  ■  few  obvious  mi^mnts,  and  for  two  or  three  substantial 
emaidatkMis,  in  making  which  I  had  the  concurrence  of  the  Editor 
of  the  text  of  the  Memorial  Edition.  The  order  is  generally  the 
■smeasthatofUie  Memorial  Edition,  but  I  have  made  a  few  changes. 
In  particular,  I  have  collected  under  the  heading  'Poems  on 
K«tiona]  Affairs'  a  number  of  poems  which  seemed  lo  gain  in  interest 
bom  juxtaposition.  The  poems  which  I  have  called  'Early  Poems' 
woe  most  of  them  written  in  or  about  1849,  when  the  poet  was 
twcsiy-one  years  ct  age. 

G.  M.  TREVELYAN 


dbyGoogle 


dbjGoogle 


CONTENTS 

{The  iol€i  inHcaU  (Ac  year  of  flrit  puUlcoJfoR,  <n  book  or  in  prrlodlcat) 
EARLY  POEMS 

CHILLIANWAI.I.AH 1849  1 

BE4DTT  RoHTRAtW 1850  2 

The  Outx  Bunch 1851  3 

SoNO 1851  e 

Love  within  the  lover's  breast 

The  Wiu)  Rose  Aim  tee  Snowdrop  1851  7 

The  Death  of  Winteh 1851  8 

SoNfl 1851  9 

The  moon  ia  alone  in  the  sky 

John  Lackland 1851  10 

The  SLEEPiNa  Cnr 1851  10 

The  Poetbt  of  CoAncER 1851  14 

The  Poetbt  of  Spenser 1851  14 

The  Poetrt  of  Seaxespearb 1851  14 

The  Poetbt  of  Milton 1851  16 

The  Pobtbt  of  Southet         ,        .  185 1  15 

The  Poetry  op  Cousridoe                       ...  1851  15 

The  Poetrt  of  Sbbllet 1851  15 

The  Poetrt  of  Wordsworth 1851  16 


dbyGoogle 


vi  CO>fTENTS 

Tbb  Poetht  op  Keats 1851 

Violets 1851 

Anoslic  Love 1851 

TwiuoHT  Music 1851 

ItxQiiiEif 1851 

The  Fu>web  of  the  Ruins 1851 

The  Rape  op  Acho&a 1851 

■I  Socth-Wkst  Wind  in  the  Woodland  1851 

Will  o'  the  Wibp 1851 

SoNQ 1851 

Fair  and  false ! 

SoNo 1851 

Two  wedded  Wera  watched  Uie  rismg  mooD, 

SoNQ 1851 

I  cannot  lose  thae  for  a  day, 

■  Daphne 1851 

SoNfl ,  1851 

Should  thy  love  die ; 

LoiiDON  BY  Lampuoht 1851 

SoNo 1851 

Under  boughs  of  breathing  May, 

Pabtorals 1851 

'  To  A  Sktubk 1851 

Song  (Sprino) 1851 

SoNQ  {Autumn) 1851 

SoBBOWB  Ain>  Jots 1850 

Bono i8si 

The  Flower  unfolds  its  dawning  cup, 

SoNo 1851 

Thou  to  me  art  such  a  spring 

Antioone 1851 


dbyGoogle 


CONTENTS 

Swathed  Eoond  in  Mibt 1851 

SoNQ 1851 

No,  no,  the  falling  bkwaom  is  no  sign 

'  Tbc  Two  Bi^ckbibds 1850 

JuLT 1851 

Song 1851 

I  would  I  were  the  drop  of  TAin 

SoNQ iSst 

Come  to  me  in  any  shape  I 

The  Shifwreck  of  Idoueneds       ....  1851 

The  Longest  Dat 1851 

To  Robin  Redbbeabt 1851 

SoNQ 1851 

The  daisy  now  ia  out  upon  the  great ; 

SnNBiSE      .........  1851 

PicnmES  OF  THE  RaiNG 1851 

'  To  1  NraHTiNOALE iSst 

To  Alkx.  Surra,  the  'Glasgow  Poet'  .       .       .  1851 

The  Doe:  A  Fragment 1861 

(From  '  Wandering  Willie,'  an  unfiniahed  early 
poem) 

Intitation  to  the  Countrt 1851 

The  Swttrt  o'  the  Year 1853 


AUTUIDI  EVXN-BONO i8sQ 

The  Song  of  Courtesy 1859 

The  Three  Maidens 1859 

Over  the  Hillb        ......  1859 


dbyGoogle 


dbjGoogle 


CONTENTS 


IniBHAi.  Habuont 

GUCE  AND  Lovs 

'  1^  Spibtt  of  Shakebpeabe    . 

'  Thi  Sfibtt  op  Shakbbpeabe  (amfinued)  . 

ApPttBCIATION 

Tbb  OacmjKK  or  Wibdou 

The  State  of  Agb 

/  The  Wobld'b  Advance     .... 
The  Garden  of  Epicimua 
A  Later  Alexandbian     .... 
An  Obson  of  the  Mube  .... 
The  Point  of  Taote        .... 

Cajiblto  Sautat 

Camzldb  Saltat  (eanlinued) 

Mt  TantE 

Mr  Tbeub  (continued) 

To  Chudben  :  fob  Tibants    . 


POEMS  AND  LYRICB  OF  THE  JOY  OF  EARTH 


'ijHB  WooDB  OF  WebtermaiiT;: 
A  Ballad  of  Pabt  Meridian 

jDaijohtkr  of  Hades 
V  '  Tbb  Lark  Abcendj 
'  Pboebub  with  Aduetus 

'  Mdampcs 

'  Love  in  the  Vallet      ''  ^  ■  f-      '  "^ 
Tbb  Thbbb  SmaEBs  to  Young  Blood 
Tbe  Orcbabd  and  the  Heath 


dbjGoogle 


A  Ballad  op  Paib  Ladies  im  Revolt 


BALLADS  AND  POEMS  OF  TRAGIC  LIFE 

The  Two  Mabks 1887 

Ahchducbess  Anne 

The  Sonq  of  Theodolinda 1873 

A  Pbeachinq  trou  a  Spanish  Ballad  . 

■  The  Youno  Princess 

Kino  Hahald'b  Trance 

Whimper  or  Stupatht 

YoDNo  Retnard 

Manpebd 

Hernani 

The  NnPTiALB  op  Attila 187Q 

Men  and  Man 1887 

The  Last  Contention 1887 

Periander 


Belleropbon 
Phaxthon  , 


A  READING  OF  EARTH 
Seed-Tihe 

*  Hard  Weather         ... 
The  Sodtb-Wester  . 

I    NiOHT  OP  Fkoot  in  Mat  . 

^  The  Thrush  in  February 


dbyGoogle 


CONTENTS 

The  Appxasemeht  of  Demeteb 
Eabtb  and  a  Wedded  Woman 

MotBKB  TO  Babk 

Woodland  E*iack 

The  Qubtion  Whithcr 

'  OnTBB  AMD  InNSK 

•-  NiiTTKE  AND  Life 

^  DiBCTgtJyooDa 

,/lii  THE  Woods  .< 

fXyXTta  UN  Tmu. 

Change  in  Recurrence 

yHiMN  TO  CoLoim~~^ 

>  Meditation  under  Stabs        .... 

>  Woodman  and  Echo 

The  Wibdoh  of  Eld 

EiSTB'S  pBErZKBNCE 

Winter  Heavknb 

A  Stave  of  Rovinq  Tm 

Jtntp-oo^LORT  Jane 

Teh  Riddle  fob  Men 

The  Saoe  Enamoured  and  the  Honest  Ladt 
Fraqmentb — 

Love  is  wiDged  for  two,    .... 

Ask,  is  Love  divine, 

Joy  is  fleet, 

The  Lebbon  or  Grief 

WncD  ON  THE  LntE 

The  Youthful  Quest 


:888  341 
:870  341 
873*^    342", 


889  372 

890  3S0 


dbyGoogle 


CONTENTS 

Ope  to  thk  Comic  Spumt 189a 

CQoK  TO  Yot^  IN  Mem^^ iSgj 


Pknetbatiom  and  Trcst      j 1891      409 


The  TSACHiNa  of  the  INDDB iSga  410 

Bkeatb  of  tbe  Bbiar iSga  411 

Emfedoclbb 1S92  411 

Tardt  Sprino 1891  412 

FOHEBtOHT  AMD  PaTIENCS VI894  413 

POEMS  ON  NATIONAL  AFFAIRS 

To  J.  M 1867  421 

Lings  to  a  Pbibnd  Visitino  America    .               .  1867  421 

Aneohin'o  Harp 1868  428 

A  Certain  Prople 1883  432 

pROORB»a 1883  433 

On  the  Danobr  op  War 1885  433 

To  Cardinal  Manning 1886  434 

To  Cou>NEL  Cbarles 1887  434 

Knqland  Before  the  Storm 1891  436 

The  Larooreh 1893  437 

*  The  Kmptt  Purse 1891  438 

The  Warning 1896  45fl 

(HiTiiiDE  THE  Crowd 1896  458 

Thafaloah  Day 1896  457 

At  the  Close 1899  458 

'Atkins' 1901  459 

TriE  VoVAOE  OF  THE  'Ophir' 1901  459 

OiTtmSR  21 1905  460 


dbyGoogle 


CONTENTS 

xiii 

TEjUI 

FAOB 

1l  t  A  cetn  AN8 

.        1908 

463 

MtLTON 

.        1008 

46ii 

ODES  IN  CONTRIBUTION  TO  THE  SONG  OF 
FRENCH  HISTORY 

Thb  Revolution 1898  468 

NiPOLBOM 1898  477 

Frakce.    Deckmbbb  1870 1871  407 

Albacb-Lobeains 1898  505 


The  CAOBtNO  or  Abes 1899      620 

The  Niqbt-Walk 1899      524 

A  Gabdem  Idtl 1900      528 


A  READING  OF  LIFE 

Tbe  ViTAi.  Choice 1901 

With  the  Hitntbess 1901 

r  With  the  Perboader 1901 

•.  The  Test  or  Masbood 1901 

^The  Huelesb  Love 1901 

*^Uniom  n*  DiaaEVSRANCE igoi 

Sana   IN   THE   SONQLEBS I9OO 

ToB  Borden  of  SmENCrTH 1901 

The  Maim  REORFr igoi 

Altebhation      ....  ...  igoi 

PouBT  HurroRT       .  1808 


dbyGoogle 


FRAGMENTS  OF  THE  ILIAD  IN  ENGLISH 
HEXAMETER  VERSE 


I89I 
I89I 

Marbhalung  op  the  Achaianb 

555 

1891 

55n 

I89I 

558 

Clash  in  Arms  of  thb  Achaians  ai 

JD  Tbojanb 

1891 

559 

-       -                   - 

1896 

559 

1909 
1908 


he  DJght,  outworn, 


dbjGoogle 


On  the  Tombstoke  of  James  Chbibtopher  Wiuon 

GoRDOK  OP  Khabtouu 

J.  C.  M 

The  Emperor  Frederick  op  ode  Time  . 

'Iblet'  the  Dachb 

On  Hearino  the  Newb  prom  Venice 

Hawarden 

At  the  Fdnehal 

Angela  BDRDEn^O)Ir^s 

The  Yeab'b  Sheddinob 


YocTH  IN  AoB 1908      S72 


APPENDIX 


i  Love  in  th»  Vau^t 

{Firet  version  from  'PoemB,'  1851) 
Poems  selected  prom  the  Novelb— 

Song  of  Ruark  to  Bhonavor  the  Beautiful 
■    The  Teaching  of  the  Blows  of  Fortune 
From  the  Opera  of  Camilla 
Vittoria's  Dying  Song  in  the  Opera  . 

Irdbx  op  First  Lines     .... 


i8s6 
1856 


dbyGoogle 


NOTE 
An  asterisk  after  the  title  of  a  poem  indicat«fl 
that  there  is  a  note  on  it  at  the  end  of  the  book, 
fha  Tints  «thnr  nfarFJQg  fo  the  poem  as  a  whole, 

laasage  indicated  in  the  text 


dbjGoogle 


p  0  tr-Ri  s 

CHILLIANW3ii.iAH  • 

CmujANWALLAB,  Ctullian!^allkh  I 

Where  our  brothers  fought-^Od  bledi 
O  thy  name  is  natural  music     "'1^*'. 

And  a  dirge  above  the  dead  t :  ..'•_ 
Though  we  have  not  been  defeated,'-  ■ ' 

lliough  we  can't  be  overcome, 
Stilt,  whene'er  thou  art  repeated,  '■■  ,•''. 

I  would  fain  that  grief  were  dumb.     '•** 

Chillianwallah,  ChilUanwallah  I 

lis  a  name  so  sad  and  strange, 
Like  a  breeze  through  midnight  harpstringa 

Rin^g  many  a  nioumf  ul  change ; 
But  the  wildness  and  the  sorrow 

Have  a  meaning  of  their  own — 
Oh,  whereof  no  glad  to-morrow 

Can  relieve  the  dismal  tone  I 

Chillianwallah,  Chillianwallah  I 

'Tis  a  village  dark  and  low, 
By  the  bloody  Jhelum  river 

Bridged  by  the  foreboding  foe ; 
And  across  the  wintry  water 

He  is  ready  to  retreat. 
When  the  carnage  and  the  slaughter 

Shall  have  pud  for  Ms  defeat. 

Chillianwallah,  Chilliaawallah  I 

'Tis  a  wild  and  dreary  plain. 
Strewn  with  plots  of  thickest  jungle. 

Matted  with  the  gory  stain. 
There  the  murder-mouthed  artillery. 

In  the  deadly  ambuscade. 
Wrought  the  thunder  of  its  treachery 

On  the  skeleton  brigade. 


dbyGoogle 


EARLY  POEMS 

ChiUianwallah,  Chillian wallah  1 

When  the  night  set  in  with  rain. 
Came  the  savagp  plundering  devils 

To  their  wort  qmong  the  slain ; 
And  the  wounded  and  the  dj-ing 

In  cold^^pod  did  share  the  doom 
Of  their  ci^i^es  round  them  lying, 

StifF.i^  Aie  dead  skyless  gloom. 

Chitfiaft wallah,  ChiUianwallah ! 
.  •'.  ^•iTiou  wilt  be  a  doleful  chord, 
■/am  a  mystic  note  of  mourning 

That  will  need  no  chiming  word ; 
;.  And  that  heart  will  leap  with  anguish 
Who  may  understand  thee  best; 
But  the  hopes  of  all  will  languish 
Till  thy  memory  is  at  rest. 


BEAUTY  ROHTRAUT 

CTBANSLATION  FROM  THE  OBBMAN  OF  MORICKE) 

What  is  the  name  of  King  Ringang's  daughter? 

RohtrBut,  Beauty  Rohtraut  I 
And  what  does  she  do  the  livelong  day, 
Since  she  dare  not  knit  and  spin  alway? 
O  hunting  and  fishing  is  ever  her  play  1 
And,  heigh  I  that  her  huntsman  I  might  be  I 
I'd  hunt  and  fish  right  merrily  1 
Be  silent,  heart ! 

And  it  chanced  that,  after  this  some  time, — 

Tln.htTut,t     Rnnnty  RohtraUt,— 

e  has  gained  access, 

ot  and  a  huntsman's  dress, 

cith  the  merry  Princess; 

t  son  I  might  be  t 

ive  so  tenderly, 

!  my  heart. 

they  sat, 
Rohtraut  I 


dbyGoogle 


BEAUTY  ROHTRAUT 

She  laughs:  'Why  look  you  so  slyly  at  me? 
If  you  have  heart  enough,  come,  luss  me.* 
Cried  the  breathless  boy, '  kiss  thee  ? ' 
But  he  thinks,  kind  fortune  has  favoured  my  youth; 
And  thrice  he  has  kissed  Beauty  Rohtraut's  mouth. 
Down  1  down  I  mad  heart. 

Then  slowly  and  silently  they  rode  home, — 

Rohtraut,  Beauty  Rohtraut ! 
The  boy  was  lost  in  his  delight: 
'  And,  wert  thou  Empress  this  very  mght, 
I  would  not  heed  or  feel  the  blight ; 
Ye  thousand  leaves  of  the  wild  wood  wist 
How  Beauty  Rohtraut's  mouth  I  kiss'd. 
Hush  I  hush !  wild  heart.' 


THE  OLIVE  BRANCH 

A  DOVE  flew  with  an  Olive  Branch ; 
It  crossed  the  sea  and  reached  the  shore, 
And  on  a  ship  about  to  launch 
Dropped  down  the  happy  sign  it  bore. 

'An  omen'  rang  the  glad  acclaim ! 
The  Captain  stooped  and  picked  it  up, 
'  Be  then  the  Olive  Branch  her  name,' 
Cried  she  who  flung  the  christening  cup. 

The  vessel  took  the  laughing  tides ; 
It  was  a  joyous  revelry 
To  see  her  dashing  from  her  sides 
The  rough,  salt  kisses  of  the  sea. 

And  forth  into  the  bursting  foam 
She  spread  her  sail  and  sp>ed  away, 
The  rolling  surge  her  restless  home, 
Her  incense  wreaths  the  showering  spray. 

Far  out,  and  where  the  riot  waves 
Run  mingling  in  tumultuous  throngs. 
She  danced  above  a  thousand  graves. 
And  heard  a  thousand  briny  songs. 


dbyGoogle 


Chillianwal' 

When 
Came  the  - 

Totii 
And  the  v 

In  01 
Of  their ' 

Stii- 
Chilinr 
.  ■">* 


What  : 

I! 
Audi. 
Since 
Ohii 
And 


dbjGoOgle 


THE  OLIVE  BRANCH 

Come,  read  the  meaning  of  the  deep  I 
llie  use  of  winda  and  waters  ieam ! 
Tis  not  to  make  the  mother  weep 
For  sons  that  never  will  return ; 

"lis  not  to  make  the  nations  show 
Contempt  for  all  whom  seas  divide ; 
Tis  not  to  pamper  war  and  woe, 
Nor  feed  triwlitionary  pride ; 

*T1s  not  to  make  the  floating  hulk 
Mask  death  upon  its  slippery  deck, 
Itself  in  turn  a  shattered  hulk, 
A  ghastly  raft,  a  bleeding  wreck. 

It  is  to  knit  with  loving  lip 
The  interests  of  land  to  land ; 
To  join  in  far-seen  fellowship 
The  tropic  and  the  polar  strand. 

It  b  to  make  that  foaming  Strength 
Whose  rebel  forces  wrestle  still 
Thro'  all  his  boundaried  breadth  and  length 
Become  a  vassal  to  our  will. 

It  is  to  make  the  various  skies. 
And  all  the  various  fruits  they  vaunt. 
And  all  the  dowers  of  earth  we  prize. 
Subservient  to  our  household  want. 

And  more,  for  knowledge  crowns  the  gain 
Of  intercourse  with  other  souls, 
And  Wisdom  travels  not  in  vain 
llie  plungmg  spaces  of  the  poles. 

The  wild  AUantic's  weltering  gloom, 
Earth-clasping  seas  of  North  and  South, 
The  Baltic  with  its  amber  spume. 
The  Caspian  with  its  frozen  mouth ; 

The  broad  PaciGc,  basking  bright, 
And  girdling  lands  of  lustrous  growth. 
Vast  continents  and  isles  of  light. 
Dumb  tracts  of  undiscovered  sloth  ; 


dbyGoogle 


EARLY  POEMS 

She  visits  these,  traver^Qg  each ; 
They  ripen  to  the  common  sun  ; 
Thro'  diverse  forms  and  different  speech. 
The  world's  humanity  is  one. 

O  may  her  voice  have  power  to  say 
How  soon  the  wrecking  discords  cease. 
When  every  wandering  wave  is  gay 
With  golden  argosies  of  peace  ! 

Now  when  the  ark  of  human  fate, 
Long  baffled  by  the  wayward  wind. 
Is  drifting  with  its  peopled  freight. 
Safe  haven  on  the  heights  to  find  ; 

Safe  haven  from  the  drowning  slime 
Of  evil  deeds  and  Deluge  wrath  ; — 
To  plant  again  the  foot  of  Time 
Upon  a  purer,  firmer  path  ; 

'Tis  now  the  hour  to  probe  the  ground, 
To  watch  the  Heavens,  to  speak  the  word, 
The  fathoms  of  the  deep  to  sound, 
And  send  abroad  the  missioned  bird. 

On  strengthened  wing  for  evermore. 
Let  Science,  swiftly  as  she  can. 
Fly  seaward  on  from  shore  to  shore. 
And  bind  the  links  of  man  to  man  ; 

And  like  that  fair  propitious  Dove 
Bless  future  fleets  about  to  launch ; 
Make  every  freight  a  freight  of  love. 
And  every  ship  an  Olive  Branch. 


SONG 
'  'n  the  lover's  breast 
Hesper  in  the  west, 
[les  of  the  sun, 
r  and  night  are  done ; 
dawn  drives  up  her  cai^ 
,e  morning  star. 


dbyGoogle 


THE  WILD  ROSE  AND  THE  SNOWDROP 

Love !  thy  love  pours  down  on  mine 
As  the  sunlight  on  the  vine, 
As  the  snow-rill  on  the  vale, 
As  the  salt  breeze  in  the  sail ; 
As  the  song  unto  the  bird. 
On  my  lips  thy  name  is  heard. 

As  a  dewdrop  on  the  rose 
In  thy  heart  my  passion  glows. 
As  a  skylark  to  the  sky 
Up  into  thy  breast  I  fly ; 
As  a  sea-shell  of  the  sea 
Ever  shall  I  sing  of  thee. 


THE  WILD  ROSE  AND  THE  SNOWDROP 

The  Snowdrop  is  the  prophet  of  the  flowers ; 

It  lives  and  dies  upon  its  hed  of  snows ; 

And  like  a  thought  of  spring  it  comes  and  goes, 

Hanging  its  head  beside  our  leafless  bowers. 

The  sun's  betrothing  kiss  it  never  knows, 

Nor  all  the  glowing  joy  of  golden  showers  ; 

But  ever  in  a  placid,  pure  repose, 

More  like  a  spirit  with  its  look  serene. 

Droops  its  paJe  cheek  veined  thro'  with  infant  green. 

Queen  of  her  sistsrs  is  the  sweet  Wild  Rose, 
Sprung  from  the  earnest  sun  and  ripe  young  June ; 
TTie  year's  own  darUng  and  the  Summer's  Queen  ! 
Lustrous  as  the  new-throned  crescent  moon. 
Much  of  that  early  prophet  look  she  shows. 
Mixed  with  her  fair  espoused  blush  which  glows, 
As  if  the  ethereal  fairy  blood  were  seen  ; 
Like  a  soft  evening  over  sunset  snows. 
Half  twilight  violet  shade,  half  crimson  sheen. 

Twin-bom  are  both  in  beauteousness,  most  fair 
In  all  that  glads  the  eye  and  charms  the  air  ; 
In  all  that  wakes  emotions  in  the  mind 
And  sows  sweet  sympathies  for  human  kind. 


dbyGoogle 


She' 
Tb...v 


Wli.i 
Will, 


dbjGoogle 


( 


THE  DEATH  OF  WINTER 

As  lightly  she  loosens  her  showery  locks 
And  flutters  her  rainy  wings ; 
IjLUghingly  stoops 

To  the  glass  of  the  stream. 
And  loosens  and  loops 

Her  hair  by  the  gleam. 
While  all  the  young  villagers  blithe  as  the  flocks 

Go  frolicking  round  in  rings  ; — 
Then  Winter,  he  who  tamed  the  fiy. 
Turns  on  his  back  and  prepares  to  die, 
For  he  cannot  live  longer  under  the  sky. 

Down  the  valleys  glittering  green, 
Down  from  the  hills  in  snowy  rills, 
He  melts  between  the  border  sheen 

And  leaps  the  flowery  vei^;ea  ! 
He  cannot  choose  but  brighten  their  hues, 
And  tho'  he  would  creep,  he  fain  must  leap, 

For  the  quick  Spring  spirit  urges. 
Down  the  vale  and  down  the  dale 
He  leaps  and  lights,  tUI  his  moments  fail. 
Buried  in  blossoms  red  and  pale. 

While  the  sweet  birds  sing  his  dirges ! 

O  Winter  1  I'd  live  that  life  of  thine. 
With  a  frosty  brow  and  an  icicle  tongue, 
And  never  a  song  my  whole  life  long, — 
Were  such  delicious  burial  mine ! 
To  die  and  be  buried,  and  so  remain 
A  wandering  brook  in  April's  train. 
Fixing  my  dying  eyes  for  aye 
On  the  dawning  brows  of  maiden  May. 

SONG 

The  moon  b  alone  in  the  sky 

As  thou  in  my  soul ; 
The  sea  takes  her  image  to  lie 
Where  the  white  ripples  roll 
All  night  in  a  dream. 
With  the  light  of  her  beam. 


dbyGoogle 


EARLY  POEMS 

Huahedly,  mournfully,  mbtily  up  to  the  shore. 

The  pebbles  speak  low 

In  the  ebb  and  the  flow, 
Aa  I  when  thy  voice  came  at  intervals,  tuned  to  adore : 

Nought  other  stirred 

Save  my  heart  all  unheard 
Beating  to  bliss  that  is  past  evermore. 


JOHN  LACKLAND 

A  WICKED  man  is  bad  enough  on  earth ; 
But  O  the  baleful  lustre  of  a  chief 
Once  pledged  in  tyranny  I     0  star  of  dearth 
Darkly  illumining  a  nation's  grief  I 
How  many  men  have  worn  thee  on  their  brows  I 
Alas  for  them  and  us  I     God's  precious  gift 
Of  gracious  dispensation  got  by  theft — 
The  damning  form  of  false  unholy  vows ! 
The  thief  of  God  and  man  must  have  his  fee : 
And  thou,  John  Lackland,  despicable  prince — 
Basest  of  England's  banes  before  or  since  I 
Thrice  traitor,  coward,  thief !    0  thou  shalt  be 
The  historic  warning,  trampled  and  adhorr'd 
Who  dared  to  steal  and  stain  the  symbols  of  the  Lord ! 


THE  SLEEPING  CITY 

A  PRINCEBS  in  the  eastern  tale 
Paced  thro'  a  marble  city  pale. 
And  saw  in  ghastly  shapes  of  stone 
The  sculptured  life  she  breathed  alone ; 

Saw,  where'er  her  eye  might  range. 
Herself  the  only  child  of  change ; 
And  heard  her  echoed  footfall  chime 
Between  Oblivion  and  Time ; 

And  in  the  squares  where  fountains  played. 
And  up  the  spiral  balustrade. 
Along  the  drowsy  corridors. 
Even  to  the  inmost  sleeping  floors, 


d  by  Google 


dbjGoogle 


EARLY  POEMS 

The  ever-preseot  of  the  past 
There  written ;  all  that  lightened  last. 
Love,  anguish,  hope,  disease,  despair, 
Beauty  and  rage,  all  written  there ; — 

Enchanted  Passions  I  whose  pale  doom 
la  never  flushed  by  blight  or  bloom. 
But  sentinelled  by  silent  orbs, 
Whose  light  the  pallid  scene  absorbs. — 

Like  such  a  one  I  pace  along 
This  City  with  its  sleeping  throng ; 
Like  her  with  dread  and  awe,  that  turns 
To  rapture,  and  sublimely  yearns ; — 

For  now  the  quiet  stars  look  down 

On  lighta  as  quiet  aa  their  own ; 

The  streets  that  groaned  with  traffic  show 

As  if  with  silence  paved  below ; 

The  latest  revellers  are  at  peace, 
The  signs  of  in-door  tumult  cease. 
From  gay  saloon  and  low  resort. 
Comes  not  one  murmur  or  report : 

The  clattering  chariot  rolls  not  by. 
The  windows  show  no  waking  eye. 
The  houses  smoke  not,  and  the  air 
Is  clear,  and  all  the  midnight  fair. 

The  centre  of  the  striving  world, 
Round  which  the  human  fate  is  curled. 
To  which  the  future  crieth  wild, — 
Is  pillowed  like  a  cradled  child. 

The  palace  roof  that  guards  a  crown. 
The  mansion  swathed  in  dreamy  down. 
Hovel,  court,  and  alley-shed. 
Sleep  in  the  calmness  of  the  dead. 

Now  while  the  many-motived  heart 
Lies  hushed — fireside  and  busy  mart, 
And  mortal  pulses  beat  the  tune 
That  charms  the  calm  cold  ear  o'  the  moon 


dbyGoogle 


THE  SLEEPING  CITY 

Whose  yellowing  crescent  down  the  West 
Leans  listening,  now  when  every  breast 
Its  basest  or  its  purest  heaves. 
The  sou!  that  joys,  the  soul  that  grieves  ;— 

While  Fame  is  crowning  happy  brows 
ThtLt  day  will  blindly  scorn,  while  vows 
Of  anguished  love,  long  hidden,  speak 
From  faltering  tongue  and  flushing  cheek 

The  language  only  known  to  dreams. 
Rich  eloquence  of  rosy  themes  I 
While  on  the  Beauty's  folded  mouth 
Disdain  just  wrinkles  baby  youth ; 

While  Poverty  dispenses  alms 
To  outcasts,  bread,  and  healing  balms ; 
While  old  Mammon  knows  himself 
The  greater  beggar  for  hb  pelf ; 

While  noble  things  in  darkness  grope. 
The  Statesman's  aim,  the  Poet's  hope ; 
The  Patriot's  impulse  gathers  fire. 
And  germs  of  future  fruits  aspire ; — 

Now  while  dumb  nature  owns  its  links, 
And  from  one  common  fountain  drinks, 
Methinks  in  all  around  1  see 
This  Picture  in  Eternity ; — 

A  marbled  City  planted  there 
With  all  its  pageants  and  despair; 
A  peopled  hush,  a  Death  not  dead, 
But  stricken  with  Medusa's  head , — 

And  in  the  Gorgon's  glance  for  aye 
The  lifeless  immortality 
Beveab  in  sculptured  calmness  all 
Its  latest  life  beyond  recall. 


dbyGoogle 


EARLY  POEMS 


THE  POETRY  OF  CHAUCER 

Gbey  with  all  honours  of  age !  but  fresh-featured  and 

ruddy 
As  dawn  when  the  drowsy  farm-yard  has  thrice  heard 

Chaunticlere. 
Tender    to    tearfulness — childlike,    and    manly,    and 

motherly ; 
Here  beats  true  English  blood  richest  joyance  on  sweet 

English  ground. 


THE  POETRY  OF  SPENSER 

Lakes  where  the  sunsheen  is  mystic  with  splendour  and 

softness ; 
Vales   where  sweet   life   b   all   Summer  with   golden 

romance ; 
Forests  that  glimmer  with  twilight  round  revel-bright 

palaces; 
Here  in  our  May-blood  we  wander,  careering  'mongst  ladies 

and  knights. 


THE  POETRY  OF  SHAECESPEARE 

PiCTORE   some    Isle   smiling   green    'mid    the   white- 
foaming  ocean ; — 

Full    of   old    woods,    leafy   wisdoms,    and    frolicsome 
fays; 

Passions  and  pageants;  sweet  love  sin^ng   bird-like 
above  it ; 
Life  in  all  shapes,  aims,  and  fates,  is  there  warm'd  by  one 
great  human  heart. 


dbyGoogh 


OF  MILTON 

1  organ  whose  grand  inspira- 

ice,  lofty  and  calm, 
melody  great  aa  !ts  burthen 
□g  for  ever  throughout  the 


3F  SOUTHEY 

flight  towards  the  dim  etn- 


ver  royally  wends ! 
robes  of  the  balm-breathing 


nfolding  the  humanest  truth. 


F  COLERIDGE 

green  leaves,  self-delighting, 


dy  ever  renewed — 
of  Heaven,  unceasing  ii 


lushed  in  the  beams  of  the 


OF  SHELLEY 
whose    glistening    wingleta 

the  melodious  dawn  ? 

ling   distance   of   heaven    it 

are  the  treasures  it  brings 


dbyGoogle 


EARLY  POEMS 


THE  POETRY  OF  WORDSWORTH  . 

A  BREATH  of  the  mountains,  fresh  bom  in  the  regions 

majestic. 
That  look  with  their  eye-daring  summits  deep  into  the 

sky. 
The  voice  of  great  Nature;  suhlime  with  her  lofty 

conceptions. 
Yet  earnest  and  ^mple  as  any  sweet  child  of  the  green 

lowly  vale. 


THE  POETRY  OF  KEATS 

The  song  of  a   nightingale  sent  thro'   a  slumhroua 

valley. 
Low-lidded    with    twilight,     and    tranced    with  the 

dolorous  sound. 
Tranced  with  a  tender  enchantment;  the  yearning  of 

passion 
That  wins  immortality  even  while  panting  delirious  with 

death. 


VIOLETS 

Violets,  shy  violets  1 

How  many  hearts  with  you  compare  I 

Who  hide  themselves  in  thickest  green. 
And  thence,  unseen. 
Ravish  the  enraptured  air 
With  sweetness,  dewey  fresh  and  rare  I 

Violets,  shy  violets ! 

Human  hearts  to  me  shall  be 
"iewless  violets  in  the  grass, 
And  as  I  pass, 
s  and  sweet  imagery 
'ait  on  mine  and  gladden  me  1 


Digitized  byGOOgle 


ANGELIC  LOVE 

Anqeuc  love  that  stoops  with  heavenly  lips 

To  meet  its  earthly  mate; 
Heroic  love  that  to  its  sphere's  ech'pse 

Can  dare  to  join  its  fate 
With  one  beloved  devoted  human  heart. 
And  share  with  it  the  passion  and  the  smart. 
The  undying  bliss 
Of  its  most  fleeting  kiss ; 
The  fading  grace 
Of  its  most  sweet  embrace : — 
Angelic  love,  heroic  love  1 
Whose  birth  can  only  be  above, 
Whose  wandering  must  be  on  earth. 
Whose  haven  where  it  first  had  birth  I 
Love  that  can  part  with  all  but  its  own  worth, 
And  joy  in  every  sacrifice 
That  beautifies  its  Paradise! 
And  gently,  like  a  golden-fruited  vine. 
With  earnest  tenderness  itself  consign. 
And  creeping  up  deliriously  entwine 
Its  dear  delicious  arms 

Round  the  beloved  being  I 
With  fair  unfolded  charms. 

All-trusting,  and  all-seeing, — 
GrapeJaden  with  full  bunches  of  young  wine  1 
While  to  the  panting  heart's  dry  yearning  drouth 
Buds  the  rich  dewy  mouth — 
Tenderly  uplifted. 
Like  two  rose-leaves  drifted 
Down  in  a  long  warm  sigh  of  the  sweet  South ! 
Such  love,  such  love  is  thine. 
Such  heart  is  mine, 
0  tbou  of  mortal  visions  most  divine  I 

TWILIGHT  MUSIC 

Know  you  the  low  pervading  breeze 

That  softly  sings 
In  the  trembling  leaves  of  twilight  trees. 


dbyGoogle 


EARLY  POEMS 

As  if  the  wind  were  dreaming  on  its  wings  T 
And  have  you  marked  their  still  degrees 
Of  ebbing  melody,  like  the  strings 
Of  a  silver  harp  swept  by  a  spirit's  hand 
In  some  atrange  glimmering  land, 
'Mid  gushing  springs, 
And  glistenings 
Of  waters  and  of  planets,  wild  and  grand  1 
And  have  you  marked  in  that  still  time 
The  chariots  of  those  shining  cars 
Brighten  upon  the  hushing  dark. 
And  bent  to  hark 
That  Voice,  amid  the  poplar  and  the  lime, 
Pause  in  the  dilating  lustre 

Of  the  spheral  cluster ; 
Pause  but  to  renew  its  sweetness,  deep 
As  dreams  of  heaven  to  souls  that  sleep  I 
And  felt,  despite  earth's  jarring  wars, 
When  day  is  done 
And  dead  the  sun, 
Still  a  voice  -divine  can  sing. 
Still  is  there  sympathy  can  bring 
A  whisper  from  the  stars  I 
Ah,  with  this  sentience  quickly  will  you  know 
How  like  a  tree  I  tremble  to  the  tones 
Of  your  sweet  voice ! 
How  keenly  I  rejoice 
When  in  me  with  sweet  motions  slow 
The  spiritual  music  ebbs  and  moans — 
Lives  in  the  lustre  of  those  heavenly  eyes, 
Dies  in  the  light  of  its  own  paradise, — 
Dies,  and  relives  eternal  from  its  death, 
ImmoriAl  melodies  in  each  deep  breath  ; 
Sweeps  thro'  my  being,  bearing  up  to  thee 
Myself,  the  weight  of  its  eternity ; 
Till,  nerved  to  life  from  its  ordeal  fire. 
It  marries  music  with  the  human  lyre, 
Blending  divine  delight  with  loveliest  desire. 


dbyGoogle 


REQUIEM 

Where  faces  are  hueless,  where  eyelids  are  dewless. 
Where  passion  is  silent  and  hearts  never  crave ; 

Where  thought  hath  no  theme,  and  where  sleep  hath  no  dream. 
In  patience  and  peace  thou  art  gone — to  thy  grave ! 

Gone  where  no  warning  can  wake  thee  to  morning, 
Dead  tho'  a  thousand  hands  stretch'd  out  to  save. 

Thou  eam'st  to  us  sighing,  and  singing  and  dying. 
How  could  it  be  otherwise,  fair  as  thou  wertf 

Placidly  fading,  and  sinking  and  shading 

At  last  to  that  shadow,  the  latest  desert ; 

Wasting  and  waning,  but  still,  still  remaining. 

Alas  for  the  hand  that  could  deal  the  death-hurt  I 

The  Summer  that  brightens,  the  Winter  that  whitens. 
The  world  and  its  voices,  the  sea  and  the  sky, 

The  bloom  of  creation,  the  tie  of  relation. 

All — all  is  a  blank  to  thine  ear  and  thine  eye ; 

The  ear  may  not  listen,  the  eye  may  not  glisten. 

Nevermore  waked  by  a  smile  or  a  sigh.  * 

The  tree  that  is  rootless  must  ever  be  fruitless ; 

And  thou  art  alone  in  thy  death  and  thy  birth ; 
No  last  loving  token  of  wedded  love  broken, 

No  sign  of  thy  singleness,  sweetness  and  worth  ; 
Lost  as  the  flower  tliat  is  drowned  in  the  shower, 

Fall'n  like  a  snowflake  to  melt  in  the  earth. 


THE  FLOWER  OF  THE  RUINS* 

Take  thy  lute  and  sing 
By  the  ruined  caatle  walls. 
Where  the  torrent-foam  falls. 
And  long  weeds  wave ; 

Take  thy  lute  and  sing, 
O'er  the  grey  ancestral  grave  I 

Daughter  of  a  King, 
Tune  thy  string. 


dbyGoogle 


RLY  POEMS 

'  happy  hours, 
of  rushing  time ; 
echoes  chime 
s  gone  by ; 
:  passing  hours 
■-present  sky ; — 
-and  let  the  showers 
ake  thy  flowers. 

■  glories  gone : — 

le  blazoned  fold 

anner  b  unrolled ; 

in  is  set. 

is  glory  gone, 

ice  may  charm  him  yet; 

ter  of  the  dawn, 

e  is  gone  I 

[>rth  all  thy  grief  I 
y  sweep  the  chords, 
quivering  to  thy  words; 
I  of  wail  I 

hy  withered  grief — 
at  Autumn  to  thy  bale; 
Idy  of  the  leaf 
!ust  be  brief  I 

p  to  the  night : 

or  streaming  tears 

;  calmness  of  the  spheres ; 

F  shine; 

p  to  their  light ; 

views  thou  may'st  divine- 

irophetic  sight 

xim  their  light ! 

!  windy  hills 
le  harebell  leans 
e-grass  that  it  queens, 
it  blue ; 


dbyGoogle 


THE  FLOWER  OF  THE  RUINS 

Trusting  love  instils 
Love  and  subject  reverence  true ; 
Learn  what  love  instils 
On  the  hills  1 

By  the  bare  wayside 
Placid  snowdrops  hang  their  cheeks, 
Softly  touch'd  with  pale  green  streaksi 
Soon,  soon,  to  die; 

On  the  clothed  hedgeside 
Bands  of  rosy  beauties  vie. 

In  their  prophecied 
Summer  pride. 

From  the  snowdrop  learn ; 
Not  in  her  pale  life  lives  she. 
But  in  her  blushing  prophecy. 
Thus  be  thy  hopes, 

Living  but  to  yearn 
Upwards  to  the  hidden  copes ; — 

Even  within  the  um 
X^t  them  burn  I 

Heroes  of  thy  race — 
Warriors  with  golden  crowns. 
Ghostly  shapes  with  marbled  frowns 
Stare  thee  to  stone ; 

Matrons  of  thy  race 
Pass  before  thee  making  moan; 

Full  of  solemn  grace 
Is  their  pace. 

Piteous  their  despair  I 
Piteous  their  looks  forlorn  1 
Terrible  their  ghostly  scorn  1 
Still  hold  thou  fast  ;— 

Heed  not  their  despair ! — 
Thou  art  thy  future,  not  thy  past ; 

Let  them  glance  and  glare 
Thro'  the  air. 


dbyGoogle 

I 


EARLY  POEMS 

Thou  the  ruin's  bud, 
Be  not  that  moist  rich-smelling  weed 
With  its  arraa-sembied  brede. 
And  ruin-hsunting  stalk ; 

Thou  the  ruin's  bud, 
Be  still  the  rose  that  lights  the  walk. 

Mix  thy  fragrant  blood 
With  the  flood  I 


THE  RAPE  OF  AURORA 

Never,  0  never, 

Since  dewy  sweet  Flora 
Was  ravished  by  Zephyr, 

Was  such  a  thing  heard 

In  the  valleys  so  hollow  I 

Till  rosy  Aurora, 
Uprising  as  ever, 

Bright  Phosphor  to  follow. 
Pale  Phoebe  to  sever. 

Was  caught  like  a  bird 

To  the  breast  of  Apollo  I 

Wildly  she  flutters. 

And  flushes  all  over 
With  passionate  mutters 

(X  shame  to  the  hush 

Of  his  amorous  whispers : 

But  0  such  a  lover 
Must  win  when  he  utters. 

Thro'  rosy  red  lispers. 
The  pains  that  discover 

The  wbhes  that  gush 

From  the  torohes  of  Hesperus, 

One  finger  just  touching 

The  (Went  chamber, 
Unflooded  the  gushing 

Of  light  that  illumed 

All  her  lustrous  unveiling. 

On  clouds  of  glow  amber. 


dbyGoogle 


THE  RAPE  OF  AURORA 

Her  limbs  richly  blushing. 

She  lay  sweetly  wailing, 
la  odours  that  gloomed 

On  the  God  as  he  bloomed 

O'er  her  loveliness  paling. 

Great  Pan  in  his  covert 

Beheld  the  rare  glistening, 
The  cry  of  the  love-hurt. 

The  sigh  and  the  kiss 

Of  the  latest  close  mingling : 

But  love,  thought  he,  listening. 
Will  not  do  a  dove  hurt, 

I  know, — and  a  tingling, 
Latent  with  bliss, 

Prickt  thro'  him,  I  wis. 

For  the  Nymph  he  was  sin^ng. 


SOUTH-WEST  WIND  IN  THE  WOODLAND* 

The  silence  of  preluded  song — 
i^lian  silence  charms  the  woods ; 
Each  tree  a  harp,  whose  foliaged  strings 
Are  waiting  for  the  master's  touch 
To  sweep  them  into  storms  of  joy, 
'     Stands  mute  and  whispers  not ;  the  biTds 
Brood  dumb  in  their  foreboding  nests. 
Save  here  and  there  a  chirp  or  tweet, 
That  utters  fear  or  anxious  love. 
Or  when  the  ouzel  sends  a  swift 
Half  warble,  shrinking  bock  again 
His  golden  bill,  or  when  aloud 
The  storm-cock  warns  the  dusking  hilb 
And  villages  and  valleys  round : 
For  lo,  beneath  those  ragged  clouds 
That  skirt  the  opening  west,  a  stream 
Of  yellow  light  and  windy  Same 
Spreads  lengthening  southward,  and  the  sky 
Begins  to  gloom,  and  o'er  the  ground 
A  moan  of  coming  blasts  creeps  low 


dbyGoogle 


EARLY  POEMS 

And  rustles  in  the  crisping  grass ; 

Till  suddenly  with  mighty  arms 

Outspread,  that  reach  the  horizon  round, 

The  great  South-West  drives  o'er  the  earth, 

And  loosens  all  his  roaring  robes 

Behind  him,  over  heath  and  moor. 

He  comes  upon  the  neck  of  night. 

Like  one  that  leaps  a  fiery  steed 

Whose  keen  black  haunches  quivering  shine 

With  eagerness  and  haste,  that  needs 

No  spur  to  make  the  dark  leagues  fly  1 

Whose  eyes  are  meteors  of  speed ; 

Whose  mane  is  as  a  flashing  foam ; 

Whose  hoofs  are  travelling  thunder-shocks ; — 

He  comes,  and  while  his  growing  gusts, 

Wild  couriers  of  his  reckless  course. 

Are  whistling  from  the  daggered  gorse. 

And  hurrying  over  fern  and  broom, 

Midway,  far  off,  he  feigns  to  halt 

And  gather  m  Us  streaming  train. 

'  Now,  whirring  like  an  eagle's  wing 
Preparing  for  a  wide  blue  flight ; 
Now,  flapping  like  a  sail  that  tacks 
And  chides  the  wet  bewildered  mast; 
'  Now,  screaming  like  an  anguish'd  thing 
Chased  close  by  some  down-breathing  beak; 
Now,  wailing  like  a  breaking  heart, 
""    ■     ■"      ■     •    "    ■     ^jj_  ijyj  hopes 

self  in  vam ; 

itorm-charged  cloud ; 

[land  dove ; 

id  wrath 

veeping ;  now, 

g  down 

g  woods. 

spens  frail 

bell, 
heir  love, 

and  wake 


dbyGoogle 


SOUTH-WEST  WIND  DJ  THE  WOODLAND     25 

The  aeighbouriog  boughs,  auirendering  all 

Their  prophet  harmony  of  leaves. 

Had  caught  his  earliest  windward  thought, 

And  told  it  trembling ;  naked  birk 

Down  showering  her  dishevelled  hair. 

And  like  a  beauty  yielding  up 

Her  fate  to  all  the  elements. 

Had  swayed  in  answer ;  hazels  close. 

Thick  brambles  and  dark  brushwood  tufts. 

And  briared  brakes  that  line  the  dells 

With  shaggy  beetling  brows,  bad  sung 

'    Shrill  music,  while  the  tattered  flaws 
Tore  over  them,  and  now  the  whole 
Tumultuous  concords,  seized  at  once 
With  savage  inspiration, — pine. 
And  larch,  and  beech,  and  fir,  and  thorn. 
And  ash,  and  oak,  and  oakling,  rave 
And  shriek,  and  shout,  and  whirl,  and  toss. 
And  stretch  their  arms,  and  split,  and  crack, 
And  bend  their  steins,  and  bow  tiieir  heads. 
And  grind,  and  groan,  and  lion-like 
Roar  to  the  echo-[>eopled  hills 
And  ravenous  wilds,  and  crake-like  cry 
With  harsh  delight,  and  cave-like  call 
With  hollow  mouth,  and  harp-like  thrill 
With  mighty  melodies,  sublime, 
From  clumps  of  column 'd  pines  that  wave 
A  lofty  anthem  to  the  sky, 

(     Fit  music  for  a  prophet's  soul — 
And  like  an  ocean  gathering  power, 
And  murmuring  deep,  while  down  below 
Reigns  calm  profound ; — not  trembling  now 
The  aspens,  but  like  freshening  waves 
That  fall  upon  a  shingly  beach ; — 
And  round  the  oak  a  solemn  roll 
Of  organ  harmony  ascends. 
And  in  the  upper  foliage  sounds 
A  symphony  of  distant  seas. 

The  voice  of  nature  is  abroad 

This  night ;  she  fills  the  air  with  balm ; 


dbyGoogle 


EARLY  POEMS 

Her  mystery  b  o'er  the  land ; 
And  wbo  tbat  hears  her  now  uid  yields 
His  being  to  her  yearning  tones, 
And  seats  his  soul  upon  her  wings. 
And  broadens  o'er  the  wind-swept  world 
With  her,  will  gather  in  the  flight 
More  knowledge  of  her  secret,  more 

■  Delight  in  her  beneficence, 
Than  hours  of  musing,  or  the  lore 
That  lives  with  men  could  ever  give  I 
Nor  will  it  pass  away  when  mom 
Shall  look  upon  the  lulling  leaves, 
And  woodland  sunshine,  Eden-sweet, 
Dreams  o'er  the  paths  of  peaceful  shade  r* 

■■  For  every  elemental  power 
Is  kindred  to  our  hearts,  and  once 
Acknowledged,  wedded,  once  embraced. 
Once  taken  to  the  unfettered  sense, 
Once  daspt  into  the  naked  life. 
The  union  is  eternal. 


WILL  0'  THE  WISP 

Follow  me,  follow  me. 
Over  brake  and  under  tree, 
Thro'  the  bosky  tannery. 

Brushwood  and  bramble  I 
Follow  me,  follow  me. 

Laugh  and  leap  and  scramble  I 
FcJIow,  follow. 
Hill  and  hollow. 


■eds, 
KT  heads. 


I  their  camps, 
ramble! 


dbyGoogle 


WILL  0'  THE  WISP  S 

0 1  what  a  mighty  fog. 
What  a  merry  night  O  ho  I 
Follow,  follow,  nigher,  nigher — 
Over  bank,  and  pond,  and  briar, 
Down  into  the  croaking  ditches. 

Rotten  log. 

Spotted  frog. 

Beetle  bright 

With  crawling  light, 
What  a  joy  O  ho  1 
Deep  into  the  purple  bog — 
What  a  joy  O  ho  1 
Where  like  hosts  of  puckered  witches 
All  the  shivering  agues  sit 
Warming  hands  and  chafing  feet. 
By  the  blue  marsh-hovering  oils : 
0  the  fools  for  all  their  moans  I 
Not  a  forest  mad  with  fire 
Could  still  their  teeth,  or  warm  their  bones. 
Or  loose  them  from  their  chilly  coib. 

What  a  clatter. 

How  they  chatter ! 

Shrink  and  huddle. 

All  a  muddle  I 

What  a  joy  O  ho  I 
Down  we  go,  down  we  go. 
What  a  joy  O  ho ! 
Soon  shall  I  be  down  below. 
Plunging  with  a  grey  fat  friar, 
Hither,  thither,  to  and  fro. 
Breathing  mists  and  whisking  lamps. 
Plashing  in  the  slimy  swamps ; 
While  my  cousin  Lantern  Jack, 
With  cock  ears  and  cunning  eyes, 
Turns  him  round  upon  his  hack. 
Daubs  him  oozy  green  and  black, 
Sits  upon  his  rolling  size. 
Where  he  lies,  where  he  lies. 
Groaning  full  of  sack — 
Staring  with  his  great  round  eyes  I 
What  a  joy  Oho! 


dbyGoogle 


EARLY  POEMS 

Sits  upon  him  is  the  swamps 
Breathiag  mists  and  whisking  lamps  I 

What  joy  O  ho ! 
Such  a  lad  b  Lantern  Jack, 
When  he  rides  the  black  nightmare 
Through  the  fens,  and  puts  a  glare 
In  the  friar's  track. 
Such  a  frolic  lad,  good  lack  I 
To  turn  a  friar  on  his  back. 
Trip  him,  clip  him,  whip  him,  nip  him. 
Lay  him  sprawling,  smack  I 
Such  a  lad  b  Lantern  Jack  I 
Such  a  tricksy  lad,  good  lock  I 
What  a  joy  O  ho  I 
Follow  me,  follow  me, 
Where  he  sits,  and  you  shall  see  I 


~  Etwn  will  greet 
y  as  of  old ; 
:h  thy  feet 
le  so  cold ; 
ip  to  meet 
is  nest  i'  the  wheat 
wood  and  wold, 
3gance  of  gold. 

X  know  why, 

e  lonely  air, 

sssed  sky, 

my  despair; — 

leart  and  eye 

■  spring  quite  dry ; 

vea  my  thought  may  share, 

1  and  think — how  fair  I 


dbyGoogle 


SONG 

Two  wedded  lovers  watched  the  rising  moon, 

That  with  her  strange  mysterious  beauty  glowing. 
Over  misty  bills  and  waters  flowing,    . 

Crowned  the  long  twilight  loveliness  of  June : 
And  thus  in  me,  and  thus  in  me,  they  spake, 
The  solemn  secret  of  first  love  did  wake. 

Above  the  biHa  the  blushing  orb  arose ; 

Her  shape  encircled  by  a  radiant  bower. 

In  which  the  nightingale  with  charm&l  power 

Poured  forth  enchantment  o'er  the  dark  repose: 
And  thus  in  me,  and  thus  in  me,  they  said, 
Earth's  mists  did  with  the  sweet  new  spirit  wed. 

Far  up  the  sky  with  ever  purer  beam. 

Upon  the  throne  of  night  the  moon  was  seated. 
And  down  the  valley  glens  the  shades  retreated. 

And  silver  light  was  on  the  open  stream. 

And  thus  in  me,  and  thus  in  me,  they  sighed. 
Aspiring  Love  has  hallowed  Fas^n's  tide. 

SONG 

I  CANNOT  lose  thee  for  a  day. 

But  like  a  bird  with  restless  wing 
My  heart  will  find  thee  far  away. 
And  on  thy  bosom  fall  and  sing. 

My  nest  is  here,  my  rest  in  here ; — 
And  in  the  lull  of  wind  and  rain. 
Fresh  voices  make  a  sweet  refrain, 

'  His  rest  is  there,  his  nest  is  there.' 

With  thee  the  wind  and  sky  are  fair. 

But  parted,  both  are  strange  and  dark ; 
And  treacherous  the  quiet  air 

That  holds  me  singing  like  a  lark, 

O  shield  my  love,  strong  arm  above  1 
Till  in  the  hush  of  wind  and  r^n. 
Fresh  voices  make  a  rich  refrain, 

'The  arm  above  will  shield  thy  love.' 


dbyGoogle 


EARLY  POEMS 


DAPHNE  * 

Musing  on  the  fate  of  Daphne, 
Many  feelings  urged  my  breast, 
Vot  the  God  so  keeo  desiring, 
And  the  Nymph  so  deep  distrest. 

Never  flashed  thro'  sylvan  valley 
Visions  so  divinely  fair  1 
He  with  early  ardour  glowing, 
She  with  rosy  anguish  rare. 

Only  still  more  sweet  and  lovely 
For  those  terrors  on  her  hrowa. 
Those  swift  glances  wild  and  brilliant. 
Those  delicious  panting  vows. 

Timidly  the  timid  shoulders 
Shrinking  from  the  fervid  hand  I 
Dark  the  tide  of  hair  back-flowing 
From  the  blue-veined  temples  bland  I 

Lovely,  too,  divine  Apollo 
In  the  speed  of  his  pursuit ; 
With  his  eye  an  azure  lustre. 
And  his  voice  a  summer  lute! 


Looking  like  some  burnished  eagle 
Hovering  o'er  a  fluttered  bird ; 
Not  unseen  of  silver  Naiad, 
And  of  wistful  Dryad  heard  I 

Many  a  mom  the  naked  beauty 
Saw  her  bright  reflection  drown 
In  the  flowing  smooth-faced  river. 
While  the  god  came  sheening  down. 

Down  from  Pindus  bright  Peneus 
Tells  its  muse-melodious  source ; 
Sacred  is  its  fountained  birthplace, 
And  the  Orient  floods  its  course. 


dbyGoogle 


DAPHNE 

Many  a  mom  the  sunny  darling 
Saw  the  risiag  chariot-rays. 
From  the  winding  river-reaches, 
Mellowing  in  amber  haze. 

Thro'  the  6aming  mountain  gorges 
Lo,  the  River  leaps  the  plain  ; 
Like  a  wild  god>stridden  courser. 
Tossing  high  its  foamy  mane. 

Then  he  swims  thro'  lam'clled  sunlight, 
Full  of  all  sensations  sweet. 
Misty  with  his  morning  incense. 
To  the  mirrored  maiden's  feet ! 

Wet  and  bright  the  dinting  pebbles 
Shine  where  oft  she  paused  and  stood ; 
All  her  dreamy  warmth  revolving. 
While  the  chilly  waters  wooed. 

Ljke  to  rosy-bom  Aurora, 
Glowing  freshly  into  view, 
When  her  doubtful  foot  she  ventures 
On  the  first  cold  morning  blue. 

White  as  that  Thessalian  lily. 
Fairest  Tempe's  fairest  flower, 
Ixt,  the  tall  Penelan  virgin 
Stands  beneath  her  bathing  bower. 

There  the  laurell'd  wreaths  o'erarching 
Crown'd  the  dainty  shuddering  maid ; 
There  the  dark  prophetic  laurel 
Kiss'd  her  with  its  sister  shade. 

There  the  young  green  glistening  leaflets 
Hush'd  with  love  their  breezy  peal ; 
There  the  little  opening  flowerets 
Blush'd  beneath  her  vermeil  heel ! 

There  among  the  conscious  arbours 
Sounds  of  soft  tumultuous  wail, 
Mysteries  of  love,  melodious. 
Came  upon  the  lyric  gale  1 


dbyGoogle 


dbjGoogle 


DAPHNE 

Flowing  in  like  tides  attracted 
To  the  glowing  crescent  shine  I 
Clasping  her  ambrosial  whiteness 
like  an  Autumn-tinted  vine  I 

Sinking  low  with  love's  emotion  I 
levying  with  look  and  tone 
All  love's  rosy  arts  to  mimic 
Cytherea's  magic  zone ! ' 

Trembling  up  with  adoration 
To  the  crimson  daisy  tip 
Budding  from  the  snowy  bosom — 
Fainter  than  the  rose-red  lip  I 

Rising  in  a  storm  of  wavelets. 
That  for  shelter,  feigning  fright, 
Prest  to  those  twin-heaving  havens, 
Harbour'd  there  beneath  her  light; 

Gleaming  in  a  whiri  of  eddies 
Round  her  lucid  throat  and  neck ; 
Eddying  in  a  gleam  of  dimples 
Up  against  her  bloomy  cheek ; 

Bribing  all  the  breezy  water 
With  rich  warmth,  the  nymph  to  keep 
In  a  self-imprison 'd  plaisance. 
Tempting  her  from  deep  to  deep. 

TUl  at  last  delirious  passion 
Thrill'd  the  god  to  wild  excess. 
And  the  fervour  of  a  moment 
Made  divinity  confess ; 

And  he  stood  in  all  his  glory  I 
But  so  radiant,  being  near, 
■Riat  her  eyes  were  frozen  on  him 
In  a  fascinated  fear  I 

All  with  orient  splendour  shining, 
All  with  roseate  birth  aglow. 
Gleam 'd  the  golden  god  before  her. 
With  his  golden  crescent  bow. 


dbyGoogle 


RLY  POEMS 

Lzzled  light  suttNdedt 
n'd  a  beauteous  youth, 
;&in  the  maiden's  murmurs, 
Ige  the  vows  of  truth. 

IU3  he  had  continued  I 
h  for  her  had  been  I 
th  all  godlike  beauty, 
lanly  sereoe  I 

1  mouth,  and  mellow  ringleta, 
as  the  mid-day  beam ; 
oks  and  wistful  tremour, 
1  maiden's  dream ! 

like  a  bird's  throbb'd  bosom 
ith  eagerness, 
ndals  of  the  roaes, 
t  from  the  caress  1 

nbs,  and  eyes  and  ringlets, 
raying  to  one  prayer, 
,  swept  by  a  spirit, 
eniaptur'd  air. 

in  some  far  valley, 
vishments  divine  I 
gs  to  viewless  fingers 
nodulations  fine  I 

ith  melodious  fervour! 
iteous  maiden  flower, 
'oung  beloved  three  paces 
n  the  bridal  bower. 

thro'  the  dawning  stillness  1 
within  a  breast, 
'oung  beloved  is  stepping 
the  nuptial  nesL 

ine  I  gentle  Daphne ! 
er  by  degrees 
ill  of  hopes  and  visions 
ears  like  honey  bees ! 


dbyGoogle 


DAPHNE 

Never  yet  was  lonely  blossom 
Woo'd  with  such  deliciDiis  voice  I 
Never  since  hath  mortal  maiden 
Dwelt  on  such  celestial  choice ! 

Love-suffused  she  quivers,  falters— 
Falters,  sighs,  but  never  speaks. 
All  her  rosy  blood  up-gushing 
Over6ow3  her  ripe  young  cheeks. 

Blushing,  sweet  with  virgin  blushes, 
All  her  loveliness  a-flame. 
Stands  she  in  the  orient  waters, 
Stricken  o'er  with  speechless  shame  1 

Ah !  but  lovelier,  ever  lovelier. 
As  more  deep  the  colour  glows. 
And  the  honey-laden  lily 
Changes  to  the  fragrant  rose. 

While  the  god  with  meek  embraces. 
Whispering  all  his  sacred  charms. 
Softly  fol(k  her,  gently  holds  her. 
In  his  white  encircling  arms  I 

But,  0  Dian  1  veil  not  wholly 
Thy  pale  crescent  from  the  mom  I 
Vanish  not,  O  virgin  goddess, 
With  that  look  of  pallid  scorn  I 

Stil!  thy  pure  protecting  influence 
Shed  from  those  fair  watchful  eyes  I — 
Lo  I  her  angry  orb  has  vanished. 
And  the  bright  sun  thrones  the  skies  1 

Voicelessly  the  forest  Virgin 
Vanished !  but  one  look  she  gave — 
Keen  as  Niobean  arrow 
Thro'  the  maiden's  heart  it  drove. 

Thus  toward  that  throning  bosom 
Where  all  earth  ia  warmed, — each  spot 
Nourished  with  autumnal  blessings — 
Icy  chill  was  Daphne  caught. 


dbyGoogle 


EARLY  POEMS 

,-  chni !  but  swift  reMil^on 
I  her  gentler  s^  renewed, 
en  as  icy  Winter  quickens 
ith  bud-opeoing  warmth  imbued. 

en  as  a  torpid  brooklet, 
lat  to  the  night-gleaming  moon 
isbed  in  turn  the  frozen  glances, 
;lts  upon  the  breast  of  noon. 

t  no  more — O  never,  never, 
ms  she  to  that  bosom  bright, 
iftly  ail  her  senses  counsel, 
her  nerves  are  strung  to  flight. 

;r  the  brows  of  radiant  Pindus 
lis  a  shadow  dark  and  cold, 
d  a  sound  of  lamentation 
ues  from  its  mournful  fold. 

ice  of  the  far-sighted  Muses ! 
y  of  keen  foreboding  song  I 
ery  cieft  of  startled  Tempe 
igles  with  it  sharp  and  long. 

er  bourn  and  bosk  and  dingle, 
er  rivers,  over  rills, 
ins  the  sad  subservient  Echo 
ward  the  dim  blue  distant  hills ! 

d  another  and  another ! 
s  a  cry  more  wild  than  all ; 
d  the  hills  with  muffled  voices 
swer '  Daphne  1 '  to  the  call. 

d  another  and  another ! 
s  a  cry  so  wildly  sweet, 
at  her  charmed  heart  turns  rebel 
the  instinct  of  her  feet; 

d  she  pauses  for  an  instant ; 
t  his  arms  have  scarcely  slid 
und  her  waist  in  cestian  ^rdles, 
d  his  low  voluptuous  lid 


dbyGoogle 


DAPHNE 

Lifted  pleBding,  and  the  honey 
Of  his  mouth  for  hers  athu-st. 
Ruby  glistening,  raised  for  moisture — 
Like  a  bud  that  waits  to  burst 

In  the  sweet  espousing  showers — 
And  his  tongue  has  scarce  begun 
With  its  inarticulate  burthen. 
And  the  clouds  scarce  show  the  sun 

Aa  it  pierces  thro'  a  crevice 
Of  the  mass  that  closed  it  o'er, 
When  again  the  horror  flashes — 
And  she  turns  to  flight  once  more  1 

And  again  o'er  radiant  l^ndus 
Rolls  rtie  shadow  dark  and  cold, 
And  the  sound  of  lamentation 
Issues  from  its  sable  fold  I 

And  again  the  light  winds  chide  her 
As  she  darts  from  his  embrace — 
And  again  the  far-voiced  echoes 
Speak  their  tidings  of  the  chase. 

Loudly  now  as  swiftly,  swiftly, 

O'er  the  glimmering  sands  she  speeds ; 

Wildly  now  as  in  the  furzes 

From  the  piercing  spikes  she  bleeds. 

Deeply  and  with  direful  anguish. 
As  above  each  crimson  drop 
Passion  checks  the  god  Apollo, 
And  love  bids  him  weep  and  stop. — 

He  above  each  drop  of  crimson 
Shadowing— like  the  laurel  leaf 
That  above  himself  will  shadow — 
Sheds  a  fadeless  look  of  grief. 

Then  with  love's  remorseful  discord. 
With  its  own  desire  at  war. 
Sighing  turns,  while  dimly  fleeting 
Daphne  flies  the  chase  afar. 


dbyGoogle 


)EMS 

Binst  her  I 
Ivan  troop, 
sodload  valleys 
ith  cry  and  whoop  I 

lie  thickets 
leir  gDaried  bougha, 
nd  low  curved  braaches 
•eat  her  brows. 

ushwood  covert, 
3  slumbers  route, 
'art  her  passage, 
tch  her  foot 

lushest  verdure 
ray  roesh, 
I  and  alleys 
limbs  in  le^. 

)wery  mosses, 
make  her  trip ; 
n  sprigs  outstretching 
lip; 

le  betrays  her, 
ky  shoot, 
1  many  a  stumble 
imp  old  root, 

>eers  green  and  dusky 
growth  of  plants, 
and  weltering, 

any  pants. 

red  strawberry 
i  trammels  frail ; 
^ping  brambles 
bomy  trail, 

>ing  greensward 
>m  knoll  to  knoll ; 
oak  and  elm  wood 
3le  to  bole. 


dbyGoogle 


DAPHNE 

Groves  of  lemon,  groves  of  citron. 
Toll  high-foliaged  plane  and  palm. 
Bloomy  myrtle,  light-blue  olive, 
Wave  her  back  with  gusts  of  balm. 

Languid  jasmine,  scrambling  briony, 
Walb  of  close-festooning  braid. 
Fling  themselves  about  her,  mingling 
With  her  wafted  locks,  waylaid. 

Twisting  bindweed,  honey'd  woodbine. 
Cling  to  her,  while,  red  and  blue. 
On  her  rounded  form  ripe  berries 
Dash  and  die  in  gory  dew. 

Running  ivies  dark  and  lingering 
Round  her  light  limbs  drag  and  twine ; 
Round  her  waist  with  languorous  tendrils 
Reela  and  wreathes  the  juicy  vine ; 

R«ining  in  the  flying  creature 
With  its  arms  about  her  mouth ; 
Bursting  all  its  mellowing  bunches 
To  seduce  her  husky  drouth ; 

Crowning  her  with  amorous  clusters ; 
Pouring  down  her  sloping  back 
Fresh-bom  wines  in  glittering  rillets, 
:.  Following  her  in  crimson  track. 

Buried,  drenched  in  dewy  foliage. 
Thus  she  glimmers  from  the  dawn. 
Watched  by  every  forest  creature. 
Fleet-foot  Oread,  frolic  Faun. 

Silver-sandalled  Arethusa 
Not  more  swiftly  fled  the  sands, 
Fled  the  plains  and  fled  the  sunlights. 
Fled  the  murmuring  ocean  strands. 

O,  that  now  the  earth  would  op>en ! 
O,  that  now  the  shades  would  hide ! 
0,  that  now  the  gods  would  shelter ! 
Caverns  lead  and  seas  divide ! 


dbyGoogle 


EARLY  POEMS 

Not  more  faint  soft^lowing  lo 
Panted  in  those  starry  eyes. 
When  the  sleepless  midnight  meadows 
Piteously  implored  the  skies  1 

Still  her  hreathless  flight  she  urges 
By  the  sanctuary  stream. 
And  the  god  with  golden  swiftness 
Follows  like  an  eastern  beam. 

Her  the  close  bewildering  greenery 
Darkens  with  its  duskiest  green, — 
Him  each  little  leaflet  welcomes. 
Flushing  with  an  orient  sheen. 

Thus  he  nears,  and  now  all  Tempe 
Rings  with  his  melodious  cry, 
Avenues  and  blue  expanses 
Beam  in  his  Urge  lustrous  eye  1 

All  the  branches  start  to  mu^c  I 
As  if  from  a  secret  spring 
Thousands  of  sweet  bills  are  bubbling 
Iq  the  nest  and  on  the  wing. 

Gleams  and  shines  the  glassy  river 
And  rich  valleys  every  one ; 
But  of  all  the  throbbing  beauty 
Brightest  I  singled  by  the  sun  I 

Ivy  round  her  glimmering  ancle. 
Vine  about  her  glowing  brow. 
Never  sure  was  bride  so  beauteous, 
Daphne,  chosen  nymph,  as  thou ! 

Thus  he  nears  1  and  now  she  feels  him 
Breathing  hot  on  every  limb ; 
And  he  hears  her  own  quick  pantings — 
Ah  1  that  they  might  he  for  him. 

O,  that  like  the  flower  he  tramples. 
Bending  from  his  golden  tread. 
Full  of  fair  celesrial  ardours, 
She  would  bow  her  bridal  head. 


dbyGoogle 


DAPHNE 

0,  that  like  the  flower  she  presses, 
Nodding  from  her  Uly  touch. 
Light  as  in  the  harmless  breezes. 
She  would  know  the  god  for  such  I 

See !  the  golden  arms  are  round  her — 
To  the  air  she  grasps  and  clings  1 
See  I  hia  glowing  arms  have  wound  her — 
To  the  sky  she  shrieks  and  springs ! 

See  I  the  flushing  chace  of  Tempe 
Trembles  with  Olympian  air — 
Seel  green  sprigs  and  buds  are  shooting 
From  those  white  raised  arms  of  prayer  I 

In  the  earth  her  feet  are  rooting  I — 
Breasts  and  limbs  and  lifted  eyes, 
Hair  and  lips  and  stretching  fingers. 
Fade  away — and  fadeless  rise. 

And  the  god  whose  fervent  rapture 
Clasps  her  finds  his  close  embrace 
Full  of  palpitating  branches. 
And  new  leaves  t£at  bud  apace. 

Round  his  wonder-stricken  forehead ; — 
While  in  ebbing  measures  slow 
Sounda  of  softly  dying  pulses 
Pause  and  quiver,  pause  and  go ; 

Go,  and  come  again,  and  flutter 
On  the  verge  of  life, — then  flee ! 
All  the  white  ambrosial  beauty 
Is  a  lustrous  Laurel  Tree  I 

Still  with  the  great  panting  love-chase 
All  its  running  sap  is  warmed ; — 
But  from  head  to  foot  the  virgin 
Is  transfigured  and  transformed. 

Changed  ! — yet  the  green  Dryad  nature 
Is  instinct  with  human  ties, 
And  above  its  anguish'd  lover 
^  Breathes  pathetic  sympathies; 


dbyGoogle 


EARLY  POEMS 

Sympathies  of  love  and  sorrow ; 
Joy  in  her  divine  escape ; 
Breathing  throu^^  her  bursting  foliage 
Comfort  to  his  bending  abape. 

Vfiinly  now  the  floating  Naiads 
Seek  to  pierce  the  laurel  maze. 
Nought  but  laurel  meets  their  glances, 
Laurel  glistens  as  they  gaze. 

Nought  but  bright  prophetic  laurel ! 
Laurel  over  eyes  and  brows, 
Over  limbs  and  over  bosom. 
Laurel  leaves  and  laurel  boughs  I 

And  in  vain  the  listening  Dryad 
Shells  her  hand  against  her  ear  I — 
All  b  silence — save  the  echo 
Travelling  in  the  distance  drear. 


SONG 

Shocu)  thy  love  die ; 
0  bury  it  not  under  ice-blue  eyes ! 

Ajid  lips  that  deny, 
With  a  scornful  surprise. 
The  life  it  once  lived  in  thy  breast  when  it  wore  no  disguise. 

Should  thy  love  die ; 
O  bury  it  where  the  sweet  wild-flowers  blow ! 

And  breezes  go  by. 
With  no  whisper  of  woe ; 
And  strange  feet  cannot  guess  of  the  anguish  that  slumbers 
below. 

Should  thy  love  die; 
O  wander  once  more  to  the  haunt  of  the  bee ! 

Where  the  foiiaged  sky 
Is  most  sacred  to  see. 
And  thy  being  first  felt  its  wild  birth  like  a  wind-wakened  tree. 


dbyGoogle 


LONDON  BY  LAMPLIGHT 

Should  thy  love  die ; 
O  dissemble  it !  smile !  let  the  rose  hide  the  thorn  1 

While  the  lark  sings  on  high. 
And  DO  thing  looks  forlorn, 
Bury  it,  bury  it,  bury  it  where  it  was  born. 


LONDON  BY  LAMPUGHT 

There  stands  a  dnger  in  the  street, 
He  bos  on  audience  motley  and  meet ; 
Above  him  towers  the  London  night. 
And  around  the  lamps  are  flaring  bright. 

His  minstrelsy  may  be  unchaste — 
'Tis  much  unto  that  motley  taste. 
And  loud  the  laughter  he  provokes 
From  those  sad  slaves  of  obscene  jokes. 

But  woe  is  many  a  passer  by 
Who  as  he  goes  turns  half  an  eye, 
To  see  the  human  form  divine 
Thus  Circe-wise  changed  into  swine  I 

Make  up  the  sum  of  either  sex 
That  all  our  human  hopes  perplex. 
With  those  unhappy  shapes  that  know 
The  silent  streets  and  pale  cock-crow. 

And  can  I  trace  in  such  dull  eyes 
Of  fireside  peace  or  country  skies? 
And  could  those  haggard  cheeks  presume 
To  memories  of  a  May-tide  bloom  ? 

Those  violated  forms  have  been 
The  pride  of  many  a  flowering  green ; 
And  still  the  virgin  bosom  heaves 
With  daisy  meads  and  dewy  leaves. 

But  Stygian  darkness  reigns  within 
The  river  of  death  from  the  founts  of  sin ; 
And  one  prophetic  water  rolls 
Its  gas-lit  surface  for  their  souls. 


dbjGoogle 


EARLY  POEMS 

I  will  not  hide  the  tragic  sight — 

Those  drowo'd  black  locks,  those  dead  lips  white. 

Will  rise  from  out  the  slimy  flood. 

And  cry  before  God's  throne  for  hlood  I 

Those  stiffened  limbs,  that  swollen  face, — 
Pollution's  last  and  best  embrace, 
Will  call,  as  such  a  picture  can. 
For  retribution  upon  man. 

Hark !  how  their  feeble  laughter  rings. 
While  still  the  ballad-monger  sings. 
And  fiatters  their  unhappy  breasts 
With  poisonous  words  and  pungent  jests. 

O  how  would  every  daisy  blush 
To  see  them  'mid  that  earthly  crush  ! 
O  dumb  would  be  the  evening  thrush. 
And  hoary  look  the  hawthorn  bush  I 

The  meadows  of  their  infancy 
Would  shrink  from  them,  and  every  tree. 
And  every  little  laughing  spot. 
Would  hush  itself  and  know  them  not. 

Precursor  to  what  black  despairs 

Was  that  child's  face  which  once  was  theirs  I 

And  O  to  what  a  world  of  guile 

Was  herald  that  young  angel  smile  I 

That  face  which  to  a  father's  eye 
Was  balm  for  all  anxiety ; 
That  smile  which  to  a  mother's  heart 
Went  swifter  than  the  swallow's  dart  I 

O  happy  homes  I  that  still  they  know 
At  intervals,  with  what  a  woe 
Would  ye  look  on  them,  dim  and  strange. 
Suffering  worse  than  winter  change ! 

And  yet  could  I  transplant  them  there. 
To  breathe  again  the  innocent  air  * 

Of  youth,  and  once  more  reconcile 
Thdr  outcast  looks  with  nature's  smile; 


dbyGoogle 


LONDON  BY  LAMPLIGHT 

Could  I  but  give  them  one  clear  day 
Of  this  delicious  loving  May, 
Release  their  souls  from  anguish  dark, 
And  stand  them  underneath  the  lark ; — 

I  think  that  Nature  would  have  power 
To  graft  again  her  blighted  flower 
Upon  the  broken  stem,  renew 
Some  portion  of  its  early  hue, — 

The  heavy  flood  of  tears  unlock. 

More  precious  than  the  Scriptiued  rock ; 

At  least  instil  a  happier  mood, 

And  bring  them  back  to  womanhood. 

Alas !  how  many  lost  ones  claim 
This  refuge  from  despair  and  shame  I 
How  many,  longing  for  the  light, 
Sink  deeper  in  the  abyss  this  ni^tl 

O,  crying  sin  !     O,  blushing  thought  1 
Not  only  unto  those  that  wrought 
The  misery  and  deadly  blight; 
But  those  that  outcast  them  this  night  I 

O,  agony  of  grief  I  for  who 
Less  dainty  than  his  race,  will  do 
Such  battle  for  their  human  right. 
As  shall  awake  this  startled  night? 

Proclaim  this  evil  human  page 
Will  ever  blot  the  Golden  Age 
That  poets  dream  and  saints  invite, 
If  it  be  unredeemed  this  night  7 

This  night  of  deep  solemnity, 
And  verdurous  serenity. 
While  over  every  fleecy  field 
The  dews  descend  and  odoiu^  yield. 

This  night  of  gleaming  floods  and  falls. 
Of  forest  glooms  and  sylvan  calls. 
Of  starlight  on  the  pebbly  rills, 
And  twilight  on  the  circling  hills. 


dbyGoogle 


dbjGoogle 


PASTORALS 

e  with  tender  coo, 
voice  to  woo, 
msel  by; 

le  deep  woodland  crooned  its  ditty ,- 
irst  and  try.' 

d  lark,  thy  wing, 

9t  heaven  can  bnng 

fate  befall ; 

le  sky^jinst  trilled  this  ditty, — 

give  thee  all.' 

bile  June  was  young, 

tb  fervent  song, 

msel  coy; 

le  sweet  birds  that  sang  for  pity, 

r  joy. 


>et  on  sunny  afternoons, 

e  who  journey  light  and  well, 

up  a  billy  rise 

ides  the  prospect  far  beyond, 
:y  all  the  landscape  lying 

Beautiful  and  still ; 

a  sky  of  summer  blue, 
junded  cloudlets,  folded  soft, 
the  scene  which  we  await 
ure  from  their  peacefulness ; 
y  to  the  earth  inclining 
Float  those  loving  shapes  I 

'  brides,  each  singling  out 
}  love  and  bless  with  love, 
»my  bosoms  glowing  warm, 
ince  weds  them  to  the  bills, 
1  its  latest  gleam  the  river 
Sinks  in  their  embrace. 


dbyGoogle 


EARLY  POEMS 

And  silverly  the  river  runs, 
And  many  a  graceful  wind  he  makes, 
Dy  fields  where  feed  the  happy  flocks. 
And  hedge-rows  hushing  pleasant  lanes. 
The  charms  of  English  home  reflected 
In  his  shining  eye ; 

Ancestral  oak,  broad-foliaged  elm. 
Rich  meadows  sunned  and  starred  with  flowers. 
The  cottage  breathing  tender  smoke 
Against  the  brooding  golden  air. 
With  glimpses  of  a  stately  mansion 
On  a  woodland  sward ; 

And  circling  rounds  as  with  a  ring, 
The  distance  spreading  amber  haze. 
Enclosing  hills  and  pastures  sweet; 
A  depth  of  soft  and  mellow  light 
Which  filb  the  heart  with  sudden  yearning 
Aimless  and  serene  I 

No  disenchantment  follows  here. 
For  nature's  inspiration  moves 
The  dream  which  she  herself  fulfils ; 
And  he  whose  heart,  like  valley  warmth, 
Steams  up  with  joy  at  scenes  like  this 
Shall  never  be  forlorn. 

And  O  for  any  human  soul 
The  rapture  of  a  wide  survey — 
A  valley  sweeping  to  the  West, 
With  all  its  wealth  of  loveliness, 
Is  more  than  recompense  for  days 
That  taught  us  to  endure. 


Yon  upland  slope  which  hides  the  sui 
Ascending  from  his  eastern  deeps, 
And  now  against  the  hues  of  dawn 
One  level  line  of  tillage  rears ; 
The  furrowed  brow  of  toil  and  time; 
To  many  it  is  but  a  sweep  of  land  I 


dbyGoogle 


PASTORALS  49 

To  others  'tis  an  Autumn  trust. 
But  unto  me  a  mystery ; — 
An  infiuence  strange  and  swift  aa  dreams ; 
A  whispering  of  old  romance ; 
A  temple  naked  to  the  clouds ; 
Or  one  of  nature's  bosoms  freah  revealed, 

Heaving  with  adoration !  there 
The  work  of  husbandry  is  done, 
And  daily  bread  is  daily  earned ; 
Nor  seems  there  ought  to  indicate 
The  springs  which  move  in  me  such  thoughts. 
But  from  my  soul  a  spirit  calls  them  up. 

All  day  into  the  open  sky. 
All  night  to  the  eternal  stars. 
For  ever  both  at  mom  and  eve 
When  mellow  distances  draw  near, 
And  shadows  lengthen  in  the  dusk. 
Athwart  the  heavens  it  rolls  its  glimmering  line  I 

When  twilight  from  the  dream-hued  West 
Sighs  bush  I  and  all  the  land  is  still ; 
When,  from  the  lush  empurpling  East, 
The  twilight  of  the  crowing  cock 
Peers  on  the  drowsy  village  roofs, 
Athwart  the  heavens  that  glimmering  line  is  seen. 

And  now  beneath  the  rising  sun. 
Whose  shining  chariot  overpeers 
The  irradiate  ridge,  while  fetlock  deep 
In  the  rich  soil  his  coursers  plunge — 
How  grand  in  robes  of  light  it  looks  1 
How  glorious  with  rare  suggestive  grace ! 

The  ploughman  mounting  up  the  height 
Becomes  a  glowing  shape,  as  though 
'Twere  young  Triptolemus,'  plough  in  hand. 
While  Ceres  in  her  amber  scarf 
With  gentle  love  directs  him  how 
To  wed  the  wilHng  earth  and  hope  for  fruits  I 


dbyGoogle 


dbjGoogle 


PASTORALS 

Content  with  all  her  truths  and  fates ; 
Ev'n  as  yon  strip  of  grass  that  bows 
Above  the  new-born  violet  bloom. 

And  sings  with  wood  and  field. 


Lo,  as  a  tree,  whose  wintry  twigs 
Drink  in  the  sun  with  fibrous  joy, 
And  down  into  its  dampest  roots 
Thrills  quickened  with  the  drau^t  of  life, 
I  wake  unto  the  dawn,  and  leave  my  griefs  to  drowse. 

I  rise  and  dnnk  the  fresh  sweet  ur : 
Each  draught  a  future  bud  of  Spring; 
Each  glance  of  blue  a  birth  of  green ; 
I  will  not  mimic  yonder  oak 
Hiat  dallies  with  dead  leaves  ev'n  while  the  primrose 
peeps. 

But  full  of  these  warm-whispering  beams, 
like  Memnon  in  his  mother's  eye, — 
Aurora  t  when  the  statue  stone 
Moaned  soft  to  her  pathetic  touch, — 
My  soul  shall  own  its  parent  in  the  founts  of  day  I 

And  ever  in  the  recurring  light, 
True  to  the  primal  joy  of  dawn, 
Forget  its  barren  griefs ;  and  aye 
Like  aspens  in  the  f^ntest  breeze 
Turn  all  its  silver  sides  and  tremble  into  song. 


Now  from  the  meadow  floods  the  wild  duck  clamours. 
Now  the  wood  pigeon  wings  a  rapid  flight. 
Now  the  homeward  rookery  follows  up  its  vanguard, 
And  the  valley  mists  are  curling  up  the  hills. 

Three  short  songs  gives  the  clear-voiced  throstle. 
Sweetening  the  twilight  ere  he  fills  the  nest ; 
While  the  little  bird  upon  the  leafless  branches 
Tweets  to  its  mate  a  tiny  loving  note. 


dbyGoogle 


EARLY  POEMS 

Deeper  the  stillness  hangs  on  every  motion ; 
Calmer  the  silence  follows  every  call ; 
Now  all  is  quiet  save  the  roosting  pheasant. 
The  bell-wether's  tinkle  and  the  watch-dog's  bark. 

Softly  shine  the  lights  from  the  silent  kindling  homestead, 
Stars  of  the  hearth  to  the  shepherd  in  the  fold  ; 
Springs  of  desire  to  the  traveller  on  the  roadway ; 
Ever  breathing  incense  to  the  ever-blessing  sky  I 


How  barren  would  this  valley  be, 
Without  the  golden  orb  that  gazes 
On  it,  broadening  to  hues 
Of  rose,  and  spreading  nings  of  amber ; 
Blessing  it  before  it  falls  asleep. 

How  barren  would  this  valley  be, 
Without  the  human  lives  now  besting 
In  it,  or  the  throbbing  hearts 
Far  distant,  who  their  flower  of  childhood 
Cherish  here,  and  water  it  with  tears  1 

How  barren  should  I  be,  were  I 
Without  above  that  loving  splendour. 
Shedding  light  and  warmth  !  without 
Some  kindred  natures  of  my  kind 
To  joy  in  me,  or  yearn  towards  me  now  I 


Sdmmer  glows  warm  on  the  meadows,  and  speedwell,  and 

gold-cups,  and  daisies 
Darken  'raid  deepening  masses  of  sorrel,  and  shadowy  grasses 
Show  the  ripe  hue  to  the  farmer,  and  suramon  the  scythe  and 

the  hay-makers 
Down  from  the  village ;  and  now,  even  now,  the  air  smelts 

of  the  mowing. 
And  the  sharp  song  of  the  scythe  whistles  daily ;  from  dawn, 

till  the  gloaming 


dbyGoogle 


PASTORALS  53 

Wears  iU  cool  star,  sweet  and  welcome  to  all  flaming  faces 

afield  now ; 
Heavily  weighs  the  hot  season,  and  drowses  the  darkening 

foliage. 
Drooping  with  languor;  the  white  cloud  floats,  but  sails 

Dot,  for  windless 
Heaven's  blue  tents  it ;  no  lark  singing  up  in  its  fleecy  white 

valleys ; 
L'p  in  its  fairy  white  valleys,  once  feathered  with  minstrels, 

melodious 
With  the  invisible  joy  that  wakes  dawn  o'er  the  green  fields 

of  England. 
Summer  glows  warm  on  the  meadows ;  then  come,  let  us  roam 

thro'  them  gaily, 
Heedless  of  heat,  and  the  hot-kissing  sun,  and  the  fear  of  dark 

freckles. 
Never  one  kiss  will  he  give  on  a  neck,  or  a  lily-white  forehead, 
Chin,  hand,  or  bosom  uncovered,  all  panting,  to  take  the 

chance  coolness, 
But  full  sure  the  fiery  pressure  leaves  seal  of  espousal. 
Heed  him  not;  come,  tho'  he  kiss  till  the  soft  little  upper- 
lip  loses 
Half  its  pure  whiteness ;   just  speck'd  where  the  curve  of 

the  rosy  mouth  reddens. 

Come,  let  him  kiss,  let  him  kiss,  and  his  kisses  shall  make  thee 

the  sweeter. 
Hiou  art  no  nun,  veiled  and  vowed ;  doomed  to  nourish  a 

withering  pallor ! 
City  exotics  beside  thee  would  show  like  bleached  linen  at 

mid-day. 
Hung  upon  hedges  of  eglantine  I    Thou  in  the  freedom  of 

nature, 
FuU  of  her  beauty  and  wisdom,  gentleness,  joyance,  and 

kindness  t 
Come,  and  like  bees  will  we  gather  the  rich  golden  honey  of 

noontide ; 
Deep  in  the  sweet  summer  meadows,  border'd  by  hillside  and 

Lined  with  long  trenches  half-hidden,  where  smell  of  white 
meadow-sweet,  sweetest. 


dbyGoogle 


ARLY  POEMS 

weetest !  but  pluck  it  not  1  even  in 

th  and  wither;  like  many,  not  made 

n  the  meadows,  where  aU  the  flowers 

'  the  nightingale  scarce  ever  charms 

\  the  nest;  only  known  by  a  'chuck, 

le  finch  and  the  linnet  and  blackcap 

yU-side  warbles  the  rich-billed  ouzel ; 
I  filling  the  tangled  thickening  copses ; 
id,  and  most  honey'd  of  flowers,  white 

lay  in  the  grass  of  our  own  beloved 

lark  mounts  at  eve  with  his  sweet 

See,  OD  the  river  the  slow-rippled 

pie  broadens  in  circles;  the  bright 

vea  of  the  yet  unseen  water-lily, 
I.  day,  ever-varying  tactics  fantastic, 
■ored  osiers,  the  emerald  wing  of  the 

beak  1  there  the  dab-chick  dived,  and 

o'  the  tall  standing  army  of  rushes. 

r,  till  the  twilight  turns  us  homeward  I 
leep-blooming  splendour  of  sunset  is 

mildly  in  mellowing  hues,  like  a  apirit 
:  light  never  dieth,  tho'  day  is  now 


dbyGoogle 


PASTORALS  55 

marrow,  few  hours  intervenrng,  that 

heaven,  to-morrow  my  semblance, 

lion  eternal  to  seal  and  to  prophecy. 
d ;  passing  down  the  close  path  of 

with  sweetness ;  eaeh  with  a  lark  in 

I  will  yon  lark  ever  cease  to  sing 


I  A  SKYLARK 

le  thee  and  call  thee  joy  I 

thee  up  to  the  breast  of  the  dawn ; 

re,  but  thy  song  is  still 

le  heavens  to  me  I 

's  when  I  was  a  boy ; 

ed  in  them,  dear  now  they're  gone : 

nger,  but  still,  O  still 

lieavens  to  me. 


palm  do  burst  and  spread 

ny  feathers  in  the  lane, 

lossoms,  white  and  red, 

pring  delight  for  Autumn  gain ; 

kylark  shakes  his  wings  in  the  rain ' 

eason  to  look  for  a  bride ! 
T  warily,  woo  her  unseen  ; 
it  mai(^  are  those  that  hide 
'  violets  under  the  green. 


dbyGoogle 


LY  POEMS 
SONG 


e  hazel-leaf 

squirrel  that  hunts  them  free, 
I  with  the  3Un-bumt  sheaf, 
nflower  and  the  yellowing  tree ; 
lows  and  beams  in  bis  glee ; 

o  wed  thee  a  bride ! 

re  filled  and  the  ale-cups  foam ; 

b  the  pride 

!ry  Harvest  Home. 


IW3,  aad  they  shall  rise 
immortal  skies, 
down  like  mothers'  eyes. 

s  be  fresh  as  flowers, 
honey  of  the  showers, 
:e  on  huts  and  towers. 

ys  be  sweet  and  bright ; 
eet  thy  starry  night, 
ve  each  change  of  light. 

vatch  the  flowers  asleep, 
1  feel  the  soft  stars  weep, 
mix  sensations  deep. 

)w,  with  those  above, 
he  brooding  dove, 
L  bonds  of  love. 

ture  are  akin ; 
ten  fruit  of  sin, 
ice  of  life  within. 


dbyGoogle 


SORROWS  AND  JOYS 

CbildKn  of  earth  are  these ;  and  those 
The  spirits  of  divine  repose — 
Death  radiant  o'er  all  human  woes. 

O,  think  what  then  had  been  thy  doom, 

If  homeless  and  without  a.  tomb 

They  had  been  left  to  haunt  the  gloom  I 

O,  think  again  what  now  they  are — 
Motherly  love,  tho'  dim  and  for, 
Imaged  in  every  lustrous  star. 

For  they,  in  their  salvation,  know 

No  vestige  of  their  former  woe. 

While  thro'  them  all  the  heavens  do  flow. 

Thus  art  thou  wedded  to  the  skies. 
And  watched  by  ever-loving  eyes. 
And  warned  by  yearning  sympathies. 


SONG 

Tae  Flower  unfolds  its  dawning  cup. 
And  the  young  sun  drinks  the  star-dews  up, 
At  eve  it  droops  with  the  bliss  of  day. 
And  dreams  in  the  midnight  far  away. 

So  am  I  in  thy  sole,  sweet  glance 
Pressed  with  a  weight  of  utterance ; 
Lovingly  all  my  leaves  unfold. 
And  gleam  to  the  beams  of  thirsty  gold. 

At  eve  I  droop,  for  then  the  swell 
Of  feeling  falters  forth  farewell ; — 
At  midnight  I  am  dreaming  deep. 
Of  what  has  been,  in  blissful  sleep. 

When — ah !  when  will  love's  own  light 
Wed  me  alike  thro'  day  and  night. 
When  will  the  stars  with  their  linking  charms 
Wake  us  in  each  other's  arms  ? 


dbyGoogle 


-,   ^_  -   -f^  —J  3e^  »^ 


Digitized  byGOOgle 


ANTIGONE 

But  this  will  dower  the«  with  Elysian  breath, 

That  fade  into  a  never-fading  dime. 

Dear  to  the  Gods  are  those  that  do  like  thee 

A  solemn  duty!  for  the  tyranny 

Of  kings  is  feeble  to  the  soul  that  dares 

Defy  them  to  fulfil  its  sacred  cares : 

And  weak  agaimt  a  mighty  will  are  men. 

O,  Torch  between  two  brothers  I  in  whose  gleam 

Our  slaughtered  House  doth  shine  as  one  again, 

Tho'  severed  by  the  sword ;  now  may  thy  dream 

Kindle  desire  in  thee  for  us,  and  thou, 

Fragetting  not  thy  lover  and  his  vow. 

Leaving  no  human  memory  forgot, 

Shalt  cross,  not  unattended,  the  dark  stream 

Which  runs  by  thee  in  sleep  and  ripples  not. 

l^e  large  stars  glitter  thro'  the  anxious  night. 

And  the  deep  sky  broods  low  to  look  at  thee: 

The  air  is  hush'd  and  dark  o'er  land  and  aea, 

And  all  is  waiting  for  the  morrow  light : 

So  do  thy  kindred  spirits  wait  for  thee. 

O  Sister  I  soft  as  on  the  downward  rill. 

Will  those  first  daybeams  from  the  distant  hill 

Fall  on  the  smoothness  of  thy  placid  brow. 

Like  this  calm  sweetness  breathing  thro'  me  now : 

And  when  the  fated  sounds  shall  wake  thine  eyes. 

Wilt  thou,  confiding  in  the  supreme  will, 

In  all  thy  maiden  steadfastness  arise. 

Firm  to  obey  and  earnest  to  fulfil ; 

Remembering  the  night  thou  didst  not  sleep. 

And  this  same  brooding  sky  beheld  thee  creep. 

Defiant  of  unnatural  decree. 

To  where  I  lay  upon  the  outcast  land ; 

Before  the  iron  gates  upon  the  plain ; 

A  wretched,  graveless  ghost,  whose  wailing  chill 

Came  to  thy  darkened  door  imploring  thee ; 

Yearning  for  burial  like  my  brother  slain  ; — 

And  all  was  dared  for  love  and  piety  I 

This  thought  will  nerve  again  thy  virgin  hand 

To  serve  its  purpose  and  its  destiny.' 

Sbe  woke,  they  led  her  forth,  and  all  was  still. 


dbyGoogle 


dbjGoogle 


THE  TWO  BLACKBIRDS  61 

Nor  is  the  day  of  love  for  ever  dead, 

When  young  enchantment  and  romance  are  gone; 
The  veil  is  drawn,  but  all  the  future  dread 

Is  lightened  by  the  finger  of  the  dawn. 

Love  moves  with  life  along  a  darker  way. 

They  cost  a  shadow  and  they  call  it  death : 

But  rich  is  the  fulfilment  of  their  day ; 

The  purer  passion  and  the  firmer  faith. 


THE  TWO  BLACKBIRDS 

'    A  Blackbird  in  a  wicker  cage. 

That  hung  and  swung  'mid  fruits  and  flowers. 
Had  learnt  the  song-charm,  to  assuage 
The  dreamesa  of  its  wingless  hours. 

And  ever  when  the  song  was  heard, 

-    From  trees  that  shade  the  grassy  plot 
Warbled  another  glossy  bird, 

Whose  mate  not  long  ago  was  shot. 

Strange  anguish  in  that  creature's  breast. 
Unwept  like  human  grief,  unsaid, 

Has  quickened  in  its  lonely  nest 

A  living  impulse  from  the  dead. 

Not  to  console  its  own  wild  smart, — 
But  with  a  kindling  instinct  strong, 

The  novel  feeling  of  its  heart 

Beats  for  the  captive  bird  of  song. 

And  when  those  mellow  notes  are  still. 

It  hops  from  off  its  choral  perch. 
O'er  path  and  sward,  with  busy  bill. 

All  grateful  gifts  to  peck  and  search. 

Store  of  ouzel  dainties  choice 

To  those  white  swinging  bars  it  brings ; 
.  And  with  a  low  consoling  voice 

It  talks  between  its  fluttering  wings. 


dbyGoogle 


ILY  POEMS 

litter  grief 
ers  redprocate, 
r  its  woodland  life, 
tr  ita  murdered  mate. 

the  secret  prove, 
le  sad  creatures  so ; 
t  link  of  love, 
a  sympathy  of  woe. 

13  day  to  day 

speech  between  them  twain ; 

■d  is  scared  away, 

bursts  to  song  again. 

s  flattering  voice, 
d  its  fluttering  wings, 
inties  choice 
lill  the  poor  bird  brings. 

fill  weak  with  age 

its  drowsy  branch  it  drops, 

that  captive  cage, 

lose  busy  searching  hopsf 

al  will  not  strain ; 
se  will  make  it  range, 
II  soothe  its  pain, 
son  work  a  change. 

e-long  summer,  tried, 
tion  we  may  see ; 
7  of  Nature's  tide; 
ful  sympathy. 


It  July, 

arms  and  gorgeous  blue ; 

o'er  thy  sky, 

of  drenching  dew ; 


dbyGoogle 


rULY  6 

en  aod  glade 

their  shade ; 

:  thy  pride, 

jcm  bride. 

^ng  days  are  done 

that  clasp  the  sun ; 

i  in  his  throat 

;  his  last  twin  note ; 

ustroua  eye, 

ing  blooms, 

-oiling  glooms. 

1  doth  but  sing  'cuk,  cuk,' 

alone  doth  coo ; 

;  spins  her  coo-r-roo,  r-r-roo — 

t's  halting 'cuk.' 


I 

ea  near  the  streara, 

!  and  shy, 

a  dream. 

;  foot  the  fern 

lestnuts  bum ; 

ly  fierce  love, 

n  above. 

est  trees  hang  dumb, 

ss  o'ercome ; 

ngale  and  thrush, 

bough  or  bush ; 

ustrous  eye, 

se  unfold, 
ibes  of  gold  t 

le  broods — '  sweet-chuck-3weet'- 
l  flutes  so  chill, 
jives  but  one  shrilly  trill 
Qgale's  'sweet-sweet.' 


dbyGoogle 


griil, 


ping  wind, 
ife 

nimbrined, 
rtfree. 

r  clime, 
:  the  sail, 
ited  vale 
93  the  time, 

bree. 


V  thy  pride ; 


dbyGoogle 


THE  SHIPWRECK  OF  IDOMENEUS 

Never  more  to  part ; 
Come  into  my  yearning  heart ; 
I,  the  serpent,  golden-eyed. 
Twine  round  thee ; 
Twine  thee  with  no  venomed  test ; 
Absence  makea  the  venomed  nest; 
Come  to  me  I 

Come  to  me,  my  lover,  come  1 

Violets  on  the  tender  stem 

Die  and  wither  in  their  bloom, 

Under  dewy  grass ; 
Come,  my  lover,  or,  alas ! 

I  shall  die,  shall  die  like  tbem, 

Frail  and  lone ; 

Come  to  me,  my  lover,  come ; 

Let  thy  bosom  be  my  tomb : 

Come,  my  own  I 


THE  SHIPWRECK  OF  IDOMENEUS* 

Swept  from  his  fleet  upon  that  fatal  night 
When  great  Poseidon's  sudden-veering  wrath 
Scattered  the  happy  homeward-floating  Greeks 
like  foam-flakes  off  the  waves,  the  King  of  Crete 
Held  lofty  commune  with  the  dark  5ea-god. 
His  brows  were  crowned  with  victory,  his  cheeks 
Were  flushed  with  triumph,  but  the  mighty  joy 
Of  Troy's  destruction  and  his  own  great  deeds 
Passed,  for  the  thoughts  of  home  were  dearer  now, 
And  sweet  the  memory  of  wife  and  child. 
And  weary  now  the  ten  long,  foreign  years. 
And  terrible  the  doubt  of  short  delay— 
More  terrible,  O  Gods  1  he  cried,  but  stopped ; 
Then  raised  his  voice  upon  the  storm  and  prayed. 
0  thou,  if  injured,  injured  not  by  me, 
Poseidon  !   whom  sea-deities  obey 
And  mortals  worship,  hear  me  1  for  indeed 
It  was  our  oath  to  aid  the  cause  of  Greece, 
Not  uneapoused  by  Gods,  and  most  of  all 


dbyGoogle 


dbjGoogle 


THE  SHIPWRECK  OP  IDOMENEUS  f 

Mingling  the  screams  of  birds,  the  cries  of  brutes. 
The  wail  of  creatures  in  the  covert  pent, 
Howls,  yells,  and  shrieks  of  agony,  the  hiss 
Of  seething  sap,  and  crash  of  falling  boughs 
Together  in  its  dull  voracious  roar. 

So  closely  and  so  fearfully  they  throng'd. 
Savage  with  phantasies  of  victory, 
A  sea  of  dusky  shapes ;  for  day  had  passed 
And  night  fell  on  their  darkened  faces,  red 
With  fight  and  torchflare ;  shrill  the  resonant  air 
With  eager  shouts,  and  hoarse  with  angry  groans ; 
Wliile  over  all  the  dense  and  sullen  boom. 
The  din  and  murmur  of  the  myriads, 
Rolled  with  its  awful  intervals,  as  though 
The  battle  breathed,  or  as  against  the  shore 
Waves  gather  back  to  heave  themselves  anew. 
Tliat  night  sleep  dropped  not  from  the  dreary  skiesi 
Nor  could  the  prowess  of  our  chiefs  oppose 
That  sea  of  raging  men.     But  what  were  they? 
Or  what  is  man  opposed  to  thee?    His  hopes 
Are  wrecks,  himself  the  drowning,  drifting  weed 
That  wanders  on  thy  waters ;  such  as  1 
Who  see  the  scattered  remnants  of  my  fleet. 
Remembering  the  day  when  first  we  sailed. 
Each  glad  ship  shining  like  the  morning  star 
With  promise  for  the  world.    Oh !  such  as  I 
Thus  darkly  drifting  on  the  drowning  waves. 
O  God  of  waters  I  'tis  a  dreadful  thing 
To  suffer  for  an  evil  unrevealed ; 
Dreadful  it  ia  to  hear  the  perishing  cry 
Of  those  we  love ;  the  silence  that  succeeds 
How  dreadful  1    Still  my  trust  ia  fixed  on  thee 
For  those  that  still  remain  and  for  myself. 
And  if  I  hear  thy  swift  foam-snorting  steeds 
Drawing  thy  dusky  chariot,  as  in 
The  pauses  of  the  wind  I  seem  to  hear, 
Deaf  thou  art  not  to  my  entreating  prayer  1 
Haste  then  to  give  us  help,  for  closely  now 
Crete  whispers  in  my  ears,  and  all  my  blood 
Runs  keen  and  warm  for  home,  and  1  have  yearning. 
Such  yearning  as  I  never  felt  before. 


Digitized  byGOOgIC 


dbjGoogle 


THE  SHIPWRECK  OF  IDOMENEUS  ( 

And  hang  itself  afresh  by  the  bleeding  fangs. 
Upon  the  neck  of  some  death-singled  stag. 
Whose  royal  antlers,  eyes,  and  stumbling  knees 
Will  supplicate  the  Gods  in  mute  despair. 
This  time  not  mute,  nor  yet  in  vain  this  time  1 
For  still  the  burden  of  the  earnest  voice 
And  all  the  vivid  glories  it  revoked 
Sank  in  the  God,  with  that  absorbed  suspense 
Felt  only  by  the  Olympians,  whose  minds 
Unbounded  like  our  mortal  brain,  perceive 
All  things  complete,  the  end,  the  aim  of  all ; 
To  whom  the  crown  and  consequence  of  deeds 
Are  ever  present  with  the  deed  itself. 

And  now  the  pouring  surges,  vast  and  smooth. 
Grew  weary  of  restraint,  and  heaved  themselves 
Headlong  beneath  him,  breaking  at  his  feet 
With  wild  importunate  cries  and  angry  wail ; 
Ijke  crowds  ^at  shout  for  bread  and  hunger  more. 
And  now  the  surface  of  their  rolling  hacks 
Was  ridged  with  foam-topt  furrows,  rising  high 
And  dashing  wildly,  like  to  fiery  steeds, 
Fresh  from  the  Thracian  or  Thessalian  plains, 
High-blooded  mares  just  tempering  to  the  bit. 
Whose  manes  at  full<5peed  stream  upon  the  winds. 
And  in  whose  delicate  nostrils  when  the  gust 
Breathes  of  their  native  plains,  they  ramp  and  rear, 
Frothing  the  curb,  and  bounding  from  the  earth, 
As  though  the  Sun-god's  chariot  alone 
Were  fit  to  follow  in  their  flashing  track. 
Anon  with  gathering  stature  to  the  height 
Of  those  colossal  giants,  doomed  long  since 
To  torturous  grief  and  penance,  that  assailed 
The  sky-throned  courts  of  Zeus,  and  climbing,  dared 
For  once  in  a  world  the  Olympic  wrath,  and  braved 
The  electric  spirit  which  from  his  clenching  hand 
Pierces  the  dark-veined  earth,  and  with  a  touch 
Is  death  to  mortals,  fearfully  they  grew  I 
And  with  like  purpose  of  audacity 
Threatened  Titanic  fury  to  the  God. 
Such  was  the  agitation  of  the  sea 


dbyGoogle 


dbjGoogle 


THE  SHIPWRECK  OF  IDOMENEUS  7 

Their  briny  eyes  blind  with  the  showering  drops; 

Their  stormy  locks,  salt  tongues,  and  scaly  backs. 

Quivering  in  harmony  with  the  tempest,  fierce 

And  eager  with  tempestuous  delight ; — 

He  like  a  moving  rock  above  them  all 

Solemnly  towering  while  fitful  gleams 

Brake  from  his  dense  black  forehead,  which  display'd 

The  enduring  chiefs  as  their  distracted  fleets  . 

Tossed,  toiling  with  the  waters,  climbing  high. 

And  plunging  downward  with  determined  beaks. 

In  lurid  anguish ;  but  the  Cretan  king 

And  all  his  crew  were  'ware  of  under-tides, 

That  for  the  groaning  vessel  made  a  path. 

On  which  the  impending  and  precipitous  waves 

Fell  not,  nor  suck'd  to  their  abysmal  gorge. 

0,  happy  they  to  feel  the  mighty  God. 

Without  his  whelming  presence  near :  to  feel 

Safety  and  sweet  relief  from  such  despair, 

And  gushing  of  their  weary  hopes  once  more 

Within  their  fond  warm  hearts,  tired  limbs,  and  ej'es 

Heavy  with  much  fatigue  and  want  of  sleep  1 

Prayers  did  not  lack ;  like  mountain  springs  they  came 

After  the  earth  has  drunk  the  drenching  rainH, 

And  throws  her  fresh-bom  jets  into  the  sun 

With  joyous  sparkles , — for  there  needed  not 

Evidence  more  serene  of  instant  grace, 

Immortal  mercy  I  and  the  sense  which  follows 

Divine  interposition,  when  the  shock 

Of  danger  hath  been  thwarted  by  the  Gods, 

Visibly,  and  through  supplication  deep, — 

Rose  in  them,  chiefly  in  the  royal  mind 

Of  him  whose  interceding  vow  had  saved. 

Tears  from  that  great  heroic  soul  sprang  up ; 

Not  painful  as  in  grief,  nor  smarting  keen 

W' ith  shame  of  weeping ;  but  calm,  fresh,  and  sweet ; 

Such  as  in  lofty  spirits  rise,  and  wed 

The  nature  of  the  woman  to  the  man ; 

A  sight  most  lovely  to  the  Gods !    "Riey  fell 

like  showers  of  starlight  from  his  stedfast  eyes, 

As  ever  towards  the  prow  he  gazed,  nor  moved  • 


dbyGoogle 


,Y  POEMS 

ipa  and  level  lids, 

mnds  sang  in  his  ears, 

hb  brown  hair  in  streams 

:  hours  passed,  and  the  oars 

id  nothing  but  the  sound 

d  still  watery  sough, 

the  storm,  was  heard. 

DQariners  in  their  toil, 

the  war  were  dumb : 

ith  wonder,  too  much  thrilled 

I's  silence,  to  disturb 

KX)r  human  speech. 

rough  slips  of  driving  cloud 

d  athwart  the  seas  a  path 

e  the  Hadean  brows, 

sion  they  behold 

it  hueless  cheeks, 

1  and  lustre,  as  a  ship 

ilue  and  open  bay 

ed  sails,  the  radiant  car 

ind  on  the  waves 

)m  her  silver  bow 

re  and  tender  gaze. 

le  the  chiefs  sought  rest ; 
and  men  to  relieve 
in.     Fair  it  was 
f  \     Some  up  the  prow, 
n  open-handed  sleep ; 

and  bucklers  put  aside ; 
rar  upon  their  cheeks, 
et  locks,  and  on  their  breasts 
h  of  many  a  proud  campaign; 

bright  invisible  crown 
own  radiant  form, 
leads  she  sings  and  soars. 
0  calmly ;  as  around 
raves  and  swamping  surf 
on  the  tranquil  deeps, 
nd  solemn  peace, 
trands  of  memory,  they 


dbyGoogle 


THE  SHIPWRECK  OF  IDOMENEUS  73 

Launched  aod  were  tossed,  long  ere  they  found  the 

tides 
Thftt  lead  to  the  gentle  bosoms  of  pure  rest. 
And  like  to  one  who  from  a  ghostly  watch 
In  a  lone  house  where  murder  hath  been  done, 
And  secret  violations,  pale  with  stealth 
Emerges,  staggering  on  the  first  chill  gust 
Wherewith  the  morning  greet  him,  feeling  not 
Its  balmy  freshness  on  his  bloodless  cheek, — 
But  swift  to  hide  his  midnight  face  afar, 
'Mongst  the  old  woods  and  timid-glancing  flowers 
Hastens,  till  on  the  fresh  reviving  breasts 
Of  tender  Dryads  folded  he  forgets 
The  pallid  witness  of  those  nameless  things, 
In  renovated  senses  lapt,  and  joins 
The  full,  keen  joyance  of  the  day,  so  they 
From  sights  and  sounds  of  battle  smeared  with  blood. 
And  shrieking  souls  on  Acheron's  bleak  tides. 
And  wail  of  execrating  kindred,  sUd 
Into  oblivious  slumber  and  a  sense 
Of  satiate  deliciousness  complete. 

Leave  them,  0  Muse,  in  that  so  happy  sleep  I 
Leave  them  to  reap  the  harvest  of  their  toil. 
While  fast  in  moonlight  the  glad  vessel  glides. 
As  if  instinctive  to  its  forest  home. 
O  Muse,  that  in  all  sorrows  and  all  joys. 
Rapturous  bliss  and  suffering  divine, 
Dwellest  with  equal  fervour,  in  the  calm 
Of  thy  serene  philosophy,  albeit 
Thy  gentle  nature  is  of  joy  alone. 
And  loves  the  pipings  of  the  happy  fields, 
Better  than  all  tJie  great  parade  and  pomp 
Which  forms  the  train  of  heroes  and  of  kings. 
And  sows,  too  frequently,  the  tragic  seeds 
That  choke  with  sobs  thy  singing, — turn  away 
"Diy  lustrous  eyes  back  to  the  oath-bound  man ! 
For  as  a  shepherd  stands  above  his  flock, 
The  lofty  figure  of  the  king  is  seen, 
Standing  above  his  warriors  as  they  sleep: 
And  still  as  from  a  rock  grey  waters  gush. 


dbyGoogle 


dbjGoogle 


THE  LONGEST  DAY 

On  yonder  hills  soft  twilight  dwells 

And  Hesper  burns  where  sunset  dies, 
Moist  and  cbilJ  the  woodland  smells 

From  the  fem-«overed  hollows  uprise; 

Darkness  drops  not  from  the  skies. 
But  shadows  of  darkness  are  flung  o'er  the  vale 

From  the  boughs  of  the  chestnut,  the  oak,  and 
the  elm, 
While  night  in  yon  lines  of  eastern  pines 

Preserves  alone  her  inviolate  realm 
Against  the  twilight  pale. 

Say,  then  say,  what  is  this  day. 

That  it  lingers  thus  with  half-closed  eyes. 
When  the  sunset  is  quenched  and  the  orient  ray 

Of  the  roseate  moon  doth  rise, 

Like  a  midnight  sun  o'er  the  skies ! 
Tis  the  longest,  the  longest  of  all  the  glad  year. 

The  longest  in  life  and  the  fairest  in  hue. 
When  day  and  night,  in  bridal  light. 

Mingle  their  beings  beneath  the  sweet  blue, 
And  bless  the  balmy  air  I 

Upward  to  this  starry  height 

The  culminating  seasons  rolled  ; 
On  one  slope  green  with  spring  delight. 

The  other  with  harvest  gold, 

And  treasures  of  Autumn  untold : 
And  on  this  highest  throne  of  the  midsummer  now 

The  waning  but  deathless  day  doth  dream. 
With  a  rapturous  grace,  as  tho'  from  the  face 

Of  the  unveiled  infinity,  lo,  a  far  beam 

Had  fall'n  on  her  dim-flushed  brow  I 

Prolong,  prolong  that  tide  of  song, 

O  leafy  nightingale  and  thrush  I 
Still,  earnest-throated  blackcap,  throng 

The  woods  with  that  emulous  gush 

Of  notes  in  tumultuous  rush, 


dbyGoogle 


dbjGoogle 


SONG 

The  daisy  dow  is  out  upon  the  green ; 

And  in  the  grassy  lanes 

The  child  of  April  rains, 
Tlie  sweet  fresh-hearted  violet,  is  smelt  and  loved  unseen. 

Along  the  brooks  and  meads,  the  daffodil 

lis  yellow  richness  spreads. 

And  by  the  fountain-heads 
Of  rivers,  cowslips  cluster  round,  and  over  evay  hill. 

Tie  crocus  and  the  primrose  may  have  gone. 

The  snowdrop  may  be  low. 

But  soon  the  purple  glow 
Of  hyacinths  will  fill  the  copse,  and  lilies  watch  the  dawn. 

And  in  the  sweetness  of  the  budding  year, 

The  cuckoo's  woodland  call, 

The  skylark  over  all, 
And  then  at  eve,  the  nightingale,  b  doubly  sweet  and  dear. 

My  soul  is  singing  with  the  happy  birds. 

And  all  my  human  powers 

Are  blooming  with  the  flowers, 
My  foot  is  on  the  fields  and  downs,  among  the  flocks  and 
herds. 

Deep  in  the  forest  where  the  foliage  droops, 

I  wander,  fill'd  with  joy. 

Again  as  when  a  boy, 
The  sunny  vistas  tempt  me  on  with  dim  delicious  hopes. 

The  sunny  vistas,  dim  with  hanging  shade. 

And  old  romantic  haze : — 

Again  as  in  past  days, 
lie  spirit  of  immortal  Spring  doth  every  sense  pervade. 

Oh!  do  not  say  that  this  will  ever  cease; — 

lliis  joy  of  woods  and  fields. 

This  youth  that  nature  yields, 
WiD  never  speak  to  me  in  vain,  tho'  soundly  rapt  in  peace. 

77 

Digitized  byGOOgle 


EARLY  POEMS 


SUNRISE 

The  clouds  are  withdrawn 
And  their  thin-rippled  mist. 
That  stream'd  o'er  the  lawn 
To  the  drowsy-eyed  west. 
Cold  and  grey 
They  slept  in  the  way, 
And  shrank  from  the  ray 
Of  the  chariot  East : 
But  now  they  are  gone, 
And  the  bounding  light 
Leaps  thro'  the  bars 
Of  doubtful  dawn ; 
Blinding  the  stars, 
And  blessing  the  sight ; 
Shedding  delight 
On  all  below ; 
Glimmering  fields. 
And  wakening  wealds, 
And  rising  lark, 
And  meadows  dark, 
And  idle  rilb. 
And  labouring  milb. 
And  far-distant  hilla 
Of  the  fawn  and  the  doe. 
The  sun  is  cheered 
And  his  path  is  cleared, 
As  he  steps  to  the  air 
From  his  emerald  cave. 
His  heel  in  the  wave. 
Most  bright  and  bare ; 
In  the  tide  of  the  sky 
His  radiant  hair 
From  his  temples  fair 
Blown  back  on  high ; 
As  forward  he  bends, 
And  upward  ascends, 
Timely  and  true. 
To  the  breast  of  the  blue ; 


Digitized  byGOOgle 


SUNRISE 

His  warm  red  lips 

Kissing  the  dew, 

With  sweetened  drips 

On  his  flower  cupholders ; 

Every  hue 

From  his  gleaming  shoulders 

Shining  anew 

With  colour  sky-bom, 

As  it  washes  and  dips 

In  the  pride  of  the  mom. 

Robes  of  azure. 

Fringed  with  amber, 

Fold  upon  fold 

Of  purple  and  gold. 

Vine-leaf  bloom. 

And  the  grape's  ripe  gloom. 

When  season  deep 

In  noontide  leisure. 

With  clustering  heap 

The  tendrils  clamber 

Full  in  the  face 

Of  bis  hot  embrace, 

Fill'd  with  the  gleams 

Of  his  firmest  beams. 

Autumn  flushes, 

Roseate  blushes, 

Vemieil  tinges, 

Violet  fringes. 

Every  hue 

Of  his  flower  cupholders, 

O'er  the  clear  ether 

Mingled  together. 

Shining  anew 

From  his  gleaming  shoulders  1 

Circling  about 

In  a  coronal  rout, 

And  floating  behind, 

The  way  of  the  wind. 

As  forward  he  bends, 

And  upward  ascends. 

Timely  and  true. 


dbyGoogle 


dbjGoogle 


PICTURES  OF  THE  RHINE  £ 

To  see  the  mountains  on  each  other  climb, 
With  spaces  for  rich  meadows  flowery  bright ; 
The  winding  river  freshening  the  sight 
At  intervals,  the  trees  in  leafy  prime ; 
The  distant  village-roofs  of  blue  and  white, 
With  intersections  of  quaint-fashioned  beams 
All  slanting  crosswise,  and  the  feudal  gleams 
Of  ruined  turrets,  barren  in  the  light ; — 
To  watch  the  changing  clouds,  like  clime  in  clime ; 
Oh  I  sweet  to  lie  and.bless  the  lu:iury  of  time. 


Fresh  blows  the  early  breeze,  our  sail  is  full ; 
A  merry  morning  and  a  mighty  tide. 
Cheerily  0 !  and  past  St.  Goar  we  glide, 
Half  hid  in  misty  dawn  and  mountain  cool. 
The  river  is  our  own !  and  now  the  sun 
In  saffron  clothes  the  wanning  atmosphere ; 
The  sky  lifts  up  her  white  veil  like  a  nun. 
And  looks  upon  the  landscape  blue  and  clear ; — 
The  lark  ia  up;  the  hills,  the  vines  in  sight; 
The  river  broadens  with  his  waking  bliss 
And  throws  up  islands  to  behold  the  light ; 
Voices  begin  to  rise,  all  hues  to  kiss ; — 
Was  ever  such  a  happy  mom  as  this  I 
Birds  sing,  we  shout,  flowers  breathe,  trees  shine  with  one 
delight ! 

IV 

Between  the  two  white  breasts  of  her  we  love, 
A  dewy  blushing  rose  will  sometimes  spring; 
Thus  Nonnenwerth  like  an  enchanted  thing 
Rises  mid-stream  the  crystal  depths  above. 
On  either  side  the  waters  heave  and  swell, 
But  all  is  calm  within  the  little  Isle ; 
Content  it  is  to  give  its  holy  smile. 
And  bless  with  peace  the  lives  that  in  it  dwell. 
Most  dear  on  the  dark  grass  beneath  its  bower 
Of  kindred  trees  embracing  branch  and  bough. 
To  dream  of  fairy  foot  and  sudden  flower ; 
Or  haply  with  a  twilight  on  the  brow, 
To  muse  upon  the  legendary  hour, 
And  Roland's  lonely  love  and  Hildegard's  sad  vow. ' 


dbyGoogle 


T  breeees  blow 

o'er  the  half-lifted  wave, 

id  branches  rave 

,,  and  every  cave, 

low, 

lirling  overflow ; 

T  distant  cries 

e  dim  sunrise, 

lids  ttiat  stain  the  skies  • 

and  frozen  glow 

f  sheeted  snow ; 

tains  shining  cold, 

ling  thro'  the  wold, 

e  not  to  howl  and  blow. 


V  decay  1 

must  be  desired, 

.  long  past  away, ' 

they  have  inspired : 

Memory  now 

tins  grey, 

13 tic  play 

is  atuck  on  her  brow, 

i  turret-tops, 

ia  they ; 

,  her  latest  props 

the  Sun's  hot  ray 

in  ru^ed  pride, 

i  on  each  side. 


NGALE 

:t  thou  learnt 

«1  dove? 

le  fern  hangs  burnt 

above! 


dbyGoogle 


.  NIGHTINGALE  S 

many  a  sky 

r  dim,  that  thou  mightst  hymn, 

ice  with  thy  wondrous  voice, 

irill  of  thy  wild  pervading  tone  I 

to  woo,  thou  hast  learnt  to  coo : 

ite  at  the  mellowing  fruit, 

of  the  flowers  is  sung  by  the  hours 

and  twilight  alone. 

'tis  this,  'tis  this 
es  thee  mock  the  dove  I 
:  past  thy  marriage  bliss, 
I  parent's  love, 
em  may  fade  and  burn, 
ly  fall,  the  flowers  and  all, 
mells  o'er  the  oak  dells 
heir  drowsy  and  odorous  wings, 
io  nothing  but  coo, 
nest  with  thy  brooding  breast, 
ung  throng  of  future  song, 
om  the  Future  sings! 


i,  THE  'GLASGOW  POET,'* 

SONNET  TO  'fame' 

th  the  earnest  voice  of  man 

ng  that  is  his  pure  desire  I 

rthright  of  the  living  lyre ! 

Ise  Nature  puts  no  ban. 

the  Sphinx  thy  voice  was  raised  1 

eat  emotions  like  a  sea, 

my  immortality, 

'Ives  unheeded  and  amazed. 

rhind  her  in  a  blind  eclipse : 

>ld  eyes  the  end  of  all 

m  her  large  closed  lips 

le  awful  riddle  of  the  earth ; — 

he  might  speak,  since  that  wild  call, 

irning  of  a  Poet's  birth. 


dbyGoogle 


84  EARLY  POEMS 

THE  DOE  :  A  FRAGMENT 

'  :  (FROM  •  WANDERING  WILLIE,'  AN 

:  i  UNFINISHED  POEM) 

And — '  Yonder  look !  yoho  I  yoho ! 
Nancy  is  off ! '  the  farmer  cried, 
*  Advancing  by  the  river  side, 

Red-kerchieft  and  brown-coated; — 'So, 
My  girl,  who  else  could  leap  like  tbat? 
So  neatly !  like  a  lady  I     'Zounds  I 
Look  at  ber  how  she  leads  the  hounds !' 
And  waving  bis  dusty  beaver  bat. 
He  cheered  across  the  cbase-filled  water. 
And  clapt  his  arm  about  his  daughter. 
And  gave  to  Joan  a  courteous  bug. 
And  kiss  that,  like  a  stubborn  plug 

!  1  From  generous  vats  in  vastness  rounded, 

,  I  The  inner  wealth  and  spirit  sounded : 

Eagerly  pointing  South,  where,  lo, 

[  The  daintiest,  fleetest-footed  doe 

Led  o'er  the  fields  and  thro'  the  furze 
,  .;'l  Beyond  :  her  lively  delicate  cars 

•  ■  Prickt  up  erect,  and  in  her  track 

A  dappled  lengthy-striding  pack. 

Scarce  had  they  cast  eyea  upon  her. 

When  every  heart  was  wagered  on  her. 

And  half  in  dread,  and  half  delight. 

They  watched  her  lovely  bounding  flight ; 

As  now  across  the  flashing  green, 

And  now  beneath  the  stately  trees, 

And  now  far  distant  in  the  dene, 

She  headed  on  with  graceful  ease  : 

Hanging  aloft  with  doubled  knees. 

At  times  athwart  some  hedge  or  gate ; 

And  slackening  pace  by  slow  degrees, 

As  for  the  foremost  foe  to  wait. 

Renewing  her  outstripping  rate 

Whene'er  the  hot  pursuers  neared. 

By  garden  wall  and  paled  estate. 

Where  clambering  gazers  whooped  and  cheered. 


Digitized  byGOOgle 


THE  DOE 

Here  winding  under  elm  and  oak. 
And  slanting  up  the  sunny  hill : 
Splashing  the  water  here  like  smoke 
Among  the  mill-holms  rouod  the  mill. 

And — '  Let  her  go ;  she  shows  her  game, 
My  Nancy  girl,  my  pet  and  treasure ! ' 
The  farmer  sighed ;  his  eyes  with  pleasure 
Brimming:  "Tis  my  daughter's  name. 
My  second  daughter  lying  yonder.' 
And  Willie's  eye  in  search  did  wander, 
And  caught  at  once,  with  moist  regard. 
The  white  gleams  of  a  grey  churchyard. 
'  Three  weeks  before  my  girl  had  gone, 
And  while  upon  her  pillows  propped. 
She  lay  at  eve ;  the  weakling  fawn — 
For  still  it  seems  a  fawn  just  dropt 
A  se'nnight — to  my  Nancy's  bed 
I  brought  to  make  my  ^rl  s  gift : 
The  mothers  of  them  both  were  dead : 
And  both  to  bless  it  was  my  drift, 
By  giving  each  a  friend ;  not  thinking 
How  rapidly  my  girl  was  sinking. 
And  I  remember  how,  to  pat 
Its  neck,  she  stretched  her  hand  so  weak 
And  its  cold  nose  against  her  cheek 
Pressed  fondly :  and  I  fetched  the  mat 
To  make  it  up  a  couch  just  by  her, 
Where  in  the  lone  dark  hours  to  lie : 
For  neither  dear  old  nurse  nor  I 
Would  any  single  wish  deny  her. 
And  there  unto  the  last  it  lay ; 
And  in  the  pastures  cared  to  play 
Little  or  nothing :  there  its  meals 
And  milk  I  brought :  and  even  now 
The  creature  such  affection  feels 
For  that  old  room  that,  when  and  how, 
"Tis  strange  to  mark,  it  slinks  and  steals 
To  get  there,  and  all  day  conceals. 
And  once  when  nurse  who,  since  that  time. 
Keeps  house  for  me,  was  very  sick. 


dbyGoogle 


-   ^•^^'^^•i  t™c6*i*«»>«': 


dbyGoogle 

I 


THE  DOE 

I  say  but  little :  her  fine  eyes  full 

Of  memories  of  my  girl,  at  Yule 

And  May-time,  make  her  dearer  than 

Dumb  brute  to  men  has  been,  I  think. 

So  dear  I  do  not  find  her  dumb. 

I  know  her  ways,  her  slightest  wink, 

So  well ;  and  to  my  hand  she  '11  come. 

Sideling,  for  food  or  a  caress. 

Just  like  a  loving  human  thiug. 

Nor  can  I  help,  I  do  confess. 

Some  touch  of  human  sorrowing 

To  think  there  may  be  such  a  doubt 

That  from  the  next  world  she  '11  be  shut  out. 

And  parted  from  me  1    And  well  I  mind 

How,  when  my  girl's  last  moments  came. 

Her  soft  eyes  very  soft  and  kind, 

She  joined  her  hands  and  prayed  the  same, 

That  she  "might  meet  her  father,  mother. 

Sister  Bess,  and  each  dear  brother. 

And  with  them,  if  it  might  be,  one 

Who  was  her  last  companion." 

Meaning  the  fawn — the  doe  you  mark — 

For  my  hay  mare  was  then  a  foa). 

And  time  has  passed  since  then : — but  hark  I' 

For  like  the  shrieking  of  a  soul 

Shut  in  a  tomb,  a  darkened  cry 

Of  inward-wailing  agony 

Surprised  them,  and  all  eyes  on  each 

Fixed  in  the  mute-appealing  speech 

Of  self-reproachful  apprehension : 

Knowing  not  what  to  think  or  do : 

But  Joan,  recovering  first,  broke  through 

The  instantaneous  suspension. 

And  knelt  upon  the  ground,  and  guessed 

The  bitterness  at  a  glance,  and  pressed 

Into  the  comfort  of  her  breast 

The  deep-throed  quaking  shape  that  drooped 

In  misery's  wilful  aggravation. 

Before  the  farmer  as  he  stooped. 

Touched  with  accusing  consternation : 


dbyGoogle 


EARLY  POEMS 

Soothing  her  aa  she  sobhed  aloud : — 

'  Not  me !  not  me  I    Oh,  no,  no,  no  I 

Not  me !    God  will  not  take  me  in  I 

Nothing  can  wipe  away  my  sin  I 

I  shall  not  see  her :  you  will  go ; 

You  and  all  that  she  loves  so : 

Not  me  I  not  me  I    Oh,  no,  no,  no  I' 

Colourless,  her  long  black  hair, 

like  seaweed  in  a  tempest  tossed 

Tangling  astray,  to  Joan's  care 

She  yielded  like  a  creature  lost : 

Yielded,  drooping  toward  the  ground, 

As  doth  a  shape  one  half-hour  drowned. 

And  heaved  from  sea  with  mast  and  spar. 

All  dark  of  its  immortal  star. 

And  on  that  tender  heart,  inured 

To  flatter  basest  grief,  and  fight 

Despair  upon  the  brink  of  night. 

She  suffered  herself  to  sink,  assured 

Of  refuge ;  and  her  ear  inclined 

To  comfort ;  and  her  thoughts  resigned 

To  counsel ;  her  wild  hair  let  brush 

From  off  her  weeping  brows ;  and  shook 

With  many  little  sobs  that  took 

Deeper-drawn  breaths,  till  into  sighs. 

Long  sighs,  they  sank;  and  to  the  'hushi' 

Of  Joan's  gentle  chide,  she  sought 

Childlike  to  check  them  as  she  ou^t, 

Looking  up  at  her  infantwise. 

And  Willie,  gazing  on  them  both, 

Shivered  with  bliss  through  blood  and  brain, 

To  see  the  darling  of  his  troth 

Like  a  maternal  angel  strain 

The  sinful  and  the  sinless  child 

At  once  on  either  breast,  and  there 

In  peace  and  promise  reconciled 

Unite  them :  nor  could  Nature's  care 

With  subtler  sweet  beneficence 

Have  fed  the  springs  of  penitence. 

Still  keeping  true,  liiough  harshly  tried, 

The  vitu  prop  of  human  pride. 


dbyGOOgI 


TO  THE  COUNTRY 

)od  and  wold, 
'era  with  cold, 
here,  day  by  day, 
ler  ray, 
•er  ditty ; 
w-mated  and  gay, 
n  every  spray — 
1  the  aongless  City  1 
>ii  and  smoke, 
inter's  grey, 
skins  away : 

intry  awaits  thee  with  pity 
ee  in  her  delight, 
thy  kindling  sight ; 
and  night, 

and  watch  for,  and  wait  thee, 
ies  can  thus  belate  thee. 

opping  their  cones, 
f  pines 

e  fresher  tones, 
le  glad  sun  shines. 

rer  the  brooks, 

decay] 

the  dead  leaves  at  play, 

live  with  the  rooks. 

^  cowslips  are  springing, 

with  king-cup  gold, 

lambs  in  the  fold, 

,  and  singing,  and  singing. 

3  when  April  is  fair, 
brighter  the  more  it  may  weep : 
erfly  wake  from  their  sleep, 
'ater  and  air. 


dbyGoogle 


RLY  POEMS 

^very  hill, 

[leys  at  eve ;  but  noon 
and  at  midnight  the  moon 
throne  to  Orion's  bright  zone, 
t  darkened  world's  repose ; 
:rD  Sinus  glows. 

of  opening  buds ; 
Dt  the  otter  that  whistles 
'mid  the  wet  winter  bristles 
ned  in  the  fattening  floods, 
lid  fish  without  fear  of  a  gun, 
ihield  him,  and  thou  vilt  shun ! 
I  under  the  sun 
bounty  of  Spring  doth  dwell 
ow,  in  the  waters  that  run, 
man  as  well. 


:et  o'  the  year 

Jl  lean  and  weak, 

om  his  famished  sleep, 

tch  doth  seek, 

can  streteh  and  leap : 

y  king-cups  burning  near 

m  'tis  the  sweet  o'  the  year. 

)rks  up  his  mound 

Idered  piny  soil, 

busy  ground 

ioy  of  earnest  toil : 

ing  pine-cones,  dry  and  sere, 

him  'tis  the  sweet  o'  the  year, 

lis  on  the  wall 

1  out  the  creature  springs, 

body  small, 

1  his  dusty  wings : 

nd  cups,  all  shining  clear, 

lim  'tis  the  sweet  o'  the  year. 


dbyGoogle 


THE  SWEET  0'  THE  YEAR  91 

Now  the  brown  bee,  wild  and  wise. 

Hums  abroad,  and  roves  and  roams. 
Storing  in  his  wealthy  thighs 

Treasure  for  the  golden  combs : 
Dewy  buds  and  blossoms  dear 
Whisper  'tis  the  sweet  o'  the  year. 
Now  the  merry  m^ds  so  fair 

Weave  the  wreaths  and  choose  the  queen, 
Blooming  in  the  open  air. 

Like  fresh  flowers  upon  the  green ; 
Spring,  in  every  thought  sincere, 
liirilJs  them  with  the  sweet  o'  the  year. 
Now  the  lads,  all  quick  and  gay. 

Whistle  to  the  browsing  herds, 
Or  in  the  twilight  pastures  grey 

Learn  the  use  of  whispered  words : 
First  a  blush,  and  then  a  tear. 
And  then  a  smile,  I'  the  sweet  o'  the  year. 
Now  the  May-fly  and  the  fish 

Play  again  from  noon  to  night; 
Every  breeze  begets  a  wish. 

Every  motion  means  delight : 

Heaven  high  over  heath  and  mere 
Crowns  with  blue  the  sweet  o'  the  year. 
Now  all  Nature  is  alive. 

Bird  and  beetle,  man  and  mole; 
Bee-like  goes  the  human  hive, 

Lark-like  sings  the  soaring  soul : 
Hearty  faith  and  honest  cheer 
Welcome  in  the  sweet  o'  the  year. 


AUTUMN  EVEN-SONG 

The  long  cloud  edged  with  streaming  grey 

Soars  from  the  West ; 
The  red  leaf  mounts  with  it  away, 

Showing  the  nest 
A  blot  among  the  branches  bare : 
Tbete  b  a  cry  of  outcasts  in  the  air. 


dbyGoogle 


EVEN-SONG 

izes,  darting  chill, 

vn  the  lake ; 

m  the  yellow  hill, 

ts  wake 

r  labouring  rooks : 

;  light  the  river  looks. 

les  of  the  old  hall 

the  lone  space 

nset  and  the  squall ; 

ts  face 

nmers  to  the  la^t : 

ghty  minstrels  in  the  blast. 

itted  roadways  shine 

reen  light 

Br  and  the  pine  : 

lundering  night ! 

earth  with  hoards  of  storm : 

lottage  beckoos  warm. 


OF  COURTESY 


vas  led  to  his  bridal-bed, 
I  in  scorn  God-sped : — 
eltr 
e  n-ithin 

as  a  snake's  old  skin ; 

sin! 
ceable, 
nbraceable ; 

on  a  hag's  chin ! — 
as  should  we, 

fire  knew  he : 
ght  of  Courtesy. 


'  he  lay  beside 
reet  his  bride. 


dbyGoogle 


THE  SONG  OF  COURTESY 

niiat  think  you  he  did? 

O,  to  spare  her  pain. 
And  let  not  his  loathing  her  loatbliness  vain 

Mirror  too  plain, 

Sadly,  sighingly. 

Almost  dyingly, 
ISimed  he  and  kissed  her  once  and  again. 
Like  Sir  Gawain,  gentles,  should  we? 
SUcnt,  all  I     But  for  pattern  agree 
There  's  none  like  the  Knight  of  Courtesy- 


Sir  Gawain  sprang  up  amid  laces  and  curb : 
Kisses  arc  not  wasted  pearls : — 
What  clung  in  his  arms? 

O,  a  maiden  flower. 
Burning  with  blushes  the  sweet  bride-bower. 

Beauty  her  dower ! 

Breathing  perfumingly ; 

Shall  I  live  bloomingly. 
Said  she,  by  day,  or  the  bridal  hour? 
Thereat  he  clasped  her,  and  whispered  he. 
Thine,  rare  bride,  the  choice  shall  be. 
Said  ^e.  Twice  blest  is  Courtesy  I 


Of  gentle  Sir  Gawain  they  faad  no  sport. 
When  it  was  morning  in  Arthur's  court; 
What  think  you  they  cried? 

Now,  life  and  eyes ! 
This  bride  is  the  very  Saint's  dream  of  a  prize, 

Fresh  from  the  skies '. 

See  ye  not,  Courtesy 

Is  the  true  Alchemy, 
Turning  to  gold  all  it  touches  and  tries? 
Like  the  true  knight,  so  may  we 
Make  the  basest  that  there  be 
Beautiful  by  Courtesy  1 


dbyGoogle 


THE  THREE  MAIDENS 

There  were  three  maidens  met  on  the  highway ; 

The  sun  was  down,  the  ni^t  was  late : 
And  two  sang  loud  with  the  hirds  of  May, 

O  the  nightingale  is  merry  with  its  mate. 

Said  they  to  the  youngest.  Why  walk  you  there  so  still  ? 

The  land  is  dark,  the  night  is  late : 
O,  but  the  heart  in  my  side  is  ill, 

And  the  nightingale  will  languish  for  its  mate. 

Said  they  to  the  youngest,  Of  lovers  there  is  store ; 

The  moon  mounts  up,  the  night  b  late : 
O,  I  shall  look  on  man  no  more. 

And  the  nightingale  is  dumb  without  its  mate. 

Said  they  to  the  youngest.  Uncross  your  arms  and  sing ; 

The  moon  mounts  high,  the  night  is  late : 
O  my  dear  lover  can  hear  no  thing, 

And  the  nightingale  sings  only  to  its  mate. 

They  slew  him  in  revenge,  and  his  true-love  was  his  lure  ; 

The  moon  is  pale,  the  night  is  late : 
His  grave  is  shallow  on  the  moor ; 

0  the  nightingale  is  dying  for  its  mate. 

His  blood  is  on  his  breast,  and  the  moss-roots  at  hb  hair ; 

The  moon  is  chill,  the  night  is  late : 
But  I  will  lie  beside  him  there : 

O  the  nightingale  is  dying  for  its  mate. 


OVER  THE  HILLS 

The  old  hound  wags  his  shaggy  tail, 
I  know  what  he  would  say : 
the  hills  we  'II  bound,  old  hound, 
the  bills,  and  away. 

lought  for  us  here  save  to  count  the  dock, 

hang  the  head  all  day : 

the  hills  we  '11  bound,  old  hound, 

the  hills  and  away. 


dbyGoogle 


OVER  THE  HILLS 

Here  among  men  we  're  like  the  deer 

That  yonder  b  our  prey : 
So,  over  the  hills  we  '11  bound,  old  hound, 
'    Over  the  hills  and  away. 

The  hypocrite  is  master  here. 

But  he  's  the  cock  of  clay : 
So,  over  the  hills  we  '11  bound,  old  hound. 

Over  tile  hills  and  away. 

The  women,  they  shall  sigh  and  smile. 
And  madden  whom  they  may : 

It 's  over  the  hills  we  '11  bound,  old  hound. 
Over  the  hills  and  away. 

Let  silly  lads  in  couples  run 

To  pleasure,  a  wicked  fay : 
1^  ours  on  the  heather  to  bound,  old  hound. 

Over  the  hills  and  away. 

Hie  torrent  glints  under  the  rowan  red, 
And  shakes  the  bracken  spray : 

What  joy  on  the  heather  to  bound,  old  hound. 
Over  the  hilb  and  away. 

The  suD  bursts  broad,  and  the  heathery  bed 
Is  purple,  and  orange,  and  gray : 

Away,  and  away,  we  '11  bound,  old  hound. 
Over  the  hills  and  away. 


JUGGLING  JERRY 


Pitch  here  the  tent,  while  the  old  horse  grazes : 

By  the  old  hedge-mde  we  'II  halt  a  stage. 
It 's  nigh  my  last  above  the  daisies : 

My  next  leaf  '11  be  man's  blank  page. 
Yes,  my  old  prl !  and  it 's  no  use  crying : 

Juggler,  constable,  king,  must  bow. 
One  that  outjuggles  all 's  been  spying 

Long  to  have  me,  and  he  has  me  now. 


dbyGoogle 


JUGGLING  JERRY 


I,  lass,  have  lived  no  gipsy,  flaunting 

Finery  while  his  poor  helpmate  grubs : 
Coin  I  've  stored,  and  you  woa't  be  wanting: 

You  shan't  beg  from  the  troughs  and  tul:». 
Nobly  you  've  stuck  to  me,  though  in  bis  kitchen 

Many  a  Marqub  would  bail  you  Cook ! 
Palaces  you  could  have  ruled  and  grown  rich  in. 

But  your  old  Jerry  you  never  forsook. 


Hand  up  the  chirper !  ripe  ale  winks  in  it ; 

Let 's  have  comfort  and  be  at  peace. 
Once  a  stout  draught  made  me  light  as  a  lionet. 

Cheer  up !  the  Lord  must  have  his  lease. 
May  be — for  none  see  in  that  black  hollow — 

It 's  just  a  place  where  we  're  held  in  pawn. 
And,  when  the  Great  Juggler  makes  as  to  swallow. 

It 's  just  the  sword-trick — I  un't  quite  gone  I 


Yonder  came  smells  of  the  gorse,  so  nutty, 

Gold-like  and  wann :  it 's  the  prime  of  May. 
Better  than  mortar,  brick  and  putty, 

Is  God's  house  on  a  blowing  day. 
Lean  me  more  up  the  mound ;  now  I  feel  it : 

All  the  old  heath-smells!    Ain't  it  strange? 
There 's  the  world  laughing,  as  if  to  conceal  it. 

But  He 's  by  us,  juggling  the  change. 


I  mind  it  well,  by  the  sea-beach  lying. 

Once — it 's  long  gone — when  two  gulls  we  beheld. 
Which,  as  the  moon  got  up,  were  flying 

Down  a  big  wave  that  sparked  and  swelled. 
Crack,  went  a  gun :  one  fell :  the  second 

Wheeled  round  him  twice,  and  was  oS  for  new  luck: 
There  in  the  dark  her  white  wing  beckon'd  : — 

Drop  me  a  kiss — I  'm  the  bird  dead-atnick  1 


dbyGoogle 


THE  CROWN  OF  LOVE 

O  MIGHT  I  load  my  arms  with  thee, 

Like  that  young  lover  of  Romance 
Who  loved  and  gained  90  gloriously 

The  fair  Princess  of  France  I 
Because  he  dared  to  love  so  high, 

He,  bearing  her  dear  weight,  shall  speed 
To  where  the  mountain  touched  on  sky : 

So  the  proud  king  decreed. 
Unhalting  he  must  bear  her  on. 

Nor  pause  a  space  to  gather  breath. 
And  on  the  height  she  will  be  won ; — 

And  she  was  won  in  death  I 
Red  the  far  summit  flames  with  mom. 

While  in  the  plain  a  glistening  Court 
Surrounds  the  king  who  practised  acorn 

Through  such  a  mask  of  sport. 
She  leans  into  his  arms ;  she  lets 

Her  lovely  shape  be  clasped :  he  fares. 
God  speed  him  whole  1    The  knights  make  bets : 

The  ladies  lift  soft  prayers, 

O  have  you  seen  the  deer  at  chase  ? 

O  have  you  seen  the  wounded  kiteT 
So  boundingly  he  runs  the  race. 

So  wavering  grdws  his  fii|^t. 
— My  lover !  linger  here,  and  slake 

Thy  thirst,  or  me  thou  wilt  not  win. 
— See'st  thou  the  tumbled  heavens  T  they  break  I 

They  beckon  us  up  and  in. 
— Ah,  hero-love  t  unloose  thy  hold : 

0  drop  me  like  a  cursM  thing. 
— See'st  thou  the  crowded  swards  of  goldT 

They  wave  to  us  Rose  and  Ring. 
— O  death-white  mouth  I    0  cast  me  down ! 

Thou  diest?    Then  with  thee  I  die. 
—See'st  thou  the  angels  with  their  Crown? 

We  twain  have  reached  the  sky. 


dbyGoogle 


Tar  Stmi  n"  3nn. 
TTatf  -THicn  le'TS- 


T)  ibwne  the  aiiRNid : 

Sttw  it.  se^^r. 

And  vidi  one  bknr. 


dbyGoogle 


THE  HEAD  OF  BRAN  THE  BLEST 

'  Be  it  written, 

Tliat  all  I  wrought 
Waa  for  Britain, 

Id  deed  and  thought : 
Be  it  written, 

That  while  I  di^\ 
Glory  to  Britain !  '•  •'  .*"■ 

Is  my  last  cry.  ■...•.* 

' Glory  to  Britain !  ' •',;•''... 

Death  echoes  me  rouira,*'* "". 
Gloiy  to  Britain !  .-'  _>  ,^ 

The  worid  shall  resound.    "'•*•*• . 
Glory  to  Britain !  •',.■' ". 

In  niin  and  fall, 
Glory  to  Britain ! 

Is  heard  over  all.' 


Bum,  Sun,  down  the  seal 
Bran  lies  low  with  thee. 

Burst,  Mom,  from  the  main  I 
Bran  so  shall  rise  again. ' 

Blow,  Wind,  from  the  field  1 
Bran's  Head  is  the  Briton's  shield. 

Beam,  Star,  in  the  West  I 

Bright  bums  the  Head  of  Bran  the  Blest 


Crimson-footed,  like  the  stork, 

From  great  ruts  of  slaughter. 
Warriors  of  the  Golden  Torque  • 

Cross  the  lifting  water. 
Princes  seven,  enchaining  hands. 

Bear  the  live  head  homeward. 
Lo  I  it  speaks,  and  still  commands : 

Gazbg  far  out  foamward. 


dbyGoogle 


HE  MEETING 

of  lightning  sense 
he  hollows  thunder; 
h  know  not  whence 
the  speech,  and  wonder. 
i,o,n  the  steep, 
th«  f»ithful  Seven 
!dnight,  hear,  in  sleep, 
BT  under  heaven. 
taing  on  the  mere, 
»stle  shadow, 
their  heads,  and  Fear 
Jie  miaty  meadow. 
:1  it  is  not  Death 
g  dark  espousal : 
id  of  endless  breath, 
giog  carousal  1 
rn  1  a  health  is  drunk, 
lat  shall  keep  going : 
he  pebble  sunk ; 
the  circle  growing  I 
dge  the  Head  of  Bran ! 
lis  lead  they  follow, 
leads  in  Britain  plan 
Death  cannot  swalloV  I 

IE  MEETING 

-road  through  a  common  of  furze, 

lis  of  pine,  ran  white ; 

iron,  with  thistles,  and  burrs, 

r-threads,  droop'd  in  the  light. 

thin  blue  veil  peered  sick ; 

I  grazed  close  and  still ; 

a  farm  by  a  yellow  rick 

lily  under  a  hill. 

he  round  of  the  silver  net ; 

the  swift  bird  chased ; 

filers  moved  and  met 

tt  hazy  waste. 


Digitized  byGOOgIC 


THE  BEGGAR'S  SOLILOQUY  1 

One  was  a  girl  with  a  babe  that  throve. 

Her  ruin  and  her  bliss ; 
One  was  a  youth  with  a  Uwless  love, 

WTio  clasped  it  the  more  for  thb. 

The  girl  for  her  babe  hummed  prayerful  speech ; 

The  youth  for  his  love  did  pray ; 
Each  cast  a  wistful  look  on  each, 

And  either  went  their  way. 

THE  BEGGAR'S  SOLILOQUY 


Now,  this,  to  my  notion,  is  pleasant  cheer. 

To  lie  all  alone  on  a  ragged  heath, 
Where  your  nose  isn't  sniffing  for  bones  or  beer. 

But  a  peat-fire  smells  like  a  garden  beneath. 
The  cottagers  bustle  about  the  door. 

And  ^e  girl  at  the  window  ties  her  strings. 
She  's  a  dish  for  a  man  who  's  a  mind  to  be  poor; 

Lord  I  women  are  such  expensive  things. 


We  don't  marry  beggars,  says  she :  why,  no : 

It  seems  that  to  make  'em  is  what  you  do ; 
And  as  I  can  cook,  and  scour,  and  sew, 

1  needn't  pay  half  my  victuals  for  you. 
A  man  for  himself  should  be  able  to  scratch, 

But  tickling 's  a  luxury : — love,  indeed  I 
Love  bums  as  long  as  the  lucifer  match, 

Wedlock  's  the  candle !    Now,  that 's  my  creed. 


The  church-bells  sound  water-like  over  the  wheat ; 

And  up  the  long  path  troop  pair  after  pair. 
The  man 's  well-brushed,  and  the  woman  looks  neat: 

It 's  man  and  woman  everywhere ! 
Unless,  like  me,  you  lie  here  flat. 

With  a  donkey  for  friend,  you  must  have  a  wife : 
She  pulls  out  your  hair,  but  she  brushes  your  hat. 

Appearances  make  the  best  half  of  life. 


dbyGoogle 


,  ^BBK  .  x^  onvx  VT=2.  i^  softest  ot  taps, 
^^M  wM  "^  ne^K  ^9'  a  taUowy  face ! 


dbyGoogle 


THE  BEGGAR'S  SOLILOQUY 


On  the  contrary,  I  'm  Conservative  quite ; 

There 's  beggara  in  Scripture  'mongst  Gentiles  and 
Jews: 
It  '3  nonsense,  trying  to  set  things  right. 

For  if  people  will  give,  why,  who  '11  refuse  T 
That  stopping  old  custom  wakes  my  spleen : 

The  poor  and  the  rich  both  in  giving  agree : 
Your  tight-fisted  sbopmaii  'a  the  Radical  mean : 

Tliere  's  nothing  in  conunon  'twixt  him  and  me. 


He  says  I  'm  no  use  I  but  I  won't  reply. 

You  're  lucky  not  being  of  use  to  him  I 
On  week-days  he  's  playing  at  Spider  and  Fly, 

And  on  Sundays  he  sings  about  Cherubim  I 
Nailing  shillings  to  counters  is  his  chief  work  : 

He  nods  now  and  then  at  the  name  on  his  door: 
But  judge  of  us  two,  at  a  bow  and  a  smirk, 

I  tUnk  I  'm  Ms  match :  and  I  'm  honest — that  'b 


No  use  I  well,  I  mayn't  be.    You  ring  a  pig's  snout. 

And  then  call  the  animal  glutton  1    Now,  he, 
Mr.  Shopman,  he 's  nought  but  a  pipe  and  a  spout 

Who  won't  let  the  goods  o'  this  world  pass  free, 
Tlis  blazing  blue  weather  all  round  the  brown  crop. 

He  can't  enjoy !  all  but  cash  he  hates. 
He 's  only  a  snail  that  crawb  under  bis  shop ; 

Though  he  has  got  the  ear  o'  the  magistrates. 


Now,  giving  and  taking  '3  a  proper  exchange. 

Like  question  and  answer :  you  're  both  content. 

But  buying  and  selling  seems  always  strange ; 

You  're  hostile,  and  that 's  the  thing  that 's  meant. 


dbyGoogle 


re  no  pride 


e  chaps  to 


-hnghol 


dbyGoogle 


BY  THE  ROSANNA' 


Stakebr  Thal,  Ttbol. 
The  old  grey  Alp  has  caught  the  cloud, 
And  the  torrent  river  sings  aloud ; 
The  glacier-green  Rosanoa  sings 
An  organ  song  of  its  upper  springs. 
Foaming  under  the  tiers  of  pine, 
I  see  it  dash  down  the  dark  ravine, 
And  it  tumbles  the  rocks  in  boisterous  play, 
With  an  earnest  will  to  find  its  way. 
Sharp  it  throws  out  an  emerald  shoulder, 

And,  thundering  ever  of  the  mountain. 
Slaps  in  sport  some  giant  boulder. 

And  tops  it  in  a  silver  fountain. 
A  chain  of  foam  from  end  to  end. 
And  a  solitude  so  deep,  my  friend. 
You  may  forget  that  man  abides 
Beyond  the  great  mute  mountain-sides. 
Yet  to  me,  in  this  high-walled  solitude 
Of  river  and  rock  and  forest  rude. 
The  roaring  voice  through  the  long  white  chain 
Is  the  voice  of  the  world  of  bubble  and  brain. 


I  Gnd  it  where  I  sought  it  least ; 
I  sought  the  mountain  and  the  beast. 
The  young  thin  air  that  knits  the  nerves, 
The  chamois  ledge,  the  snowy  curves ; 
Earth  in  her  whiteness  looking  bold 
To  Heaven  for  ever  as  of  old. 

And  lo,  if  I  translate  the  sound 
Now  thundering  in  my  ears  around, 
'Tis  London  rushing  down  a  hill. 
Life,  or  London ;  which  you  will ! 


dbyGoogle 


ROSANNA 

a  follow  the  bubble, 
bo  hurry  and  eddy, 
pasaioD,  and  trouble  I 
true,  though  unsteady. 

>ar  aod  the  strife, 

life  I 

ndmost,  too ; 

las  a  beauty  in  view; 

lasing  the  rocks : 

es,  and  wooing  of  blocks. 

Dt  monotoue 

niix'd  with  shrieks ; 

;'s  stifled  moan, 

ible  usurer,  tweaks. 

bellows  the  Topic ; 

lay  clean  for  a  penny : 

roscopic 

ves  in  the  face  of  the  many. 

13  the  word, 

:he  volume  gone, 
uty,  undeterred : 
s  we  both 
ward,  willing  or  loth. 

your  mood, 
10  think  it  sad 
on  your  haunts  intrude, 
1  're  hunting  the  bubble  like  mad  ? 

ise  the  Nymph 
alone; 

in  a  region  of  lymph, 
s  evade  your  own. 

i  wistfully 

ipe,  tender  and  fresh ; 
thless,  or  kiss'd  fully, 
red  of  flesh. 


Digitized  byGOOgIC 


BY  THE  ROSANNA  H 

She  dances,  and  gleams,  now  under  the  wave. 
Now  on  a  fem-branch,  or  fox-glove  bell ; 

ITiro'  a  wreath  of  the  bramble  she  eyes  me  grave; 
She  has  a  secret  she  will  not  tell. 

But  if  I  follow  her  more  and  more. 

If  1  hold  her  sacred  to  each  lone  spot. 
She  'II  tell  me — what  I  knew  before ; 

For  the  secret  is,  that  she  can't  be  caught  I 

She  lives,  I  swear !    We  join  hands  there. 
But  what 's  her  use?    Can  you  declare? 
If  she  serves  no  purpose,  she  must  take  wing : 
Art  stamps  her  for  an  ugly  thing. 

Will  she  fly  with  the  old  gods,  or  join  with  the  new  ? 

Is  she  made  of  the  stuff  for  a  thorough  alliance? 
Or,  standing  alone,  does  she  dare  to  go  thro' 

The  ordeal  of  a  scrutiny  of  Science  ? 

What  say  you,  if,  in  this  retreat, 

While  she  poises  tiptoe  on  yon  granite  slab,  man, 
I  introduce  her,  shy  and  sweet, 

To  a  short-neck'd,  many-caped,  London  cabman  ? 

You  gasp  I  she  totters  I    And  is  it  too  much  ? 
Mayn't  he  take  off  his  hat  to  her  ?  hope  tor  a  touch  ? 
Get  one  kind  curtsey  of  atrial  grace 
For  his  most  liberal  grimace  ? 

It  would  do  him  a  world  of  good,  poor  devil  I 
And  Science  makes  equal  on  this  level : 
Remember  that ! — and  his  friend,  the  popular 
Mr.  Professor,  learned  and  jocular. 
Were  he  to  inspect  her,  and  call  her  a  foam-bow, 
I  very  much  fear  it  would  prove  a  bome-blow. 
We  couldn't  save  her ! — she  'd  vanish,  fly ; 

Tlio'  she 's  more  than  that,  as  we  know  right  well ; 
But  who  shall  expound  to  a  hard  cold  eye 

The  infinite  impalpable  ? 

A  Queen  on  sufferance  must  not  act 
My  lady  Scornful : — thus  presuming. 


dbyGoogle 


}  BY  THE  HOSANNA 

If  Sentiment  won't  wed  with  Fact, 
Poor  Sentiment  soon  needs  perfuming. 

Let  her  curtsey  with  becoming  tact 
To  cabman  caped  and  poet  blooming ! — 

No,  I  wouldn't  mix  Porter  with  Montepulciano ! 

I  ask  you  merely,  without  demanding. 
To  give  a  poor  beggar  his  buon'  mono  : — 

Make  my  meaning  large  with  your  understanding ! 

The  cicada  sits  spinning  his  wheel  on  the  tree ; 
The  little  green  lizard  slips  over  the  stone 
Like  water :  the  waters  flash,  and  the  cone 

Drops  at  my  feet.    Say,  how  shall  it  be? 

Your  Nymph  is  on  trial.    Will  she  own 
Her  parentage  Humanity  ? 
Of  her  essence  these  things  but  form  a  part ; 
Her  heart  comes  out  of  the  human  heart. 

Tremendous  Thought,  which  I  scarce  dare  blab,  man ! 
The  soul  she  yet  lacks — the  illumination 
Immortal ! — it  strikes  me  like  inspiration. 

She  must  get  her  that  soul  by  wedding  the  cabman ! 

Don't  ask  me  why  : — when  Instinct  speaks. 

Old  Mother  Reason  is  not  at  home. 
But  how  gladly  would  dance  the  days  and  the  weeks ! 

And  the  sky,  what  a  mirth -em  bracing  dome ! 
If  round  sweet  Poesy's  waist  were  curl'd 
The  arm  of  him  who  drives  the  world ! 

Could  she  claim  a  higher  conquest,  she? 
And  a  different  presence  bis  would  be  1 
I  see  him  lifting  hb  double  chin 

On  his  three-fold  comforter,  snifBng  and  smirking. 
And  showing  us  all  that  the  man  within 

Has  had  his  ideas  of  her  secretly  lurking. 

Confess  that  the  sight  were  as  fine — ay,  as  fair  I 
As  if  from  a  fire-ball  in  mid-air 
She  glow'd  before  you  woman,  spreading 
With  hands  the  hair  her  foot  was  treading  I 


dbyGOOgl^ 


BY  THE  ROSANNA  111 

'Twere  an  effort  for  Nature  both  ways,  and  which 

The  mightier  I  can't  aver; 
If  we  screw  ourselves  up  to  a  certain  pitch, 

She  meets  us — that  I  know  of  her. 

She  is  ready  to  meet  the  grim  cabman  half-way  I 

Now  1  and  where  better  than  here,  where,  with  thunder 
Of  waters,  she  might  bathe  his  clay, 
^       And  enter  him  by  the  gate  of  wonder? 

It  takes  him  doubtless  long  to  peel. 

Who  wears  at  least  a  dozen  capes : 

'  Yet  if  but  once  she  makes  bim  feel, 

The  Man  comes  of  hb  multiform  shapes. 

To  make  him  feel,  friend,  is  not  easy. 

/  once  did  nourish  that  ambition  : 
But  there  he  goes,  purple,  and  greasy,  and  wheezy. 

And  waits  a  greater  and  truer  magician  1 

Hark  to  the  wild  Rosanna  cheering ! 

Never  droops  she,  while  changing  clime 
At  every  leap,  the  levels  nearing: 

F^th  in  ourselves  is  faith  in  Time  I 

And  faith  in  Nature  keeps  the  force 

We  have  in  us  for  daily  wear. 
Come  from  thy  keen  Alps  down,  and,  hoarse, 

Tell  to  the  valleys  the  tale  I  bear, 

0  River! 

Now,  my  friend,  adieu ! 
In  contrast,  and  in  likeness,  you 
Have  risen  before  me  from  the  tide. 
Whose  channel  is  narrow,  whose  noise  is  wide; 
Whose  rage  is  that  of  your  native  seas ; 
Buzzing  of  battle  like  myriad  bees. 
Which  you  have  heard  on  the  Euxine  shore 

Sounding  in  earnest.     Here  have  I  placed 
Tile  delicate  spirit  with  which  you  adore 

Dame  Nature  in  lone  haunts  embraced. 
Have  I  frighted  it,  frail  thing,  aghast? 

1  have  shown  it  the  way  to  live  and  last  I 


dbyGoogle 


ng  links  of  foam 
ih  home, 

1  hear  them  bellow, 
tand  of  a  gallant  fellow ! 

g  here,  and  they 
u  far  away. 

and  the  aah-pale  peaks, 
to  my  cheeks, 
eck'd,  clear  light  green— 
3  course  be  seen, 
emerald  shoulder, 
■  of  the  mountain, 
at  boulder, 
r  fountain. 


e  Toes, 

passionate  Wili, 
:«t  rose, 
village  lily. 


en  I  took  flight 
ity  whose  carol 
;r's  loud  in  the  night, 
is  barrel. 


:  Alps  to  scale, 
ing  river ; 
t  like  a  gale, 
;hts  in  a  quivn. 

ipe,  and  vine 
under  my  vision, 
th  the  green-eyed  wine 
my  head  for  admission. 


dbyGoogle 


J 


I  held  the  village  lily  cheap, 

And  the  dmuD  around  her  idle : 

Lo,  quietly  as  I  lay  to  sleep, 

The  bells  led  me  off  to  a  bridal. 


My  bride  wore  the  hood  of  a  B^guine, 
And  mine  was  the  foot  to  falter"; 

Three  cowled  monks,  rat-eyed,  were  seen ; 
The  Cross  was  of  bones  o'er  the  altar. 


The  Cross  waa  of  bones ;  the  priest  that  read, 

A  spectacled  necromancer : 
But  at  the  fourth  word,  the  bride  I  led 

Changed  to  an  Opera  dancer. 


A  young  ballet-beauty,  who  perked  in  her  place, 

A  darling  of  pink  and  spangles ; 
One  fair  foot  level  with  her  face, 

And  the  hearts  of  men  at  her  ankles. 


She  whirled,  she  twirled,  the  mock-priest  grinned. 
And  quickly  his  m^k  unriddled ; 

TwBS  Adnan  I  loud  his  old  laughter  dinned ; 
Then  he  seized  a  fiddle,  and  fiddled. 


He  fiddled,  he  glowed  with  the  bottomless  fire, 

like  Sathanas  in  feature : 
All  through  me  He  fiddled  a  wolfish  desire 

To  dance  wiUi  that  bright  creature. 


And  gathering  courage  I  said  to  my  soul. 

Throttle  the  thing  that  hinders  ! 
When  the  tliree  cowled  monks,  from  black  as  coal. 

Waxed  hot  as  furnace-cinders. 


dbyGoogle 


twiriing:  they  leapt  between-whiles: 
ered  with  laughter : 
lown  the  awful  aisles, 
iding  after. 

XIII 

s,  by  the  fretted  walls, 
thic  arches : — 
Lck  confession's 
ubbing  his  marches. 


stone  warriors  frowned, 
mts  strode  forward : 
;  them  from  holy  ground ; 
d  them  nor'ward. 


he  great  cathedral  door ; 
ley  traversed  ocean : 
n  its  boiling  floor, 
id  commotion. 


alleys  they  spun  like  tops : 
'or  ages  and  ages, 
ife  bereft  of  stops, 
intinuous  pages. 

XVII 

;e  awake, 

?ith  the  fever  fretting, 

■rest-lake, 

the  moon  were  netting. 


lite,  by  the  curls 

lat  leaves  hung  swaying. 

twining  girls 

rd,  long  locks  disarraying. 


dbyGoogle 


Tbeir  cheeks  had  the  satin  frost-glow  of  the  moon ; 

Their  eyea  the  fire  of  Sirius. 
TTiej'  circled,  and  droned  a  monotonous  tune, 

Abandoned  to  love  delirious. 


Uke  lengths  of  convolvulus  torn  from  the  hedge. 

And  trailing  the  highway  over, 
TTie  dreamy-eyed  mistresses  circled  the  sedge. 

And  called  for  a  lover,  a  lover  1 


I  sank,  I  rose  through  seas  of  eyes. 
In  odorous  swathes  delicious : 

TTiey  fanned  me  with  impetuous  sighs, 
They  bit  me  with  kisses  vicious. 


My  ears  were  spelled,  my  neck  was  coiled. 
And  I  witli  their  fury  was  glowing, 

When  the  marbly  waters  bubbled  and  boiled 
At  a  watery  noise  of  crowing. 


They  dragged  me  low  and  low  to  the  lake : 
Their  kisses  more  stormily  showered ; 

On  the  emerald  brink,  in  the  white  moon's  wake. 
An  earthly  damsel  cowered. 


Fresh  heart-sobs  shook  her  knitted  hands 

Beneath  a  tiny  suckling, 
As  one  by  one  of  the  doleful  bands 

Dived  like  a  fairy  duckling. 

XXV 

And  now  my  turn  had  come — O  me ! 

What  wisdom  was  mine  that  second  I 
I  dropped  on  the  adorer's  knee ; 

To  that  sweet  figure  I  beckoned. 


dbyGoogle 


PHANTASY 

ne !  for  now  I  know 
that  Nature  gave  me, 
t  honest  love  I  know : — 
lily  I  save  me  1 


and  the  alaterhood, 
lassioD-born  phantoma  are  fleeing ! 
lie  to  flesh  and  blood 
b  own  being ! 


alse  to  flesh  and  blood 
he  star  within  him : 
d  hungry  sisterhood 
le  tides  shall  win  bim  I 


save  me  I  save  I 
1  is  with  the  holy ; — 
ered  to  feel  the  wave, 
nkiag  slowly : — 


ave  and  the  under-tug 
es,  when — starting  and  shrin) 
the  water-jug  1 
with  mom  is  blioking. 


sunny  pnme 
reak  and  arbour : 
telfry -chime 

Sevilla's  Barber. 


dbyGoogle 


THE  OLD  CHARTIST 


Whate'er  I  be,  old  Eogland  is  my  dam  I 

So  there  '3  my  answer  to  the  judges,  clear 
I  'm  nothing  of  a  fox,  nor  of  a  lamb ; 
I  don't  know  how  to  bleat  nor  how  to  leer : 

I  'm  for  the  nation  ! 
That 's  why  you  see  me  by  the  wayside  here, 
Ketuming  home  from  transportation. 


It 's  Summer  in  her  bath  this  mom,  I  think. 
I  'm  fresh  as  dew,  and  chirpy  as  the  birds : 
And  just  for  joy  to  see  old  England  wink 
Thro'  leaves  again,  I  could  harangue  the  herds : 

Isn't  it  something 
To  speak  out  like  a  man  when  you  've  got  words. 
And  prove  you  're  not  a  stupid  dumb  thing? 


Hiey  shipp'd  me  off  for  it ;  I  'm  here  again. 

Old  England  is  my  dam,  whate'er  I  be ! 

Says  I,  I  'II  tramp  it  home,  and  see  the  grain: 

'      If  yOu  see  well,  you  're  king  of  what  you  see : 

Eyesight  is  having, 
L     If  you  're  not  given,  I  said,  to  gluttony. 
'    Such  talk  to  ignorance  sounds  as  raving. 


You  dear  old  brook,  that  from  his  Grace's  park 

Come  bounding  1  on  you  run  near  my  old  town : 
My  lord  can't  lock  the  water ;  nor  the  lark. 
Unless  he  kills  him,  can  my  lord  keep  down. 

Up,  is  the  song-note  I 
I  've  tried  it,  too : — for  comfort  and  renown, 
I  rather  pitch'd  upon  the  wrong  note. 


dbyGoogle 


THE  OLD  CHARTIST 


[  'm  not  ashamed :  Not  beaten  'a  still  my  boast : 

Again  I  '11  rouse  the  people  up  to  strike. 
But  home  's  where  different  politics  jar  most. 
Resffectability  the  women  like. 

Thifl  form,  or  that  form, — 
The  Government  may  be  hungry  pike, 
But  don't  you  mount  a  Chartist  platform  I 


Well,  well  1    Not  beaten — spite  of  them,  I  shout ; 

And  my  estate  is  suffering  for  the  Cause. — 
Now,  what  b  yon  brown  water-rat  about. 
Who  washes  his  old  poll  with  busy  paws? 

What  does  he  mean  by  't? 
It 's  like  defying  all  our  natural  laws. 
For  him  to  hope  that  he  '11  get  clean  by  't. 


His  seat  b  on  a  mud-bank,  and  his  trade 

Is  dirt : — he 's  quite  contemptible ;  and  yet 
The  fellow  's  all  as  anxious  as  a  maid 
To  show  a  decent  dress,  and  dry  the  wet. 

Now  it 's  his  whisker. 
And  now  his  nose,  and  ear :  he  seems  to  get 
Each  moment  at  the  motion  brisker  I 


To  see  him  squat  like  little  chaps  at  school, 
I  could  let  fly  a  laugb  with  all  my  might. 
He  peers,  hangs  both  his  fore-paws : — bless  that  fool, 
He 's  bobbing  at  his  frill  now  1 — what  a  sight  1 

Licking  the  dish  up, 
As  if  he  thought  to  pass  from  black  to  white, 
like  parson  into  lawny  bishop. 


The  elms  and  yellow  reed-flags  in  the  sun 

Look  on  quite  grave : — the  sunlight  flecks  his  ^de  ; 

And  links  of  bindweed-flowers  round  him  run. 
And  shine  up  doubled  with  him  in  the  tide. 


dbyGoogle 


THE  OLD  CHARTIST 

/  'm  nearly  splitting. 
But  nature  seems  like  seconding  his  pride, 
And  thinks  that  his  behaviour 's  fitting. 


That  isle  o'  mud  looks  baking  dry  with  gold. 

His  needle-muzzle  still  works  out  and  in. 
It  really  is  a  wonder  to  behold. 
And  makes  me  feel  the  bristles  of  my  chin ; 

Judged  by  appearance, 
I  fancy  of  the  two  I  'm  nearer  Sin, 
And  might  as  well  commence  a  clearance. 


And  that 's  what  my  fine  daughter  said  : — she  meant : 

Pray,  hold  your  tongue,  and  wear  a  Sunday  face. 
Her  husband,  the  young  linendraper,  spent 
Much  argument  thereon  : — I  'm  their  disgrace. 

Bother  the  couple ! 
I  feel  superior  to  a  chap  whose  place 
Commands  bim  to  be  neat  and  supple. 


But  if  I  go  and  say  to  my  old  hen : 

I  'II  mend  the  gentry's  boots,  and  keep  discreet, 
Until  they  grow  loo  violent, — why,  then, 
A  warmer  welcome  1  might  chance  to  meet : 

Warmer  and  better. 
And  if  she  fancies  her  old  cock  is  beat. 
And  drops  upon  her  knees — so  let  her  I 


She  suffered  for  me : — women,  you  'II  observe, 

Don't  suffer  for  a  Cause,  but  for  a  man. 
When  I  was  in  the  dock  she  show'd  her  nerve : 
I  saw  beneath  her  shawl  my  old  tea-can 
Trembling  .  .  .  she  brought  it 
To  screw  me  for  my  work  :  she  loath'd  my  plan. 
And  therefore  doubly  kind  I  thought  it. 


Digitized  byGOOgle 


e  of  that  same  tea : 
gic  floats  like  oil, 

fellows  disagree, 
all  are  in  a  coil : 
it  pardon. 
ry  pot  will  boil 

great  Tea-garden ! 


the  Dandy's  day, 

[e  's  furbishing  his  dress,- 

— and  I  say, 

:at  amid  the  cress, — 

ard  labour ! — 

to  godliness, 

s  heaven's  neighbour  I 


3on,  my  old  boy ! 
iperiors  far  too  long, 
profit  as  my  joy, 
;nt  while  I  've  denounced  the 

later! 

le  the  sniggering  throng, 

and  my  Creator. 


er  and  his  wife 

;  taking  off  my  hat. 

'II  answer ;  in  my  life 

B  democrat, 
tion 

r  own  esteem,  old  rat  I 
the  British  nation. 


dbyGoogle 


GRANDFATHER  BRIDGEMAN 


'Heicb,  boysl'  cried  Grandfather  Bridgeman,  'it's  time 

btioK  dinner  to-day.' 
He  lifted  the  crumpled  letter,  and  thumped  a  surprising 

'Hurrah!' 
Up  jumped  all  the  echoing  young  ones,  but  John,  with  the 

starch  in  his  throat. 
Said, '  Father,  before  we  make  noises,  let  'a  see  the  contents 

of  the  note.' 
lbs  aid  man  glared  at  him  harshly,  and  twinkling  made 

answer:    'Too  bad! 
John  Bridgeman,  I  'm  always  the  whisky,  and  you  are  the 

water,  my  lad  I ' 


But  soon  it  was  known  thro'  the  house,  and  the  house  ran 

over  for  joy, 
That  news,  good  news,  great  marvels,  had  come  from  the 

soldier  boy ; 
Young  Tom,  the  luckless  scapegrace,  oflfshoot  of  Methodist 

John; 
His  grandfather's  evening  tale,  whom  the  old  man  hfdled 

as  his  son. 
And  the  old  man's  shout  of  pride  was  a  shout  of  his  victory, 

too; 
For  he  called  his  affection  a  method :  the  neighbours'  opinions 

he  knew. 


Meantime,  from  the  morning  table  removing  the  stout  break- 
fast cheer, 

He  drink  of  the  three  generations,  the  milk,  the  tea,  and 
thebeer 

(Alone  in  its  generous  reading  of  pints  stood  the  Grandfather's 

m). 

The  women  for  sight  of  the  missive  came  pressing  to  coax 
and  to  hug. 


dbyGoogle 


JEMAN 

1  smack ;  thereupon 

luDday,  the  naughty 

e  auctioneer,  miller, 
ted  in  the  range  of 
£ntiful  ladies,  prime 
fd,  in  meek  hope  to 
said,  and  the  light 
puddings  well  made 

'obin  still  piped,  but 

ces  of  larks  ringing 

ssoms  that  fell  from 

licken  the  sap. 
eadows  in  gold,  and 

the  maiden  breath 


fifteen  of  his  blood, 
that  the  dinner  was 


ing  laburnums  con- 
liair  of  the  Grand- 


d  by  Google 


GRANDFATHER  BRIDGEMAN  123 

^e  heard  one  little  child  crying,  'Dear  brave  Cousin  Tom  1' 

as  it  leapt ; 
Then  murmured  she:    'Let  me  spare  them!'  and  passed 

round  the  walnuts,  and  wept. 


Yet  not  from  sight  had  she  slipped  ere  feminine  eyes  could 

detect 
The  figure  of  Mary  Charlworth.    '  It 's  just  what  we  all  might 

expect,' 
Was  uttered:  and:  'Didn't  I   tell   you?'    Of  Mary   the 

rumour  resounds, 
That  she  is  now  her  own  mistress,  and  mbtress  of  five  thousand 

pounds. 
'Twas  she,  they  say,  who  cruelly  sent  young  Tom  to  the  war. 
Miss  Mary,  we  thank  you  now  I     If  you  knew  what  we  're 

thanking  you  for  1 


But,  'Have  her  in:    let  her  hear  it,'  called  Grandfather 

Bridgeman,  elate. 
While  Mfury's  black-gloved  fingers  hung  trembling  with  flight 

on  the  gate. 
Despite  the  women's  remonstrance,  two  little  ones,  lighter 

than  deer. 
Were  loosed,  and  Mary,  imprisoned,  her  whole  face  white  as 

a  tear. 
Came  forward  with  culprit  footsteps.     Her  punishment  was 


The  pity  in  her  pale  visage  they  read  in  a  different  sense. 


'You  perhaps  may  remember  a  fellow.  Miss  Charlworth,  a 

sort  of  black  sheep,' 
The  old  man  turned  his  tongue  to  ironical  utterance  deep : 
'  He  caraeof  a  Methodist  dad,  so  It  wasn't  his  fault  if  he  kicked. 
He  earned  a  sad  reputation,  but  Methodists  are  mortal  strict. 
His  name  was  Tom,  and,  dash  me  I  but  Bridgeman  I  think 

you  might  add : 
Whatever  he  was,  bear  in  mind  that  he  came  ot  a  Methodist 


dbyGoogle 


El  BRIDGEMAN 

E 

ened,  till  Mary,  starting,  ex~ 
randson?'  'Tom  Bridgeman 
rther,  the  words  that  sent  Tom 
to  whom  they  all  owed  mighty 
ith  her  eyes  on  the  letter,  she 
dtered,  'The  date,  may  I  ask, 

CI 

jok  at  in  a  letter,'  the  farmer 
be  parson.'  The  Bridgeman 
One  turned,  and  while  shifting 
rtaio  she  knows  more  than  we 
ro  I'  The  some,  resuming  her 
I  the  moment  she  found  it  a 


s  snarling  noises  of  cats, 

aed.    '"Three  cheers,  and  off 


iten  them,  Daddy,  and  tough 
ight  hours  smelling  powder  and 


-and  now  he  commands  asalute, 
i^glandl    Heigh  I  see  him  lift 


dbyGoogle 


GRANDFATHER  BRIDGEMAN 


' — An  officer !  ay.  Miss  Charlworth,  he  is,  or  he  is  ao  to  be ; 

You  11  own  war  isn't  such  humbug :  and  Glory  means  some- 
thing, you  see. 

"But  don't  say  a  word,"  he  continues,  "against  the  brave 
French  any  more." 

— That  stopt  me :  we  'il  now  march  together,  I  couldn't 
read  further  before. 

That "  brave  French  "  1  couldn't  stomach.  He  can't  see  their 
cunning  to  get 

Us  Britons  to  fight  their  battles,  while  best  half  the  winnings 
they  net  1' 


The  old  man  sneered,  and  read  forward.     It  was  of  that 

desperate  fight ; — 
The  Muscovite  stole  thro'  the  miat-wreatha  that  wrapped  the 

chill  Inkermann  height, 
Where  stood  our  silent  outposts :  old  England  was  in  them 

that  day  I 
O  sharp  worked  his  ruddy  wrinkles,  as  if  to  the  breath  of  the 

fray 
They  moved  1    He  sat  bareheaded :    his  long  hair  over  him 

slow 
Swung  white  aa  the  silky  bog-9owers  in  purple  heath-hollows 

that  grow. 


And  louder  at  Tom's  first  person :  acute  and  in  thunder  the 

'I' 
Invaded  the  ear  with  a  whinny  of  triumph,  that  seem'd  to 

defy 
The  hosts  of  the  world.    All  heated,  what  wonder  he  little 

could  brook 
To  catch  the  sight  of  Mary's  demure  piuitanical  look  ? 
And  still  as  he  led  the  onslaught,  bis  treacherous  side^hots 

be  sent 
At  her  who  was  fighting  a  battle  as  fierce,  and  who  sat  there 


dbyGoogle 


?TOFATHER  BRIDGEMAN 


le,  and  like  hedgehogs  the  Rus^ns  rolled 

Ic. 

me  there."— He '3  no  coward;  for  when, 

me  at  the  quick, 

ais,  was  a  breakfast. — "My  stomach  felt 

impse 

;  at  home  with  the  dear  cuddled-up  little 

e  winter  brickfields  at  midnight,  hot  fire 

It. 

iust  leashed  bloodhounds :  no  heart  of  the 

It. 

xvu 
grumbler,  Bob  Harris,  remarked  that  we 
:en: 

ick  Grady,  'just  tell  'em  they  know  how 
t  men ! ' 
our  old  words :  '  If  the  opposite  side  isn't 

ve  counted  a  dozen,  the  pluckiest  lads  have 

le  enemies'  pepper;  the  Colonel  roared, 
we 

Fwas  first  like  a  blanket :   and  then  a  long 
sea. 

xvni 
lit  me  and  the  Frenchman :  it  happened 
u  how : 
,  hear,  if  you  love  me,  and  put  aside  pre- 

Grandfather" — ^Tom  don't — aave  it  '3  a 

;  some  pits  for  the  rifles,  just  dug  od  our 

g  wing : 

nd  forwards,  and  backwards  we  went,  and 

v-exed, 

I  never  surrender  a  foot  when  the  Russians 


dbyGoogle 


GRANDFATHER  BRIDGEMAN  127 

'"I  know  that  life's  worth  keeping." — Ay,  so  it  is,  lad;  so 

itis!— 
"But  my  life  belongs  to  a  woman." — Does  that  mean  Her 

Majesty,  Miss? — 
"  These  Russians  came  lumping  and  grinning :  they  're  fierce 

at  it,  though  they  are  blocks. 
Our  fellows  were  pretty  well  pumped,  and  looked  sharp  for 

the  little  French  cocks. 
Lord,  didn't  we  pray  for  their  crowing !   when  over  us,  on  the 

hill-top, 
Behold  the  first  line  of  them  skipping,  like  kangaroos  seen 

on  the  bop. 

' "  That  sent  me  into  a  passion,  to  think  of  them  spying  our 

flight!" 
Heigb,  Tom!  you've  Bridgeman  blood,  boy!    And,  "'Face 

them  I '  I  shouted :  '  All  right ; 
Sure,  Serjeant,  we  '11  take  their  shot  dacent,  like  gentlemen,' 

Grady  replied. 
A  ball  in  his  mouth,  and  the  noble  old  Irishman  dropped  by 

my  side. 
Hien  ^ere  was  just  an  instant  to  save  myself,  when  a  short 

wheeze 
Of  bloody  lungs  under  the  smoke,  and  a  red-coat  crawled  up 

on  his  knees. 

' "  Twas  Ensign  Baynea  of  our  pariah." — Ah,  ah,  Miss  Charl- 

worth,  the  one 
Our  Tom  fought  for  a  young  lady  T    Come,  now  we  've  got 

into  the  fun ! — 
"I  shouldered  bim :  he  primed  his  pistol,  and  I  trailed  my 

musket,  prepared," 
Wfay,  that 's  a  fine  pick-a-back  for  ye,  to  make  twenty 

Russians  look  scared ! 
"  TTiey  came — never  mind  how  many ;  we  couldn't  have  run 

very  well. 
We  fought  back  to  back :  '  face  to  face,  our  lost  time  I '  he 

sud,  smiling,  and  fell. 


dbyGoogle 


ANDFATHEB  BBIDGEMAN 
xxn 

:  wild  for  liis  body :  the  beggars  saw  glittering 

0  send  to  his  mother.     I  got  some  hard  knocks 
itings, 

1  more  than  angel,  or  devil,  except  in  the  wind, 
wore  at  a  Russian  for  showing  his  teeth,  and 

lick,  as  from  heaven,  a  man  on  a  horse  rode 

swung  his  bright  sabre:  I  can't  write  you 
:  scene. 

xxm 
lb  arms,  and  half  at  his  stirrup,  he  bore  roe 

:  among  my  old  comrades :  before  I  could  tell 

north, 

hand  up,  and  kissed  it  1    Don't  ever  let  any 

.  Frenchmen,  I  near  him  I    I  can't  find  his 
I  seek. 

d  a  General,  surely  he  was,  and,  God  bless 
him 

love  a  whole  nation.'"    The  ancient  man 
iking  dim. 


half  woeful,  was  seen  on  his  face  as  he  turned 
;ach  of  his  children,  like  one  who  but  faintly 

an  old  mirror.    Then  gathering  sense  in  his 

lard  on  his  knee-cap.    'Your  hand,  Tom,  the 

]w  kissed  I 

loy's  old  pounder !   I  say  he 's  a  gentleman ! ' 

ssed  to  one  daughter ;  bade  her  the  remainder 


dbyGoogle 


GRANDFATHER  BRIDGEMAN 


Tom  properly  stated  his  praises  in  facts,  but  the  lady  pre* 

ferred 
To  deck  tbe  narration  with  brackets,  and  drop  her  additional 

word. 
What  nobler  Chrbtian  natures  these  women  could  boast,  who, 

'twas  known. 
Once  spat  at  the  name  of  their  nephew,  and  now  made  his 

praises  their  own ! 
TTk  letter  at  last  was  finished,  the  hearers  breathed  freely, 

and  sign 
Was  given, '  Tom's  health ! ' — Quoth  the  farmer :  '  Eh,  Miss  T 

are  you  weak  in  the  spine? ' 


For  Mary  bad  sunk,  and  her  body  was  shaking,  as  if  in  a  fit. 
Tom's  letter  she  held,  and  her  thumb-nail  the  month  when 

the  letter  was  writ 
Fast-dinted,  while  she  hung  sobbing:  'O,  see,  Sir,  the  letter 

b  old! 
0,  do  not  be  too  happy  I' — 'If  I  understand  you,   I'm 

bowled  t' 
Said  Grandfather  Bridgeman,  'and  down  go  my  wickets  1 — 

not  happy  I  when  here, 
Heie  's  Tom  Uke  to  marry  his  General's  daughter — or  widow 

— I  '11  swear ! 


'I  wager  he  knows  how  to  strut,  too  I    It 's  all  on  the  cards 

l£at  the  Queen 
Will  ask  him  to  Buckingham  Palace,  to  say  what  he 's  done 

and  he  's  seen. 
Victoria 's  fond  of  her  soldiers :   and  she  's  got  a  nose  for 

a  fight. 
If  Tom  tells  a  cleverish  story — there  is  such  a  thing  as  a 

knight ! 
And  don't  he  look  roguish  and  handsome! — To  see  a  girl 

snivelling  there — 
By  George,  Miss,  it 's  clear  that  you  're  jealous  I ' — '  I  love 

him ! '  she  answered  his  stare. 


dbyGoogle 


DFATHER  BRIDGEMAN 


led  the  voice  of  a  womao. — 'Ah!  now!' 
ic  reply, 
a  bit  too  lat«,  so  it  'a  oo  use  your  piping 

luifly :  '  Old  Lawyer  Charlworth  was  rich ; 
structions  in  kicking  Tom  into  the  ditdi. 
utiful  daughter,  that  doesn't  prove  Tom 

s  my  motto !  and  here 's  my  grog  growing 


XXIX 

lintly  repeated :   '  for  four  long  weeks  I 

on  you  my  burden;  such  grief  for  you 

d! 

ed  for  you ! '    The  old  man  burst  on  her 

likely  time,  Miss!  a  pretty  occasion  to 

ageous,  that  now,  of  all  times,  one  should 

lible  pity!    Far  better  had  Mary  been 


:  stammered  in  this  bewildering  way, 
^r  could  bear  it,  and  begged  her  to  go, 

pering  nonsense  at  such  a  time.    Pricked 

nt  him  to  glory : — you  've  come  here  to 

sowed. 

ed ;  and  the  silence  the  elders  preserved 

I)03om  this  begging-petition  was  read. 


Digitized  byGOOgle 


GRANDFATHER  BRIDGEMAN 


And  that  it  was  scarcely  a  bargain  that  she  who  had  driven 
him  wild 

Should  share  now  the  fruits  of  hb  valour,  the  womea  ex- 
pressed, as  they  smiled. 

The  family  pride  of  the  Bridgemans  was  comforted;  still, 
with  contempt, 

They  looked  on  a  monied  damsel  of  modesty  quite  so  exempt. 

'  0  give  me  force  to  tell  them ! '  cried  Mary,  and  even  as  ^e 
spoke, 

A  shout  and  s  hush  of  the  children :  a  vision  on  all  of  them 
broke. 


Wheeled,  pate,  in  a  chair,  and  shattered,  the  wreck  of  their 

hero  was  seen ; 
The  ghost  of  Tom  drawn  slow  o'er  the  orchard's  shadowy 

green. 
Could  this  be  the  martial  darting  they  joyed  in  a  moment 

ago? 
'He  knows  it?'  to  Mary  Tom  murmured,  and  closed  his 

weak  lids  at  her  'No.' 
'  Beloved  I '  she  said,  falling  by  him, '  I  have  been  a  coward : 

I  thought 
You  lay  in  the  foreign  country,  and  some  strange  good  might 

be  wrought. 


'Each  day  I  have  come  to  tell  him,  and  failed,  with  my  hand 

on  the  gate. 
I  bore  the  diieadful  knowledge,  and  crushed  my  heart  with  its 

weight 
The  letter  brought  by  your  comrade — he  has  but  just  read  it 

aloud! 
It  only  reached  him  tbb  morning  I '    Her  head  on  his  shoulder 

she  bowed. 
Thm  Tom  with  pity's  tenderest  lordiness  patted  her  arm. 
And  eyed  the  old  white-head  fondly,  with  something  of  doubt 

and  alarm. 


dbyGoogle 


dbjGoogle 


THE  PROMISE  IN  DISTURBANCE  • 

How  low  when  angels  fall  their  black  descent. 
Our  primal  thunder  tells  :  known  is  the  pain 
Of  music,  that  nigh  throning  wisdom  went, 
And  one  false  note  cast  wailful  to  the  insane. 
Now  seems  the  language  heard  of  Love  as  rain 
To  make  a  mire  where  truitfulness  was  meant. 
The  golden  harp  gives  out  a  jangled  strain, 
Too  like  revolt  from  heaven's  Omnipotent. 
But  listen  in  the  thought;  so  may  there  come 
Conception  of  a  newly-added  chord. 
Commanding  space  beyond  where  ear  has  home. 
In  labour  of  the  trouble  at  its  fount, 
Leads  Life  to  an  intelligible  Lord 
The  rebel  discords  up  the  sacred  mount. 


MODERN  LOVE  • 


Br  this  he  knew  she  wept  with  waking  eyes : 

That,  at  his  hand's  light  quiver  by  her  head. 

The  strange  low  sobs  that  shook  their  common  bed 

Were  called  into  her  with  a  sharp  surprise. 

And  strangled  mute,  like  little  gaping  snakes. 

Dreadfully  venomous  to  him.     She  lay 

Stone-still,  and  the  long  darkness  flowed  away 

With  muffled  pulses.    Then,  as  midnight  makes 

Her  giant  heart  of  Memory  and  Tears 

Drink  the  pale  drug  of  silence,  and  so  beat 

Sleep's  heavy  measure,  they  from  head  to  feet 

Were  moveless,  looking  through  their  dead  black  years. 

By  vain  regret  scrawled  over  the  blank  wall, 

like  sculptured  effigies  they  might  be  seen 

Upon  their  marriage-tomb,  the  sword  between  ; 

Each  wishing  for  the  sword  that  severs  all. 


dbyGoogle 


brought  the  task. 

,  that  let  him  in 

:  for  their  sio : 

each  wore  a  mask. 

T  beauty  had ! 

f  poison-flowers : 

long  the  hours, 

:ered,  he  went  mad, 

I  the  light  was  brown 

world,  forgot, 

I  dull  murder-spot. 

le  seemed  to  crown 

en  again 

neas,  and  strove 

f  love, 

dering  heap  of  pain. 

t  now  of  the  man  ? 

s  beneath  a  heel, 

le  cannot  feel, 

I  he  can. 

ig?    Only  mark 

from  her  on  him  I 

;n  her  eyes  swim 

,  leaving  dark 

mad'st  the  thing  so  fair, 

r  even  now  1 

her  cool  brow 
leet  him  there  I 

I  know  too  well 
3  overcast : 

in  the  Past. 

;h  I  heard  not  the  bell ! 


Dve  to  warm, 
lem  to  his  lip : 
wreck  with  the  ship, 
i"  from  the  storm. 


dbyGoogle 


MODERN  LOVE 

Or  if  Delusion  came,  'twas  but  to  show 
The  coming  minute  mock  the  one  that  went 
Cold  as  a  mountain  in  its  star-pitched  tent, 
Stood  high  Philosophy,  less  friend  than  foe : 
^liom  self-caged  Passion,  from  its  prison-bars. 
Is  always  watching  with  a  wondering  hate. 
Not  till  the  fire  b  dying  in  the  grate. 
Look  we  for  any  kinship  with  the  stars. 
Oh,  wisdom  never  comes  when  it  is  gold, 
And  the  great  price  we  pay  for  it  full  worth : 
We  have  it  only  when  we  are  half  earth. 
Little  avails  that  coinage  to  the  old  I 


A  message  from  her  set  his  brain  aSame. 

A  world  of  household  matters  filled  her  mind. 

Wherein  he  saw  hypocrisy  designed ; 

She  treated  him  as  sometfiing  that  is  tame, 

And  but  at  other  provocation  bites. 

Familiar  was  her  shoulder  in  the  glass. 

Through  that  dark  mn :  yet  it  may  come  to  pass 

That  a  changed  eye  finds  such  familiar  sights 

More  keenly  tempting  than  new  loveliness. 

The  ■  What  has  been '  a  moment  seemed  his  own : 

The  splendours,  mysteries,  dearer  because  known. 

Nor  less  divine :  Love's  inmost  sacredness 

Called  to  him,  'Gomel' — In  his  restraining  start. 

Eyes  nurtured  to  be  looked  at  scarce  could  see 

A  wave  of  the  great  waves  of  Destiny 

Convulsed  at  a  checked  impulse  of  the  heart. 


It  chanced  his  lips  did  meet  her  forehead  cool. 
She  had  no  blush,  but  slanted  down  her  eye. 
Shamed  nature,  then,  confesses  love  can  die : 
An?'lt)(}St  she  punishes  the  tender  fool 
Who  will  believe  what  honoura  her  the  most ! 
Dead  I  is  it  dead  t  She  has  a  pulse,  and  flow 
Of  tears,  the  price  of  blood-drops,  as  I  know. 
For  whom  the  midnight  sobs  arbund  Love's  ghost. 


dbyGoogle 


dbjGoogle 


MODERN  LOVE 

I  do  not  know  myself  without  thee  more : 
In  this  unholy  battle  I  grow  base : 
If  the  same  soul  be  under  the  same  face. 
Speak,  and  a  taste  of  that  old  time  restore  1 


He  felt  the  wild  beast  in  him  betweenwhilea 

So  masterfully  rude,  that  he  would  grieve 

To  see  the  helpless  delicate  thing  receive 

His  guardianship  through  certain  dark  defiles. 

Had  he  not  teetb  to  rend,  and  hunger  too  ? 

But  still  he  spared  her.    Once;  'Have  you  nofear?' 

He  said :  'twas  dusk ;  she  in  his  grasp ;  none  near. 

She  laughed :  '  No,  surely ;  am  I  not  with  you  ? ' 

And  uttering  that  soft  starry  'you,'  she  leaned 

Her  gentle  body  near  him,  looking  up ; 

And  from  her  eyes,  as  from  a  poison-cup. 

He  drank  until  the  flittering  eyelids  screened. 

Devilish  mahgnant  witch  I  and  oh,  young  beam 

Of  heaven's  circle-glory  I    Here  thy  shape 

To  squeeze  like  an  intoxicating  grape — 

I  might,  and  yet  thou  goest  safe,  supreme. 


But  where  began  the  change ;  and  what 's  my  crime  ? 

The  wretch  condemned,  who  has  not  been  arraigned, 

Chafes  at  his  sentence.     Shall  f,  unsustained. 

Drag  on  Love's  nerveless  body  thro'  all  time? 

I  must  have  slept,  since  now  I  wake.    Prepare, 

You  lovers,  to  know  Love  a  thing  of  moods : 

Not,  like  hard  life,  of  laws.     In  Love's  deep  woods, 

I  dreamt  of  loyal  Life : — the  offence  is  there  I 

Love's  jealous  woods  about  the  sun  are  curled ; 

At  least,  the  sun  far  brighter  there  did  beam. — 

My  crime  is,  that  the  puppet  of  a  dream, 

I  plotted  to  be  worthy  of  the  world. 

Ob,  had  I  with  my  darling  helped  to  mince 

The  facts  of  life,  you  .still  had  seen  me  go 

With  hindward  feather  and  with  forward  toe, 

Her  much-adored  delightful  Fairy  Prince  1 


dbyGoogle 


low3,  where  the  bee 

loney  of  the  Spring, 

jotes  from  the  larks  on  wing 

an-dew,  wander  we. 

.  then  ?  for  now, 

I  running  rings  pour  showera: 

y  is  on  the  flowers, 

jance  upon  her  brow. 

ture  swears  there  is  no  change 

Now,  as  then,  the  grace 
ig  earth  in  its  embrace. 
13  she  to  feel  it  strange? 
k'est.    There  wilt  thou  see 
the  sun's  decline : 
n  in  death  divine, 
slain  by  thee. 


ture  she  destroys, 

in  the  distance  lies 

out  from  dim  rich  skies : 
Dur's  supporting  joys 
ed  flavour,  which  begat 
3,  and  still  should  breed 
ope, — earth's  modest  seed, 
apting ;  not  that  the  world  is  flat 
reature  I  embraced 
Illusion  went : 
loss  I  were  content, 
lich  my  foot  is  based, 

blotted :  but  the  whole 
ocking  Past  will  stay : 

of  a  day, 
e  of  my  soul. 


it  Eternities  I' 
on  her  way.     '  So  nHist 
3  nothing  more  than  dust  I' 
•f  her  harmonies 


dbyGoogle 


MODERN  LOVE  139 

She  is  full  sure  I    Upoo  her  dying  rase 

She  drops  a  look  of  fondness,  and  goes  by. 

Scarce  any  retrospection  in  her  eye ; 

For  she  the  laws  of  growth  most  deeply  knows, 

Whose  hands  bear,  here,  a  seed-bag — there,  an  urn. 

Pledged  she  herself  to  aught,  'twould  mark  her  end ! 

This  lesson  of  our  only  visible  friend 

Can  we  not  teach  our  foolish  hearts  to  learn  1 

Yes !  yes ! — but,  oh,  our  human  rose  is  fair 

Surpassingly  1    Lose  calmly  Love's  great  bliss. 

When  the  renewed  for  ever  of  a  kiss 

Whirls  life  within  the  shower  of  loosened  hair  I 


What  soul  would  bargain  for  a  cure  that  brings 

Contempt  the  nobler  agony  to  kill  ? 

Rather  let  me  bear  on  the  bitter  ill, 

And  strike  this  rusty  bosom  with  new  stings  I 

It  seems  there  is  another  veering  fit, 

Since  on  a  gold-haired  lady's  eyeballs  pure 

I  looked  with  little  prospect  of  a  cure, 

The  while  her  mouth's  red  bow  loosed  shafts  of  wit. 

Just  heaven  I  can  it  be  true  that  jealousy 

Has  decked  the  woman  thus  ?  and  does  her  head 

Swim  somewhat  for  possessions  forfeited  ? 

Madam,  you  teach  me  many  things  that  be. 

I  open  an  old  book,  and  there  I  find 

That '  Women  still  may  love  whom  they  deceive.' 

Such  love  I  prize  not,  madam ;  by  your  leave. 

The  game  you  play  at  is  not  to  my  mind. 


I  think  she  sleeps :  it  must  be  sleep,  when  low 
Hangs  that  abandoned  arm  toward  the  floor ; 
The  face  turned  with  it.     Now  make  fast  the  door. 
Sleep  on :  it  is  your  husband,  not  your  foe. 
The  Poet's  black  stage-lion  of  wronged  love 
Frights  not  our  modern  dames . — well  if  he  did ! 
Now  will  I  pour  new  light  upon  that  lid, 
FuU-sloping  like  the  breasts  beneath.    'Sweet  dove. 


dbyGoogle 


DERN  LOVE 

Nay,  pardon :  I  disturb. 
Her  waking  infant-stare 
Jie  burden  my  hands  bear : 
ing  to  tne  when  no  curb 
>n's  tongue.    She  trembles  through; 
e — the  whole  instrument : — 
ter  lately  sent. 
y  like :  the  name  is  new. 


tcked  days  there  was  an  hour, 
;ht  steadily  aglow, 

beheld  the  red  chasm  grow 
g  coab.    Our  library-bower 
to  us :  and  hushed  we  sat 
1  Time  is  whispering, 
led  doors  we  heard  them  sing : 
S  mixed  good  wine  with  chat, 
t  Life's  greatest  treasure  lay 

was  our  talk.     '  Ah,  yes '. 
:  I  never  thought  it  less. 
i  that  sentence  to  unsay, 
e  domed  blackening,  I  found 
t  against  my  kiss,  and  swift 
!  of  sobs  her  breast  did  lift : — 
d  by  that  taste !  that  sound  I 


lostess,  I  am  host. 
er  cheerfuller?     She  keeps 
tellectual  deeps 
t.    They  see  no  ghost, 
rface-eyes  we  ply  the  ball : 
ist  contagious  game : 
ETON,  shall  be  its  name, 
the  devils  might  appal  I 
;ater  wonder ;  in  Uiat  we, 
acting  nought  can  tire, 
■ue  hypocrites,  admire ; 
(s.  Love's  ephemerioe, 


Digitized  byGOOgIC 


MODERN  LOVE  141 

Shoot  gaily  o'er  the  dbhes  and  the  wine. 

We  waken  envy  of  our  happy  lot. 

Fast,  sweet,  and  golden,  shows  the  marriage-knot. 

Dear  guests,  you  now  have  seen  Love's  corpse-light  shine. 

XVIII  * 
Here  Jack  and  Tom  are  paired  with  Moll  and  Meg. 
Curved  open  to  the  river-reach  is  seen 
A  country  merry-making  on  the  green. 
Fair  space  for  signal  shakings  of  the  leg. 
That  little  screwy  fiddler  from  his  booth, 
Whence  flows  one  nut-brown  stream,  commands  the 

joints 
Of  all  who  caper  here  at  various  points. 
I  have  known  rustic  revels  in  my  youth : 
The  May-fly  pleasures  of  a  mind  at  ease. 
An  early  goddess  was  a  country  lass : 
A  charmed  Amphion-oak  she  tripfted  the  grass. 
What  life  was  that  1  lived?    The  life  of  these? 
Heaven  keep  them  happy  1    Nature  they  seem  near. 
They  must,  I  think,  be  wiser  than  I  am ; 
They  have  the  secret  of  the  bull  and  lamb. 
Tis  true  that  when  we  trace  its  source,  'tis  beer. 

XIX 

No  state  is  enviable.    To  the  luck  alone 

Of  some  few  favoured  men  I  would  put  cl^m. 

I  bleed,  but  her  who  wounds  I  will  not  blame. 

Have  I  not  felt  her  heart  as  'twere  my  own 

Beat  thro'  me  ?  could  I  hurt  her  ?  heaven  and  hell  1 

But  I  could  hurt  her  cruelly  1    Can  I  let 

My  Love's  old  time-piece  to  another  set. 

Swear  it  can't  stop,  and  must  for  ever  swell? 

Sure,  that 's  one  way  Love  drifts  into  the  mart 

Where  goat-legged  buyers  throng.     I  see  not  plain  : — 

My  meaning  is,  it  must  not  be  again. 

Gj^t  God !  the  maddest  gambler  throws  his  heart. 

"ff  any  state  be  enviable  on  earth, 

"Tis  yon  bora  idiot's,  who,  a3  days  go  by. 

Still  rubs  his  hands  before  him,  like  a  fly. 

In  s  queer  sort  of  meditative  mirth. 


dbyGoogle 


MODERN  LOVE 


Qot  of  those  miserable  males 
iniiT  at  vice  and,  daring  not  to  snap, 
erefore  hope  for  heaven.     I  take  the  hap 
my  deeds.    The  wind  that  fills  my  saib 
Is ;  but  I  am  helmsman.     Am  1  wrecked, 
K  the  devil  has  sufficient  weight 
ar :  I  Uy  it  not  on  him,  or  fate. 
^,  he  's  damned.    That  man  I  do  suspect 
•aird,  who  would  burden  the  poor  deuce 
what  ensues  from  his  own  slipperiness. 
*  just  found  a  wanton-scented  tress 
old  desk,  dusty  for  lack  of  use. 
ys  and  nights  it  is  demonstrative, 
like  some  aged  star,  gleam  luridly, 
those  times  I  must  ask  charity, 
I  not  any  charity  to  give  T 


iree  are  on  the  cedar-shadowed  lawn ; 

iend  being  third.     He  who  at  love  once  laughed 

:he  weak  rib  by  a  fatal  shaft 

c  through,  and  telb  his  passion's  bashful  dawn 

adiant  culmination,  glorious  crown, 

'this 'she  said :  went'thus':  most  wondrous  she. 

yes  grow  white,  encountering :  that  we  are  three, 

tful ;  then  together  we  look  down. 

e  demands  our  blessing;  b  convinced 

words  of  wedded  lovers  must  bring  good. 

lestion ;  if  we  dare !  or  if  we  should ! 

lat  him,  with  light  laugh.    We  have  not  winced. 

she  has  fallen.     Fainting  points  the  sign 

ppy  things  in  wedlock.     When  she  wakes, 

loks  the  star  that  thro'  the  cedar  shakes : 

)St  moist  hand  clings  mortally  to  mine. 


may  the  woman  labour  to  confess?  ■ 
is  about  her  mouth  a  nervous  twitch. 

imething  to  be  told,  or  hidden : — which? 

[I  glimpse  of  hell  in  thb  mild  guess. 


dbyGoogle 


MODERN  LOVE 

She  has  desires  of  touch,  as  if  to  feel 

That  bU  the  household  things  are  things  she  knew. 

She  stops  before  the  glass.     What  sight  in  view? 

A  face  that  seems  the  latest  to  reveal ! 

For  she  turns  from  it  hastily,  and  tossed 

Irresolute  steals  shadow-like  to  where 

I  stand ;  and  wavering  pale  before  me  there. 

Her  tears  fall  still  as  oak-leaves  after  frosL 

She  will  not  apeak.     I  will  not  ask.     We  are 

League-sundered  by  the  silent  gulf  between. 

You  burly  lovers  on  the  village  green. 

Yours  is  a  lower,  and  a  happier  star  1 


'Tis  Christmas  weather,  and  a  country  house 
Receives  us :  rooms  are  full :  we  can  but  get 
An  attic-crib.     Such  lovers  will  not  fret 
At  that,  it  b  half-said.    The  great  carouse 
Knocks  hard  upon  the  midnight's  hollow  door, 
But  when  1  knock  at  hers,  1  see  the  pit. 
Why  did  I  come  here  in  that  dullard  fit? 
I  enter,  and  lie  couched  upon  the  floor. 
Passing,  I  caught  the  coverlet's  quick  beat : — 
Come,  Shame,  bum  to  my  soul  I  and  Pride,  and  Pain- 
Foul  demons  that  have  tortured  me,  enchain  I 
Out  in  the  freezing  darkness  the  lambs  bleat. 
The  small  bird  stiffens  in  the  low  starlight. 
I  know  not  how,  but  shuddering  as  I  slept, 
I  dreamed  a  banished  angel  to  me  crept : 
My  feet  were  nourished  on  her  breasts  all  night. 


The  misery  is  greater,  as  I  live ! 
To  know  her  flesh  so  pure,  so  keen  her  sense. 
That  she  does  penance  now  for  no  offence. 
Save  against  Love.    The  less  can  I  forgive  1 
The  less  can  I  forgive,  though  I  adore 
That  cruel  lovely  pallor  which  surrounds 
Her  footsteps ;  and  the  low  vibrating  sounds 
Tliat  come  on  me,  as  from  a  magic  shore. 


dbyGoogle 


jgl 


JODERN  LOVE 

lut  most  subtle  to  find  out 
loul.    Madam,  'tis  understood 
ilay  upon  their  womanhood, 
ison  gone.     And  yet  1  doubt 
d.    That  nun-like  look  waylays 
L !  I  do  but  wait  a  sign ! 
yes  of  pride  I  thy  mouth  to  mine  I 
I  die  Uiirsting.    Go  thy  ways  I 


lat  French  novel?    Tell  me  why, 
lite  unnatural.    Let  us  see. 
it  seems,  the  usual  three : 
wife,  and  lover.     She — but  fie  I 
'11  not  hear  of  it.     Edmond, 
devout  chagrin  doth  share ; 
id  absinthe  are  his  penitent  fare, 
ject  makes  her  over-fond : 
fresh  sin,  he  tries  rosbif. 
iiusband  is  no  more  abused : 
»  her  ere  the  tear  is  used, 
dl  on  one  tremendous  If  i^ — 
ise  between  tbem.    She  does  choose ; 
3usband,  like  a  proper  wife, 
[y  dear,  these  things  are  life : 
think,  is  worthy  of  the  Muse. 


eds,  an  eagle  in  high  skies, 

ath  his  wings :  from  reddened  eve 

ay  dawn.     In  vain  they  weave 

>elow  while  far  he  flies. 

TFOw  strikes  him,  there  's  a  change. 

D  the  track  of  bis  spent  pain, 

>s  are  the  links  of  a  harsh  chain, 

the  ground,  with  narrow  range, 
t  then  haa  Love  become. 

in  my  bosom  erst : 

»ith  the  serpent  I  am  cursed. 

where  the  mouth  b  dumb. 


dbyGoogle 


MODERN  LOVE 

Speak,  and  I  see  the  side>lie  of  a  truth. 
Perchance  my  heart  may  pardon  you  this  deed : 
But  be  no  coward : — you  that  made  Love  bleed, 
You  must  bear  all  the  venom  of  his  tooth  I 


Distraction  ia  the  panacea,  Sir  I 
I  hear  my  oracle  of  Medicine  say. 
Doctor  !  that  same  sjieciiic  yesterday 
I  tried,  and  the  result  will  not  deter 
A  second  trial.     Is  the  devil's  line 
Of  golden  hair,  or  raven  black,  composed  T 
And  does  a  cheek,  like  any  sea-shell  rosed, 
Or  clear  as  widowed  sky,  seem  most  divine? 
No  matter,  so  I  taste  forgetful  ness. 
And  if  the  devil  snare  me,  body  and  mind, 
I  Here  gratefully  I  score : — he  seemgd  kind. 
When  not  a  soul  would  comfort  my  distress  I 
O  sweet  new  world,  in  which  1  rise  new  made ! 
O  Lady,  once  I  gave  love :  now  I  take ! 
Lady,  1  must  be  flattered.    Shouldst  thou  wake 
The  passion  of  a  demon,  be  not  afraid. 


I  must  be  flattered.    The  imperious 
Desire  speaks  out.     Lady,  I  am  content 
To  play  with  you  the  game  of  Sentiment, 
And  with  you  enter  on  paths  perilous ; 
But  if  across  your  beauty  I  tlm)w  light. 
To  make  it  threefold,  it  must  be  all  mine. 
First  secret ;  then  avowed.    For  I  must  shine 
Envied, — I,  lessened  in  my  proper  sight  I 
Be  watchful  of  your  beauty,  Lady  dear ! 
How  much  hangs  on  that  lamp  you  cannot  tell. 
Most  earnestly  I  pray  you,  tend  it  well ; 
And  men  shall  see  me  as  a  burning  sphere : 
And  men  shall  mark  you  eyeing  me,  and  groan 
To  be  the  God  of  such  a  grand  sunflower  I 
I  feel  the  promptings  of  Satanic  power, 
While  you  do  homage  unto  me  alone. 


dbyGoogle 


MODERN  LOVE 


f    For  no  longer  can  I  cast 

d  about  this  head  of  gold. 

ars,  but  springing  from  the  mould ; 

consecration  of  the  Past  I 

!ggared  ?    Something  more  than  earth 

:  I  cannot  be  at  peace 

ve  upon  a  mortal  lease. 

!  the  woman  at  her  worth ! 

ancient  wealth  wherewith  I  clothed 

lakedness,  and  could  endow 

J  splendour  a  white  brow 

I  grinned  at  me  the  fact  I  loathed  ? 

a  kiss  now  I  and  no  wave 

od  that  whirls  me  to  the  sea. 

rill  1  we  'II  sit  contentedly, 

xtt  of  honey  on  the  grave. 

XXX* 

first?  First,  animals;  and  next 
at  a  leap;  on  whom 
jistant  shadow  of  the  tomb, 
draweth  on  the  tobib  for  text, 
^te  comes  Love,  the  drowning  sun : 
je  light  the  shadow  loses  form, 
irds  of  life,  and  life  is  warm, 
nd  instinct  now  are  one. 
lys :  '  My  children  most  they  seem 
ast  know  me :  therefore  I  decree 
all  suffer.'    Swift  doth  young  Love  flee, 
I  wakened,  shivering  from  our  dream, 
udy  Nature  we  are  wise, 
few  who  live  but  with  the  day : 
animals  are  they. — 
my  sonnet  to  your  eyes, 


lead  has  wit  in  it.     I  live 
far  higher  life,  near  her. 
like  a  young  philosopher ; 
cause  he  is  diminutive. 


dbyGoogle 


MODERN  LOVE 

For  woman's  manly  god  must  not  exceed 
Proportions  of  the  natural  nursing  size. 
Great  poets  and  great  sages  draw  no  prize 
With  women :  but  the  little  lap-dog  breed, 
Who  can  be  hugged,  or  on  a  mantel-piece 
Perched  up  for  adoration,  these  obtain 
Her  homage.     And  of  this  we  men  are  vain  ? 
Of  this !    "Tis  ordered  for  the  world's  increase  I 
Small  flattery  I    Yet  she  has  that  rare  gift 
To  beauty,  Common  Sense.    I  am  approved. 
It  is  not  half  so  nice  as  being  loved. 
And  yet  I  do  prefer  it.    What 's  my  drift  f 


Full  faith  I  have  she  holds  that  rarest  ^ft 

To  beauty.  Common  Sense.    To  see  her  lie 

With  her  fair  visage  an  inverted  sky 

Bloom-covered,  while  the  underlids  uplift. 

Would  almost  wreck  the  faith ;  but  when  her  mouth 

(Can  it  kiss  sweetly  ?  sweetly !)  would  address 

The  inner  me  that  thirsts  for  her  no  less. 

And  has  so  long  been  languishing  in  drouth, 

I  feel  that  I  am  matched ;  that  1  am  man  I 

One  restless  comer  of  my  heart  or  bead. 

That  holds  a  dying  something  never  dead. 

Still  frets,  though  Nature  giveth  all  she  can. 

It  means,  that  woman  is  not,  I  opine, 

Her  sex's  antidote.     Who  seeks  the  asp 

For  serpents'  bites?    "Twould  calm  me  could  I  clasp 

Shrieking  Bacchantes  with  their  soub  of  wine ! 


'In  Parb,  at  the  Louvre,  there  have  I  seen 
The  sumptuously-feathered  angel  pierce 
Prone  Lucifer,  descending.     Looked  he  fierce. 
Showing  the  fight  a  fair  one  ?     Too  serene  1 
The  young  Pharsalians  did  not  disarray 
Less  willingly  their  locks  of  floating  silk : 
That  suckling  mouth  of  his  upon  the  milk 
Of  heaven  might  still  be  feasting  through  the  fray. 


dbyGoogle 


MODERN  LOVE 

;1 !  when  men  the  Fiend  do  fight, 
ler  not  upon  such  easy  terms. 
it  in  the  struggle  grow  these  worms, 
e  grow  half  human,  all  is  right.' 
Lady  in  a  distant  spot, 
kerne :  WhUe  mind  is  mastering  day, 
ntadet  it.    If  the  spy  you  play, 
ad  thisl    Stjvnge  love-talk,  is  it  not? 


uld  speak  with  me.    So,  now  it  comes : 
;  or  else  Fire !    She 's  well ;  she  thanks 
dship.     Our  chain  on  silence  chinks, 
between,  above  his  twiddling  thumbs, 
well?    Most  excellent  in  health ! 
Is,  too,  I  diligently  peruse, 
expected  to  give  news : 
no  noisier.     By  stealth 
irt  scrutinizing  snakes.     She 's  glad 
,  says  her  quivering  under-lip. 
)t  you?'    'How  can  I  be?'    'Take  ship  1 
ess  is  somewhere  to  be  had.' 
or  me !'    Her  voice  is  barely  heard, 
elted,  and  make  no  pretence, 
lonplace  I  freeze  her,  tongue  and  sense. 
Vesuvius  is  deferred. 


gar  nature  I  have  wived, 
ensitive,  she  takes  a  wound 
r  soul,  as  if  the  sense  had  swooned, 
:hought  of  vengeance  had  survived, 
ices  has  she  :  but  relief 
to  one  whose  suffering  is  acute, 
ire  of  natures  that  are  mute  I 
b  you  in  acts :  their  steps  are  brief. 
!  doing?    What  does  she  demand 
idence  or  me?    She  is  not  one 
lure  this  torpidly,  and  shun 
Jiat  crowd  about  a  woman's  hand. 


dbyGoogle 


MODERN  LOVE  149 

At  Forfeits  during  snow  we  played,  and  I 

Must  kiss  her.    'Well  performed  1'  I  said:  then  she: 

"Tis  hardly  worth  the  money,  you  agree?' 

Save  her?    What  for?    To  act  this  wedded  Uel 


My  lady  unto  Madam  makes  her  bow. 

The  charm  of  women  is,  that  even  while 

You  're  probed  by  them  for  tears,  you  yet  may  amile, 

Nay,  laugh  outright,  as  I  have  done  just  now. 

The  interview  was  gracious :  they  anoint 

(To  me  aside)  each  other  with  fine  praise : 

Discriminating  compliments  they  raise. 

That  hit  with  wondrous  aim  on  the  w^c  point : 

My  Lady's  nose  of  Nature  might  complain. 

It  is  not  fashioned  aptly  to  express 

Her  character  of  large-browed  steadfastness. 

But  Madam  says :  Thereof  she  may  be  vain  I 

Now,  Madam's  faulty  feature  is  a  ^azed 

And  inaccessible  eye,  that  has  soft  fires. 

Wide  gates,  at  love-time,  only.    This  admires 

My  L^y.    At  the  two  I  stand  amazed. 


Along  the  garden  terrace,  under  which 

A  purple  valley  (lighted  at  its  edge 

By  smoky  torch-flame  on  the  long  cloud-ledge 

Whereunder  dropped  the  chariot)  glimmers  rich, 

A  quiet  company  we  pace,  and  wait 

The  dinner-bell  in  prae-digestive  calm. 

So  sweet  up  violet  banks  the  Southern  balm 

Breathes  round,  we  care  not  if  the  bell  be  late : 

Though  here  and  there  grey  seniors  question  Time 

In  irritable  coughings.     With  slow  foot 

The  low  rosed  moon,  the  face  of  Music  mute. 

Begins  among  her  silent  bars  to  climb. 

As  in  and  out,  in  silvery  dusk,  we  thread, 

I  hear  the  laugh  of  Madam,  and  discern 

My  Lady's  heel  before  me  at  each  turn. 

Our  tragedy,  is  it  alive  or  dead  ? 


dbyGoogle 


MODERN  LOVE 


Give  to  imaginatioti  some  pure  light 

Id  human  form  to  fix  it,  or  you  shame 

The  devils  with  that  hideous  human  game : — 

Imagination  urging  appetite  I 

Thus  fallen  have  earth's  greatest  Gogmagogs, 

Who  dazzle  us,  whom  we  can  not  revere : 

Imagination  is  the  charioteer 

That,  in  default  of  better,  drives  the  hogs. 

So,  therefore,  my  dear  Lady,  let  me  love ! 

My  soul  is  arrowy  to  the  light  in  you. 

You  know  me  that  I  never  can  renew 

The  bond  that  woman  broke :  what  would  you  have? 

'Tis  Love,  or  Vileness !  not  a  choice  between, 

Save  petrifaction  I    What  does  Pity  here? 

She  killed  a  thing,  and  now  it  'a  dead,  'tis  dear. 

Oh,  when  you  counsel  me,  think  what  you  mean  I 

She  yields :  my  Lady  in  her  noblest  tnood 

Has  yielded :  she,  my  gold  en -crowned  rose  I 

The  bride  of  every  sense !  more  sweet  than  those 

Who  breathe  the  violet  breath  of  maidenhood. 

0  visage  of  still  music  in  the  sky  1 

Soft  moon  1    I  feel  thy  song,  my  fairest  friend ! 

True  harmony  within  can  apprehend 

Dumb  harmony  without.     And  hark  1  'tis  nigh  I 

Belief  has  struck  the  note  of  sound  :  a  gleam 

Of  living  silver  shows  me  where  she  shook 

Her  long  white  fingers  down  the  shadowy  brook. 

That  ^ngs  her  song,  half  waking,  half  in  dream. 

What  two  come  here  to  mar  this  heavenly  tune? 

A  man  is  one :  the  woman  bears  my  name. 

And  honour.    Their  hands  touch  I    Am  I  still  tame? 

God,  what  a  dancing  spectre  seems  the  moon  I 


I  bade  my  Lady  think  what  she  might  mean. 
Know  I  my  meaning,  I?    Can  I  love  one, 
And  yet  be  jealous  of  another  ?    None 
Commits  such  folly.    Terrible  Love,  I  ween. 


d  by  Google 


MODERN  LOVE 

Has  might,  even  dead,  half  sighing  to  upheave 
llie  lightless  seas  of  selfishness  amain : 
Seas  that  in  a  man's  heart  have  no  run 
To  fall  and  still  them.    Peace  can  I  achieve. 
By  tmning  to  this  fountain-source  of  woe. 
This  woman,  who  's  to  Love  as  fire  to  wood  ? 
She  breathed  the  violet  breath  of  maidenhcxtd 
Against  my  kisses  once  I  but  I  say,  No  1 
The  thing  b  mocked  at !    Helplessly  afloat, 
I  know  not  what  I  do,  whereto  I  strive. 
The  dread  that  my  old  love  may  be  alive 
Has  seized  my  nursling  new  love  by  the  throat. 


How  many  a  thing  which  we  cast  to  the  ground. 
When  others  pick  it  up  becomes  a  gem  I 
We  grasp  at  all  the  wealth  it  is  to  them ; 
And  by  reflected  light  its  worth  is  found. 
Yet  for  us  still  'tis  uothing  I  and  that  zeal 
Of  false  appreciation  quickly  fades. 
This  truth  is  little  known  to  human  shades. 
How  rare  from  their  own  instinct  'tis  to  feel ! 
They  waste  the  soul  with  spurious  desire, 
That  is  not  the  ripe  flame  upon  the  bough. 
We  two  have  taken  up  a  lifeless  vow 
To  rob  a  living  passion :  dust  for  fire  I 
Madam  b  grave,  and  eyes  the  clock  that  tells 
Approaching  midnight.     We  have  struck  despair 
Into  two  hearts.    0,  look  we  like  a  pair 
Who  lor  fresh  nuptials  joyfully  yield  all  else? 

XUI* 
I  am  to  follow  her.    There  is  much  grace 
In  women  when  thus  bent  on  martyrdom. 
They  think  that  dignity  of  soul  may  come, 
Perchance,  with  dignity  of  body.     Base ! 
But  I  was  taken  by  that  air  of  cold 
And  statuesque  sedateness,  when  she  said 
'I  'm  going' ;  lit  a  taper,  bowed  her  head. 
And  went,  as  with  the  stride  of  Pallas  bold. 


dbyGoogle 


MODERN  LOVE 

Fleshly  indifference  horrible  I    The  hands 
Of  Time  now  signal :  O,  she  'a  safe  from  me  I 
Within  those  secret  walls  what  do  I  see? 
Where  first  she  set  the  taper  down  she  stands : 
Not  Pallas :  Hebe  shamed  1    Thoughts  black  as  death 
Like  a  stirred  pool  in  sunshine  break.     Her  wrists 
I  catch :  she  faltering,  as  she  half  resists, 
'You  love  .  .  .  ?  love  ,  ,  .  ?  love  ...  T'  all  on  an 
indrawn  breath.        , 

XLIII  * 
Mark  where  the  pressing  wind  shoots  j'avelin-like 
Its  skeleton  shadow  on  the  broad-backed  wave  I 
Here  is  a  fitting  spot  to  dig  Love's  grave ; 
Here  where  the  ponderous  breakers  plunge  and  strike. 
And  dart  their  hissing  tongues  high  up  the  sand  : 
In  hearing  of  the  ocean,  and  in  sight 
Of  those  ribbed  wind-streaks  running  into  white. 
If  I  the  death  of  Love  had  deeply  planned, 
I  never  could  have  made  it  half  so  sure. 
As  by  the  unblest  kisses  which  upbraid 
The  full-waked  sense ;  or  failing  that,  degrade  I 
'Tis  morning :  but  no  morning  can  restore 
What  we  have  forfeited.     I  see  no  sin : 
The  wrong  is  mixed.     In  tragic  life,  God  wot. 
No  villain  need  be  !     Passions  spin  the  plot : 
L^  We  are  betrayed  by  what  is  false  within. 

XLiv" 
They  say,  that  Pity  in  Love's  service  dwells, 
A  porter  at  the  rosy  temple's  gate. 
I  missed  him  going :  but  it  is  my  fate 
To  come  upon  him  now  beside  his  wells ; 
Whereby  I  know  that  I  Love's  temple  leave. 
And  that  the  purple  doors  have  closed  behind. 
Poor  soul !  if,  in  those  early  days  unkind. 
Thy  power  to  sting  had  been  but  power  to  grieve. 
We  now  might  with  an  equal  spirit  meet. 
And  not  be  matched  like  innocence  and  vice. 
She  for  the  Temple's  worship  has  paid  price, 
And  takes  the  coin  of  Pity  as  a  cheat. 


dbyGoogle 


MODERN  LOVE 

She  sees  through  simulation  to  the  booe : 
What 's  best  in  her  impeb  her  to  the  worst ; 
Never,  she  cries,  shall  Pity  soothe  Love's  thirst, 
Or  foul  hypocriay  for  tru^  atone ! 


It  is  the  season  of  the  sweet  wild  rose. 

My  Lady's  emblem  in  the  heart  of  me  1 

So  golden-crowned  shines  she  gloriously, 

And  with  that  softest  dream  of  blood  she  glows : 

Mild  as  an  evening  heaven  round  Hesper  bright ! 

Ipluck  the  flower,  and  smell  it,  and  revive 

The  time  when  in  her  eyes  I  stood  alive, 

I  seem  to  look  upon  it  out  of  Night. 

Here  's  Madam,  stepping  hastily.     Her  whims 

Bid  her  demand  the  flower,  which  I  let  drop. 

As  I  proceed,  I  feel  her  sharply  stop, 

And  crush  it  under  heel  with  trembling  limbs. 

She  joins  me  in  a  cat-like  way,  and  talks 

Of  company,  and  even  condescends 

To  utter  laughing  scandal  of  old  friends. 

These  are  the  summer  days,  and  these  our  walks. 

XLVI  " 
At  last  we  parley :  we  so  strangely  dumb 
In  such  a  close  communion  I    It  befell 
About  the  sounding  of  the  Matin-bell, 
And  lo  !  her  place  was  vacant,  and  the  hum 
Of  loneliness  was  round  me.    Then  I  rose. 
And  my  disordered  brain  did  guide  my  foot 
To  that  old  wood  where  our  first  love-salute 
Was  interchanged  :  the  source  of  many  throes ! 
There  did  I  see  her,  not  alone.     I  moved 
Toward  her,  and  made  proffer  of  my  arm. 
She  took  it  simply,  with  no  rude  alarm ; 
And  that  disturbing  shadow  passed  reproved. 
I  felt  the  pained  speech  coming,  and  declared 
My  firm  belief  in  her,  ere  she  could  speak. 
A  ghastly  morning  came  into  her  cheek, 
While  with  a  widening  soul  on  me  she  stared. 


dbyGoogle 


5ur 
/The 
'•-Lovi 


MODERN  LOVE 


We  saw  the  swallows  gathering  in  the  sky. 
And  in  the  osier-isle  we  heard  them  noise. 
We  had  not  to  look  back  on  summer  joys. 
Or  forward  to  a  summer  of  bright  dye : 
But  in  the  largeness  of  the  evening  earth 
spirits  grew  as  we  went  side  by  side. 
le  hour  became  her  husband  and  my  bride. 
Liivu,  thai  faad  lubbed  Us  so,  IhUl)  blcaaed-dur  dearth  I 
The  pilgrims  of  the  year  waxed  very  loud 
In  multitudinous  chatterings,  as  the  flood 
Full  brown  came  from  the  West,  and  like  pale  blood 
Expanded  to  the  upper  crimson  cloud. 
Love,  that  had  robbed  us  of  immortal  things, 
This  little  moment  merfiifjjlli^^gave. 
Where  1  have  seen  f  across  Uie  twilight  wave 
The  swan  sail  with  her  young  beneath  her  n-ings. 

XLVIIl  " 

Their  sense  is  with  their  senses  all  mixed  in. 

Destroyed  by  subtleties  these  women  are ! 

More  brain,  0  Lord,  more  brain  1  or  we  shall  mar 

Utteriy  this  fair  garden  we  might  win. 

Behold !   I  looked  for  peace,  and  thought  it  near. 

Our  inmost  hearts  had  opened,  each  to  each. 

We  drank  the  pure  daylight  of  honest  speech, 

Alas  I  that  was  the  fatal  draught,  I  fear. 

For  when  of  my  lost  Lady  came  the  word. 

This  woman,  O  this  agony  of  flesh  1 

Jealous  devotion  bade  her  break  the  mesh. 

That  I  might  seek  that  other  like  a  bird. 

I  do  adore  the  nobleness !  despise 

The  act  I    She  has  gone  forth,  I  know  not  where. 

Will  the  hard  world  my  sentience  of  her  share? 

I  feel  the  truth ;  so  let  the  worid  surmise. 

xux  • 
He  found  her  by  the  ocean's  moaning  verge. 
Nor  any  wicked  change  in  her  discerned ; 
And  she  believed  his  old  love  had  returned. 
Which  was  her  exultation,  and  her  scourge, 
t '  And  atlll  I  see,'  In  the  ralBtnal  venloD. 


dbjGoogL; 


THE  PATRIOT  ENGINEER  155 

She  took  his  haDd,  and  walked  with  him,  and  seemed 
The  wife  he  sought,  though  shadow-like  and  dry. 
She  had  one  terror,  lest  her  heart  should  sigh. 
And  tell  her  loudly  she  no  longer  dreamed. 
She  dared  not  say,  'This  is  my  breast :  look  in.' 
But  there  's  a  strength  to  help  the  desperate  weak. 
That  night  he  learned  how  silence  best  can  speak 
The  awful  things  when  Pity  pleads  for  Sin. 
About  the  middle  of  the  night  her  call 
Was  heard,  and  he  came  wondering  to  the  bed. 
■  'Now  kiss  me,  dear!  it  may  be,  now!' she  said. 
Lethe  had  passed  those  lips,  and  he  knew  all. 


Thus  piteously  Love  closed  what  he  begat : 

The  union  of  this  ever-diverse  pair  1 

These  two  were  rapid  falcons  in  a  snare. 

Condemned  to  do  the  Sitting  of  the  bat. 

Lovers  beneath  the  singing  sky  of  May, 

They  wandered  once ;  clear  as  the  dew  on  flowers : 

But  they  fed  not  on  the  advancing  hours : 

Their  hearts  held  cravings  for  the  buried  day. 

Then  each  applied  to  each  that  fatal  knife. 

Deep  questioning,  which  probes  to  endless  dole. 

Ah,  what  a  dusty  answer  gets  the  soul  l 

When  hot  for  certainties  in  this  our  life ! — 

In  tragic  hints  here  see  what  evermore 

Moves  dark  as  yonder  midnight  ocean's  forA^-.  ^ 

Thundering  like  ramping  hosts  of  warrior  horsel 

To  throw  that  faint  thin  line  upon  the  shore !    J  "^  fe 


'■i. 


THE  PATRIOT  ENGINEER  • 

'  Sirs  1  may  I  shake  your  hands  f 

My  countrymen,  I  see ! 
I  've  lived  in  foreign  lands 
Till  England  's  Heaven  to  me. 
A  hearty  shake  will  do  me  good. 
And  freshen  up  my  sluggish  blood.' 


"S^ 


dbyGoogle 


THE  PATRIOT  ENGINEER 

Into  his  hard  right  hand  we  struck. 
Gave  the  shake,  and  wish'd  him  luck. 

' — From  Austria  I  come. 

An  English  wife  to  win, 

And  find  an  Englbh  home, 

And  live  and  die  therein. 

Great  Lord  I  how  many  a  year  I  've  pined 

To  drink  old  ale  and  speak  my  mind ! ' 

Loud  rang  our  laughter,  and  the  shout 
Hills  round  the  Meuse-boat  echoed  about. 

' — ^Ay,  no  offence :  laugh  on, 

Young  gentlemen  :  1  'II  join. 
Had  you  to  exile  gone. 
Where  free  speech  is  base  coin, 
You  'd  sigh  to  see  the  jolly  nose 
Where  Freedom's  native  liquor  flows  1' 

He  this  time  the  laughter  led. 
Dabbing  his  oily  bullet  head. 

' — Give  me,  to  suit  my  moods, 

An  ale-house  on  a  heath, 
I  'U  hand  the  crags  and  woods 
To  B'elzebub  beneath. 
A  fig  for  scenery  1  what  scene 
Can  beat  a  Jackass  on  a  green?' 

Gravely  be  seem'd,  with  gaze  intense, 
Putting  the  question  to  common  sense. 

' — Why,  there 's  the  ale>house  b^ich: 
The  furze-flower  shining  round ; 

And  there  's  my  waiting-wench, 
As  lissome  as  a  hound. 

With  "(inn  Rritnnnia!"  ere  I  drink, 
m  artful  wink.' 

reign  landscape  while 
our  native  Isle. 


dbyGoogle 


THE  PATRIOT  ENGINEER  ] 

' — The  geese  may  swim  hard-by ; 

They  gahhle,  and  you  talk : 
You  're  sure  there  's  not  a.  spy 
To  mark  your  name  with  chalk. 
My  heart 's  an  oak,  and  it  won't  grow 
In  flower-pots,  foreigners  must  know.' 

Pensive  he  stood :  then  shook  his  head 
Sadly ;  held  out  his  fist,  and  said : 

' — You  've  heard  that  Hungary  's  floor'd  ? 

They  've  got  her  on  the  ground. 
A  traitor  broke  her  sword ; 
Two  despots  hold  her  bound.' 
I  've  seen  her  gasping  her  last  hope : 
I  've  seen  her  sons  strung  up  b'  the  rope. 
'Nine  gallant  gentlemen 

In  Arad  they  strung  up  I ' 

I  work'd  in  peace  till  then  : — 

That  poison'd  all  my  cup. 

A  smell  of  corpses  haunted  me : 

My  nostril  sniR'd  like  life  for  sea. 

'  Take  money  for  my  hire 

From  butchers  ? — not  the  man  I 
I  've  got  some  natural  fire. 
And  don't  flash  in  the  pan ; — 
A  few  ideas  I  reveal'd : — 
Twas  well  old  England  stood  my  shield  I 
'Said  I,  "The  Lord  of  Hosts 
Have  mercy  on  your  land  1 
I  see  those  dangling  ghosts, — 
And  you  may  keep  command. 
And  hang,  and  shoot,  and  have  your  day : 
They  hold  your  bill,  and  you  must  pay. 

'"You  've  sent  them  where  they  're  strong. 

You  carrion  Double-Head  I ' 
1  hear  them  sound  a  gong 
In  Heaven  above!" — I  said. 
"My  God,  what  feathers  won't  you  moult 
For  thb  1 "  says  I :  and  then  I  bolt. 


dbyGoogle 


THE  PATRIOT  ENGINEER 

'The  Bird  'a  a  beastly  Bird, 

And  what  is  more,  a  fool. 

I  shake  hands  with  the  herd 

That  flock  beneath  his  rule. 

They  're  kindly ;  and  their  land  is  fine. 

I  thought  it  rarer  once  than  mine. 

'  And  rare  would  be  its  lot. 

But  that  he  baulks  its  powers : 
It  '3  juat  an  earthen  pot 
For  hearts  of  oak  like  ours. 
Think !     Think ! — four  days  from  those  frontiers. 
And  I  'm  a-head  full  fifty  years. 

'  tt  tingles  to  your  scalps, 

To  think  of  it,  my  boys ! 
Confusion  on  their  Alps, 
And  all  their  baby  toys  I 
The  mountains  Britain  boasts  are  men : 
And  scale  you  them,  my  brethren ! ' 
Cluck,  went  his  tongue ;  his  fingers,  snap. 
Britons  were  proved  all  heights  to  cap. 
And  we  who  worshipp'd  crags, 

Where  purple  splendours  bum'd, 
Our  idol  saw  in  rags, 

And  right  about  were  turn'd. 
Horizons  rich  with  trembling  spirea 
On  violet  twilights  lost  their  fires. 

And  heights  where  morning  wakes 

With  one  check  over  snow ; — 
And  iron-wallM  lakes 
Where  sits  the  white  moon  low ; — 
For  us  on  youthful  travel  bent, 
Ti u; -"turesque  was  rent. 

Beauty  show'd 
nders  of  her  face, 
his  Jackass  rode, 
spot  of  the  place. 
'  our  enchanted  life 
his  shrill  island  fife. 


dbjGoogle 


CASSANDRA 

And  yet  we  liked  him  well ; 

We  laugh'd  with  honest  hearts : — 
He  shock'd  some  inner  spell, 
And  rous'd  discordant  parts. 
We  echoed  what  we  half  abjured ; 
And  hating,  smilingly  endured. 

Moreover,  could  we  be 

To  our  dear  land  disloyal? 
And  were  not  also  we 
Of  History's  blood-Royal? 
We  glow'd  to  think  how  donkeys  graze 
Id  Eagland,  thrilling  at  their  brays. 

For  there  a  man  may  view 
An  aspect  more  sublime 
Than  Alps  against  the  blue : — 
The  morning  eyes  of  Time  1 
The  very  Ass  participates 
The  glory  Freedom  radiates  1 


CASSANDRA  • 


Captive  on  a  foreign  shore, 
Far  from  Ilion's  hoary  wave, 
Agamemnon's  bridal  slave 
Speaks  Futurity  no  more : 
Death  is  busy  with  her  grave. 


Thick  as  water,  bursts  remote 
Round  her  ears  the  alien  din, 
While  her  little  sullen  chin 
Fills  the  hollows  of  her  throat : 
Silent  lie  her  slaughter'd  kin. 


dbyGoogle 


Once  to  many  a  pealing  shriek, 
Lo,  from  Ilion's  topmost  tower, 
llion's  fierce  prophetic  flower 
Cried  the  coming  of  the  Greek ! 
Black  in  Hades  sits  the  hour. 


Eyeing  phantoms  of  the  Fast, 
Folded  like  a  prophet's  scroll, 
In  the  deep's  long  shoreward  roll 
Here  she  sees  the  anchor  cast : 
Backward  moves  her  sunless  soul. 


Chieftains,  brethren  of  her  joy. 
Shades,  the  white  light  in  their  eyes 
Slanting  to  her  lips,  arise. 
Crowding  quick  the  plains  of  Troy: 
Now  they  tell  her  not  she  lies. 


O  the  bliss  upon  the  pUins, 
Where  the  joining  heroes  clashed 
Shield  and  spear,  and,  un abash edp 
Challenged  with  hot  chariot-reins 
Gods ! — they  glimmer  ocean-washed. 


Alien  voices  round  the  ships. 
Thick  as  water,  shouting  Home. 
Argives,  pale  as  midnight  foam, 
Wax  before  her  awful  lips : 
White  as  stars  that  front  the  gloom. 

VI  I 

Like  a  torch-flame  that  by  day 
Up  the  daylight  twists,  and,  pale. 
Catches  air  in  leaps  that  fail. 
Crushed  by  the  inveterate  ray. 
Through  her  shines  the  Ten- Years'  Tale. 


dbyGoogle 


Ince  to  many  a  pealing  ahriek,  ■ 
o,  from  Ilion's  topmost  tower, 
lion's  fierce  prophetic  flower 
'ried  the  coming  of  the  Greek  1 
Dock  in  Hades  sits  the  hour. 


till  upon  her  sunless  soul 
rleams  the  narrow  hidden  space 
orward,  where  her  fiery  race 
alters  on  its  ashen  goal : 
till  the  Future  strikes  her  face. 


ee  toward  the  conqueror's  car 
tep  the  purple  Queen  whose  hate 
^fraps  red-anned  her  royal  mate 
I'ith  his  Asian  tempest-star : 
low  Cassandra  views  her  Fate. 


[ing  of  men !  the  blinded  host 
hout : — she  lifts  her  brooding  chin : 
Had  along  the  joyous  din 
miles  the  grand  majestic  ghost : 
llytemnestra  leads  him  in. 


o,  their  smoky  limbs  aloof, 
hadowing  heaven  and  the  seas, 
'ates  and  Furies,  tangUng  Threes, 
'ear  and  mix  above  the  roof : 
'ates  and  fierce  Eumenides. 


i  the  prophetess  with  rods 
leaten,  that  she  writhes  in  air? 
i^ith  the  Gods  who  never  spare, 
Wrestling  with  the  unsparing  Gods, 
one,  her  body  struggles  there. 


dbyGoogle 


CASSANDRA 


Like  the  snaky  torch-flame  wtiite. 
Levelled  as  aloft  it  twists. 
She,  her  soaring  arms,  and  wrists 
Drooping,  struggles  with  the  light, 
Helios,  bright  above  all  mbts  1 


In  his  orb  she  sees  the  tower. 
Dusk  against  its  flaming  rims, 
Where  of  old  her  wretched  limbs 
Twisted  with  the  stolen  power : 
Ilion  all  the  lustre  dims  I 


O  the  bliss  upon  the  plfuns. 
Where  the  joining  heroes  clashed 
Shield  and  spear,  and,  unabashed. 
Challenged  with  hot  chariot-reins 
Gods ! — they  glimmer  ocean^washed. 


Thrice  the  Sun-god's  name  she  calls; 
Shrieks  the  deed  that  shames  the  sky ; 
Uke  a  fountain  leaping  high, 
Falling  as  a  fountain  falls : 
Lo,  the  blazing  wheeb  go  by  I 


reign  shore, 
.  hoary  wave, 
ridal  slave 


dbyGOOgIC 


THE  YOUNG  USURPER 

On  my  darling's  bosom 
Has  dropped  a  living  rosy  bud. 

Fair  as  brilliant  Hesper 

Against  the  brimming  flood. 
She  handles  him. 
She  dandles  him. 

She  fondles  him  and  eyes  him  : 
And  if  upon  a  tear  he  wakes, 

With  many  a  kiss  she  dries  him : 
She  covets  every  move  he  makes. 

And  nevec  enough  can  prize  him. 
Ah,  the  young  Usurper  1 
I  yield  my  golden  throne : 
Such  angel  bands  attend  his  hands 
To  claim  it  for  his  own. 


MARGARET'S  BRIDAL  EVE 


The  old  grey  mother  she  thrummed  on  her  knee : 

There  w  a  rose  thai  '»  ready ; 
And  which  of  the  handsome  young  men  shall  it  be? 

There 's  a  rose  that  's  ready  for  clipping. 

My  daughter,  come  hither,  come  hither  to  me : 

There  is  a  rose  that 's  ready  ; 
Come,  point  me  your  finger  on  him  that  you  see : 

There  's  a  rose  that  'g  ready  for  clipping. 

O  mother,  my  mother,  it  never  can  be : 

There  is  a  rose  thai  's  ready  ; 
For  I  shall  bring  shame  on  the  man  marries  me : 

There  '9  a  rose  thai 's  ready  for  clipping. 

Now  let  your  tongue  be  deep  as  the  sea : 

There  M  a  rose  thai 's  ready ; 
And  the  man  'II  jump  for  you,  right  briskly  will  he: 

There 's  a  rose  that  'a  ready  for  clipping. 


L 


dbjGooglc 


OlET'S  BRIDAL  EVE 

pt  bitterly  t 

a  rote  thai  'a  ready ; 

t  bade  did  she : 

a  rose  that '»  ready  for  clipping. 

F'oung  man  dropped  down  on  bis  knee : 

a  rose  tkal  's  ready ; 

ve  him  her  hand,  woe 's  me ! 

a  rose  that  'a  ready  for  clipping. 


itber,  this  thing  I  must  say : 
a  ro9e  in  the  garden  ; 
breast  where  that  other  lay : 
bird  ainga  over  the  roaea. 

iughter,  for  men  are  men : 
a  rote  in  the  garden  ; 
blindfold,  I  tell  you  agun : 
bird  ainga  over  the  roaea. 

len  he  kisses  me  I 
a  rose  in  the  garden ; 
ich  shall  sweetest  be  I 
bird  ainga  over  the  roaes. 

len  I  awake  in  the  mom  I 
a  rose  in  the  garden ; 
:  his,  and  the  ring  b  worn : 
bird  airiga  over  the  roaea. 

hed  and  loosened  a  tress : 
a  rote  in  the  garden  ; 
had  of  her  comeliness : 
bird  ainga  over  the  roaea. 

Ink  if  this  thing  be  sud : 
a  rose  in  the  garden ; 
rothed  came  thrice  to  my  bed : 
bird  tinga  over  the  roaet. 


dbyGOOgIC 


MARGARErs  BRIDAL  EVE 

He  died  on  my  shoulder  the  third  cold  night : 
There  is  a  rose  in  the  garden ; 

I  dragged  his  body  all  through  the  moonhght : 
And  tke  bird  lingt  over  the  rotes. 

But  when  I  came  by  my  father's  door : 
There  is  a  rose  in  tke  garden ; 

I  felt  in  a  lump  on  the  stiff  dead  floor : 
And  the  bird  sir^/s  over  the  rotes. 

O  neither  to  heaven,  nor  yet  to  hell : 
There  is  a  rose  in  the  garden ; 

Could  I  follow  the  lover  I  loved  so  well  1 
And  the  bird  sings  oner  the  roaet. 


The  bridesmaids  slept  in  their  chambers  apart : 
There  it  a  rote  that 's  ready ; 

Tall  Margaret  walked  with  her  thumping  heart : 
There 's  a  rote  that 's  ready  for  dipping. 

The  frill  of  her  nightgown  below  the  left  breast : 
There  is  a  rote  that 't  ready  ; 

Had  fall'n  like  a  cloud  of  the  moonlighted  West : 
There 's  a  rose  that  's  ready  /or  dipping. 

But  where  the  West-cloud  breaks  to  a  star : 
There  is  a  rose  that 's  ready  ; 

Pale  Margaret's  breast  showed  a  winding  scar: 
There 's  a  rose  that  >  ready  for  dipping. 

0  few  are  the  brides  with  such  a  sign  I 

There  is  a  rose  thiU  't  ready  ; 
Though  I  went  mad  the  fault  was  mine : 

There 's  a  rose  that 's  ready /or  clipping. 

1  must  speak  to  him  under  this  roof  to-night : 

There  ts  a  rose  that  'a  ready  ; 
I  shall  bum  to  death  if  I  speak  in  the  light : 

There  'i  a  rose  that '»  ready  for  dipping. 


dbyGoOgIC 


MARGARET'S  BRIDAL  EVE 

0  my  breast !  I  must  strike  you  a  bloodier  wound : 

There  w  o  rose  that 's  ready  ; 
Thtui  when  I  scored  you  red  and  swooned : 

There  's  a  rose  that 's  ready  /or  clipping. 

1  will  stab  my  honom-  under  his  eye : 

There  is  a  rose  that 's  ready  ; 
Though  I  bleed  to  the  death,  I  shall  let  out  the  lie: 
There  '»  a  rote  that 's  ready  for  clipping. 

O  happy  my  bridesmaids  I  white  sleep  is  with  you  I 

There  is  a  rose  thai 's  ready  ; 
Had  he  chosen  among  you  he  might  sleep  too ! 

There  's  a  rose  thai  'a  ready  for  clipping. 

O  happy  my  bridesmaids  !  your  breasts  are  clean : 

There  is  a  rose  thai 's  ready  ; 
You  carry  no  mark  of  what  has  been  1 

There  '3  a  rose  that 's  ready  for  clipping. 


An  hour  before  the  chilly  beam : 

Red  rose  and  while  in  the  garden  ; 
The  bridegroom  started  out  of  a  dream : 
And  the  bird  sings  over  the  rosea. 

He  went  to  the  door,  and  there  espied : 

Red  rose  and  white  in  the  garden  ; 

The  figure  of  his  silent  bride : 

And  the  bird  ainga  tner  tAe  rosea. 

CHe  went  to  the  door,  and  let  her  in : 
Red  rose  and  white  in  the  garden  ; 
Whiter  looked  she  than  a  child  of  sin : 
And  the  bird  aings  over  the  roses. 

!  looked  30  white,  she  looked  so  sweet ; 

Red  rose  and  white  in  the  garden  ; 
i  looked  so  pure  he  fell  at  her  feet : 

And  the  bird  sings  over  the  rosea. 


dbyGoOgIC 


MARGARETS  BRIDAL  EVE 

He  fell  st  her  feet  with  love  and  awe : 

Red  rote  and  vikite  in  the  garden ; 

A  stainless  body  of  light  he  saw : 

And  die  bird  «iny«  over  the  rotes. 

0  Margaret,  say  you  are  not  of  the  dead ! 

Red  rose  and  while  in  the  garden  ; 
My  bride  I  by  the  angels  at  night  are  you  led  ? 
And  the  bird  sings  over  the  roses. 

1  am  not  led  by  the  angels  about : 

Red  rose  and  whOe  in  the  garden  ; 
But  I  have  a  devil  within  to  let  out : 

And  the  bird  singi  over  the  roses. 

0  Mai^ret  I  my  bride  and  saint  1 

Red  rose  and  whiie  in  the  garden  ; 
There  is  on  you  no  earthly  taint : 

And  the  bird  sings  over  the  rases. 

1  am  no  s^t,  and  no  bride  can  I  be : 

Red  rose  and  white  in  the  garden  ; 
Until  I  have  opened  my  bosom  to  thee : 
And  the  bird  sings  oner  the  roses. 

To  catch  at  her  heart  she  laid  one  hand : 
Red  rose  and  white  in  the  garden  ; 

She  told  the  tale  where  she  did  stand : 
And  the  bird  sings  oner  the  roses. 

She  stood  before  him  pale  and  tall : 

Red  rose  and  white  in  the  garden  ; 

Her  eyes  between  his,  she  told  him  all : 
And  the  bird  sings  over  the  roses. 

She  saw  how  her  body  grew  freckled  and  foul : 

Red  rose  and  white  in  the  garden  ; 
She  b^rd  from  the  woods  the  hooting  owl : 
And  the  bird  sings  over  the  roses. 

With  never  a  quiver  her  mouth  did  speak : 
Red  rose  and  white  in  the  garden ; 

O  when  she  had  done  she  stood  so  meek ! 
And  Ike  bird  sings  over  the  roses. 


dbjGooglc 


dbjGooglc 


Sbb  can  be  as  wise  as  we, 

And  wiser  when  she  wishes ; 
She  can  knit  with  cunning  wit. 

And  dress  the  homely  dishes. 
She  can  flourish  staff  or  pen, 

And  deal  a  wound  that  lingers; 
She  can  talk  the  talk  of  men. 

And  touch  with  thrilling  fingers. 


Match  her  ye  across  the  sea. 

Natures  fond  and  fiery ; 
Ye  who  zest  the  turtle's  nest 

With  the  eagle's  eyrie. 
Soft  and  loving  is  her  soul. 

Swift  and  lofty  soaring ; 
Mixing  with  its  dove-like  dole 

Passionate  adoring. 


Such  a  she  who  'II  match  with  me  ? 

In  flying  or  pursuing. 
Subtle  wiles  are  in  her  smiles 

To  set  the  worid  a-wooing. 
She  is  steadfast  as  a  star. 

And  yet  the  maddest  maiden : 
She  can  wage  a  gallant  war, 

And  give  the  peace  of  Eden.  . 


BY  MORNING  TWILIGHT 

NiQHT,  like  a  dying  mother. 
Eyes  her  young  offspring,  Day. 
lie  birds  are  dreamily  piping. 
And  O,  my  love,  my  darling ! 
The  night  is  life  ebb'd  away : 


dbyGOOgIC 


dbjGooglc 


SHEMSELNIHAR  ■  171 

Yet  with  thee  like  a  full  throbbing  rose  how  I  bloom ! 

Like  a  rose  by  the  fouatain  whose  showering  we  hear, 
As  we  lie,  0  my  lover !  in  this  rich  gloom. 

Smelling  faint  the  cool  breath  of  the  lemon-groves  near. 
As  we  lie  gazing  out  on  that  glowing  great  star — 
Ab !  dark  on  the  bosom  of  Shemselnihar. 

Yet  with  thee  am  I  not  as  an  arm  of  the  vine, 

Finn  to  bind  thee,  to  cherish  thee,  feed  thee  sweet? 

Swear  an  oath  on  my  lip  to  let  none  disentwine 

The  life  that  here  fawns  to  give  warmth  to  thy  feet, 

1  on  thine,  thus  I  no  more  shall  that  jewelled  Head  jar 

The  music  thou  breathest  on  Shemselnihar. 

Far  away,  far  away,  where  the  wandering  scents 

Of  all  flowers  are  sweetest,  white  mountains  among. 

There  my  kindred  abide  in  their  green  and  blue  tents : 
Bear  me  to  them,  my  lover !  they  lost  me  so  young. 

Let  us  slip  down  the  stream  and  leap  steed  till  afar 

None  question  thy  claim  upon  Shemselnihar. 

O  that  long  note  the  bulbul  gave  out — meaning  love  1 
O  my  lover,  hark  to  him  and  think  it  my  voice  1 

The  blue  night  like  a  great  bell-flower  from  above 

Drooping  low  and  gold-eyed  :  O,  but  hear  him  rejoice  I 

Can  it  be?  'twas  a  flash  I  that  accurst  scimit&r 

In  thought  even  cuts  thee  from  Shemselnihar. 

Yes,  I  would  that,  less  generous,  he  would  oppress. 

He  would  chain  me,  upbraid  me,  burn  deep  brands  for 
hate. 

Than  with  tliis  mask  of  freedom  and  gorgeousness 
Bespangle  my  slavery,  mock  my  strange  fate. 

Would,  would,  would,  O  my  lover,  he  knew — dared  debar 

Thy  coming,  and  earn  curse  of  Shemselnihar  1  • 


A  ROAR  THROUGH  THE  TALL  TWIN  ELM-TREES 

A  KOAR  thro'  the  tall  twin  elm-trees 
The  mustering  storm  betrayed : 

The  South-wind  seized  the  willow 
That  over  the  water  swayed. 


dbyGOOgIC 


172       THE  SPIRIT  OF  EARTH  IN  AUTUMN 

Then  fell  the  steady  deluge 
In  which  I  strove  to  doze. 

Hearing  all  night  at  my  window 
The  knock  of  the  winter  rose. 

The  rainy  rose  of  winter ! 

An  outcast  it  must  pine. 
And  from  thy  bosom  outcast 

Am  I,  dear  lady  mine. 


WHEN  I  WOULD  IMAGE 

When  I  would  image  her  features. 

Conies  up  a  shrouded  head : 
I  touch  the  outlines,  shrinking ; 

She  seems  of  the  wandering  dead. 

But  when  love  asks  for  nothing,  f  i  ... 

-And  IHiH  on  Ills  bed  ot  snowA  '»'-^  "^  ^-^ 
The  face  slips  under  my  eyelids,    ,     ***■ 

All  io  its  living  glow.  '*^  "its  tlj 

Like  a  dark  cathedral  city. 

Whose  spires,  and  domes,  and  towers 
Quiver  in  violet  lightnings, 

My  soul  basl^  on  for  hours. 

ODE  TO  THE  SPIRIT  OF  EARTH  IN  AUTUMN  • 

Faib  Mother  Earth  lay  on  her  back  last  night 
To  gaze  her  fill  on  Autumn's  sunset  skies. 
When  at  a  waving  of  the  fallen  light 
Sprang  realms  of  rosy  fruitage  o'er  her  eyes. 
A  lustrous  heavenly  orchard  hung  the  West, 
Wherein  the  blood  of  Eden  bloomed  again : 
Red  were  the  myriad  cherub-mouths  that  pressed. 
Among  the  clusters,  rich  with  song,  full  fain. 
But  dumb,  because  that  overmastering  spell 
Of  rapture  held  them  dumb :  then,  here  and  there, 
A  golden  harp  lost  strings ;  a  crimson  shell 
Burnt  grey ;  and  sheaves  of  lustre  fell  to  air. 


dbyGoogk 


THE  SPIRIT  OF  EARTH  IN  AUTUMN       173 

The  illimitable  eagerness  of  hue 

Bronzed,  and  the  beamy  winged  bloom  that  flew 

'Mid  those  bunched  fruits  and  thronging  figures  failed. 

A  green-edged  lake  of  saffron  touched  the  blue. 

With  isles  of  fireless  purple  lying  through : 

And  Fancy  on  that  lake  to  seek  lost  treasures  sailed. 

Not  long  the  silence  followed : 

The  voice  that  issues  from  thy  breast, 
O  glorious  South-west, 

Along  the  gloom-horizon  holloa 'd ; 
Warning  the  valleys  with  a  mellow  roar 
Through  flapping  wings ;  then  sharp  the  woodland  bore 

A  shudder  and  a  noise  of  hands : 

A  thousand  horns  from  some  for  vale 

In  ambush  sounding  on  the  gale. 

Forth  from  the  cloven  sky  came  bands 
Of  revel-gathering  spirits ;  trooping  down. 
Some  rode  the  tree-tops ;  some  on  torn  cloud-strips 

Burst  screaming  thro'  the  lighted  town  : 
And  scudding  seaward,  some  fell  on  big  ships : 

Or  mounting  the  sea-horses  blew 

Bright  foam-flakes  on  the  black  review 

Of  heaving  hulis  and  burying  beaks. 

Still  on  the  farthest  line,  with  outpuffed  cheeks, 
Twixt  dark  and  utter  dark,  the  great  wind  drew 
■p 1 *u_i  -ligenchanted  harmony 

liter  in  the  midnight  blind : 

ihonis  to  the  shrieks 

Preluding  him  :  then  he, 

ig  tbunderingly  behind, 

aim  of  stiffened  Day, 

land  alleys  signals  three; 

ressure  of  a  sea 

L  the  vale  that  under  lay. 

tiling  foliage  fell : 

:  old  hymning  night, 

Dryad  voices  well, 

I  as  their  leaves  took  flight, 


dbyGOOgIC 


174       THE  SPIRIT  OF  EARTH  IN  AUTUMN 

Like  souls  to  wander  after  death : 
Great  armies  in  imperial  dyes. 
And  mad  to  tread  the  air  and  rise. 
The  savage  freedom  of  the  skies 
To  taste  before  they  rot.     And  here, 
Like  frail  white-bodied  girls  in  fear, 
The  birches  swung  from  shrieks  to  sighs ; 
The  aspens,  laughers  at  a  breath. 
In  showering  spray-falls  mixed  their  cries. 
Or  raked  a  savage  ocean-strand 
With  one  incessant  drowning  screech. 
Here  stood  a  solitary  beech. 
That  gave  its  gold  with  open  hand. 
And  all  its  branches,  toning  chill, 
Did  seem  to  shut  their  teeth  right  fast. 
To  shriek  more  mercilessly  shrill, 
And  match  the  fierceness  of  the  blast. 


But  heard  I  a  low  swell  that  noised 
Of  far-off  ocean,  I  was  'ware 
Of  pines  upon  their  wide  roots  poised. 
Whom  never  madness  in  the  air 
Can  draw  to  more  than  loftier  stress 
Of  moumfulness,  not  moumfulness 
For  melancholy,  but  Joy's  excess, 
That  singing  on  the  lap  of  sorrow  faints : 
And  Peace,  as  in  the  hearts  of  saints 
Who  chant  unto  the  Lord  their  God ; 
Deep  Peace  below  upon  the  muffled  sod, 
The  stillness  of  the  sea's  unswaying  floor. 
Could  I  be  sole  there  not  to  see 
The  life  within  the  life  awake ; 
Till  onni-  bursting  from  the  tree, 

From  the  troubled  lake? 
le  wines  of  Heaven  i>ourl 
L  Harp  is  struck  once  more, 
music  is  for  me  I 
le  wines  of  Heaven  pour  I 
r  a  night  of  Pagan  glee  I 


dbyGOOgIC 


THE  SPIRIT  OF  EARTH  IN  AUTUMN        175 

There  is  &  curtain  o'er  us.  "^ 

For  once,  good  souls,  we  'II  not  pretend 
To  be  aught  better  than  her  who  bore  us, 
And  is  our  only  visible  friend. 
Hark  to  her  laughter  1  who  laughs  like  this. 
Can  she  be  dead,  or  rooted  in  pain  ? 
She  has  been  slun  by  the  narrow  brain. 
But  for  us  who  love  her  she  lives  again. 

Can  she  die  ?    0,  take  her  kiss ! 

The  crimson-footed  nymph  is  panting  up  the  glade. 

With  the  wine-jar  at  her  arm-pit,  and  the  drunken  ivy- 
braid 

Round  her  forehead,  breasts,  and  thighs :  starts  a  Satyr, 
and  they  speed : 

Hear  the  crushing  of  the  leaves :  hear  the  cracking  of  the 
bough! 

And  the  whistling  of  the  bramble,  the  piping  of  the  weed  I 

But  the  bull-voiced  oak  is  battling  now : 
The  storm  has  seized  him  half-asleep. 
And  round  him  the  wild  woodland  throngs 
To  hear  the  fury  of  his  songs. 
The  uproar  of  an  outraged  deep. 
He  wakes  to  find  a  wrestling  giant 
Trunk  to  trunk  and  limb  to  limb. 
And  on  his  rooted  force  reliant 
He  laughs  and  grasps  the  broadened  giant. 
And  twist  and  roll  the  Analdm ; 
And  multitudes,  acclaiming  to  the  cloud, 
Cry  which  is  breaking,  which  is  bowed. 

Away,  for  the  cymbak  clash  aloft 
In  the  circles  of  pine,  on  the  moss-floor  soft. 
The  nymphs  of  Uie  woodland  are  gathering  there. 
They  huddle  the  leaves,  and  trample,  and  toss; 
They  swing  in  the  branches,  they  roll  in  the  moss. 

They  blow  the  seed  on  the  air. 
Back  to  back  they  stand  and  blow 
Hie  winged  seed  on  the  cradling  air. 


dbyGOOgIC 


THE  SPIRIT  OP  EARTH  IN  AUTUMN 

A  fountain  of  leaves  over  bosom  and  back. 
The  pipe  of  the  Fsun  comes  on  their  track. 
And  the  weltering  alleys  overflow 
With  musical  shrieks  and  wind-wedded  hair. 
The  riotous  companies  melt  to  a  pair. 
Bless  them,  mother  of  kindness  I 
A  star  has  nodded  through 
The  depths  of  the  flying  blue. 
Time  only  to  plant  the  light 
Of  a  memory  in  the  blindness. 
But  time  to  show  me  the  sight 
Of  my  life  thro'  the  curtain  of  night; 
Shining  a  moment,  and  mixed 
With  the  onward-hurrying  stream, 
Whose  pressure  is  darkness  to  me; 
Behind  the  curtain,  fixed. 
Beams  with  endless  beam 
That  star  on  the  changing  sea. 

Great  Mother  Nature  I  teach  me,  like  thee, 
To  kiss  the  season  and  shun  regrets. 
And  am  I  more  than  the  mother  who  bore. 
Mock  me  not  with  thy  harmony ! 

Teach  me  to  blot  regrets. 

Great  Mother  I  me  inspire 

With  faith  that  forwanl  sets 

But  feeds  the  living  fire. 

Faith  that  never  frets 

For  vagueness  in  the  form. 

In  life,  O  keep  me  warm  I 

For,  what  is  human  grief? 

And  what  do  men  desire? 
Teach  me  to  feel  myself  the  tre^ 

And  not  the  withered  leaf. 
Fixed  am  I  and  await  the  dark  to-be. 

And  O,  green  bounteous  Earth ! 
Bacchante  Mother !  stern  to  those 
Who  live  not  in  thy  heart  of  mirth  ; 

I  shrink  from,  loving  thee? 
ast  that  gives  the  rose, 
with  shuddering  fall? 


dbyGOOgIC 


THE  SPIRIT  OF  EARTH  IN  AUTUMN       177 

Earth,  the  mother  of  all. 
Moves  on  her  stedfast  way. 
Gathering,  flinging,  sowing. 
Mortals,  we  live  in  her  day. 
She  in  her  children  is  growing. 

She  can  lead  us,  only  she, 

Unto  God's  footstool,  whither  she  reaches : 

Loved,  enjoyed,  her  gifts  must  be, 

Reverenced  the  truths  she  teaches. 

Ere  a  man  may  hope  that  he 

Ever  can  attain  the  glee 

"f  things  without  a  destiny ! 

She  knows  not  loss: ' 

She  feels  but  her  need. 

Who  the  winged  seed 

With  the  leaf  doth  toss. 

And  may  not  men  to  this  attain  ? 

lluit  the  joy  of  motion,  the  rapture  of  being, 

Shall  throw  strong  light  when  our  season  is  fleeing. 

Nor  quicken  aged  blood  in  vain. 

At  the  gates  of  the  vault,  on  the  verge  of  the  plain  ? 

Life  thoroughly  lived  is  a  fact  in  the  brain,  . 

While  eyes  are  left  for  seeing. 
Behold,  in  yon  stripped  Autumn,  shivering  grey, 

Earth  knows  no  desolation. 

She  smells  regeneration 

In  the  moist  breath  of  decay. 

^ophetic  of  the  coming  joy  and  strife. 

Like  the  wild  western  war-chief  sinking 
Calm  to  the  end  he  eyes  unblinking, 

Her  voice  is  jubilant  in  ebbing  life. 

He  for  his  happy  hunting-fields 
Forgets  the  droning  chant,  and  yidds 
His  numbered  breaths  to  exultation 
In  the  proud  anticipation  : 
Shouting  the  glories  of  his  nation. 
Shouting  the  grandeur  of  hb  race. 


dbyGOOgIC 


MARTIN'S  PUZZLE 

Shouting  his  own  great  deeds  of  daring : 
And  when  at  last  desth  grasps  his  face, 
And  stiffened  on  the  ground  in  peace 

He  lies  with  all  hb  painted  terrors  glaring ; 

Hushed  are  the  trib«  to  hear  a  tbr^ding  cry : 
Not  from  the  dead  man ; 
Not  from  the  standers-by : 
The  spirit  of  the  red  man 

Is  welcomed  by  his  fathers  up  on  high. 

MARTIN'S  PUZZLE 


Thkbe  she  goes  up  the  street  with  her  book  in  her  hand. 

And  her  Good  morning,  Martin  I    Ay,  lass,  how  d'  ye  do? 
Very  well,  thank  you,  Martin  1 — I  can't  understand  1 

I  might  just  as  well  never  have  cobbled  a  shoe ! 
I  can't  understand  it.     She  talks  like  a  song; 

Her  voice  takes  your  ear  like  the  ring  of  a  ^ass ; 
She  seems  to  give  gladness  while  limping  along, 

Yet  sinner  ne'er  suffer'd  like  that  little  lass. 


First,  a  fool  of  a  boy  ran  her  down  with  a  cart. 

Then,  her  fool  of  a  father — a  blacksmith  by  trade — 
Why  the  deuce  does  he  tell  us  it  half  broke  his  heart? 

His  heart ! — where  's  the  leg  of  the  poor  little  raaid  1 
Well,  that 's  not  enough ;  they  must  push  her  downstairs. 

To  make  her  go  crooked :  but  why  count  the  list? 
If  it 's  right  to  suppose  that  our  human  affairs 

Are  all  order'd  by  heaven — there,  bang  goes  my  fist  I 

nt 
For  if  angels  can  look  on  such  sights — never  mind ! 

When  you  're  next  to  blaspheming,  it 's  best  to  be  mum. 
The  parson  declares  that  her  woes  weren't  designed ; 
But,  then,  with  the  parson  it 's  all  kingdom-come. 
T^viA  a.  \pir.  sBVp  a  soul — a  convenient  text ; 

octrine,  not  savouring  of  God. 
Molly  wants  'chastening,'  why,  next 
I  Michael  might  taste  of  the  rod. 


dbyGOOgIC 


MARTIN'S  PUZZLE 


But,  to  see  the  poor  darling  go  limping  for  miles  I 

To  read  booi^  to  sick  people  1 — and  just  of  sn  age 
\Mien  girts  learn  the  meaning  of  ribands  and  smiles  I 

Makes  me  feel  like  a  squirrel  that  turns  in  a  cage. 
The  more  I  push  thinking  the  more  I  revolve : 

I  never  get  farther : — and  as  to  her  face, 
It  starts  up  when  near  on  my  puzzle  I  solve. 

And  says,  'This  cnish'd  body  seems  such  a  sad  case.' 


Not  that  she  's  for  complaining :  she  reads  to  earn  pence ; 

And  from  those  who  can't  pay,  simple  thanks  are  enough. 
Does  she  leave  lamentation  for  chaps  without  sense  T 

Howsoever,  she  's  made  up  of  wonderful  stuff. 
Ay,  the  soul  in  her  body  must  be  a  stout  cord ; 

She  sings  little  hymns  at  the  close  of  the  day, 
Though  she  has  but  three  fingers  to  lift  to  the  Lord, 

And  only  one  leg  to  kneel  down  with  to  pray. 


What  I  ask  is,  Why  persecute  such  a  poor  dear. 

If  there 's  Low  above  all  ?    Answer  that  if  you  can  1 
Irreligious  I  'm  not;  but  I  look  on  this  sphere 

As  a  place  where  a  man  should  just  think  like  a  man. 
•It  isn't  fair  dealing !    But,  contrariwise. 

Do  bullets  in  battle  the  wicked  select  ? 
Why,  then  it 's  all  chance-work !     And  yet,  in  her  eyes. 

She  holds  a  fixed  something  by  which  I  am  checked. 


Yonder  riband  of  sunshine  aslope  on  the  wall. 

If  you  eye  it  a  minute  'II  have  the  same  look : 
So  kind !  and  so  merciful  I    God  of  us  all ! 

It 's  the  very  same  lesson  we  get  from  the  Book. 
Then,  is  Life  but  a  trial  ?    Is  that  what  is  meant  ? 

Some  must  toil,  and  some  perish,  for  others  below : 
The  injustice  to  each  spreads  a  common  content ; 

Ay  1  I  've  lost  it  again,  for  it  can't  be  quite  so. 


dbyGOOgIC 


dbjGooglc 


SONNETS 

Am  I  of  them  whose  blooms  are  shed, 
Whose  fruits  are  spent. 

Who  from  dead  eyes  see  Life  half  dead ; — 
Because  desire  is  feeble  discontent  ? 

Ah,  DO  I  desire  and  hope  should  die. 
Thus  were  I. 

But  in  me  something  clipped  of  wing 

Within  its  ring 
Frets ;  for  I  have  lost  what  made 
The  dawn-breeze  magic,  and  the  twilight  beam 
A  hand  with  tidings  o'er  the  glade 

Waving  seem. 


TEUE  AND  SENTIMENT 

I  SEE  a  fair  young  couple  in  a  wood. 

And  as  they  go,  one  bends  to  take  a  flower. 

That  so  may  be  embalmed  their  happy  hour, 

And  in  another  day,  a  kindred  mood. 

Haply  together,  or  in  solitude, 

Recovered  what  the  teeth  of  Time  devour. 

The  joy,  the  bloom,  and  the  illusive  power. 

Wherewith  by  their  young  blood  they  are  endued 

To  move  all  enviable,  framed  in  May, 

And  of  an  aspect  sisterly  with  Truth : 

Yet  seek  they  with  Time's  laughing  things  to  wed : 

Who  will  be  prompted  on  some  pallid  day 

To  lift  the  hueless  flower  and  show  that  dead. 

Even  such,  and  by  this  token,  is  their  youth. 


LUCIFER  IN  STARLIGHT  • 

On  a  starred  night  Prince  Lucifer  uprose. 
Tired  of  hb  dark  dominion  swung  the  fiend 
Above  the  rolling  ball  in  cloud  part  screened. 
Where  sinners  hugged  their  spectre  of  repose. 
Poor  prey  to  his  hot  fit  of  pride  were  those. 
And  now  upon  his  western  wing  he  leaned, 
Now  his  huge  bulk  o'er  Afric's  sands  careened. 


dbyGOOgIC 


dbjGooglc 


EARTH'S  SECRET 

Not  solitarily  in  fields  we  find 

Earth's  secret  open,  though  one  page  is  there ; 

Her  plainest,  such  as  children  spell,  and  share 

With  bird  and  beast ;  raised  letters  for  the  blind. 

Not  where  the  troubled  passions  toss  the  mind. 

In  turbid  cities,  can  the  key  be  bare. 

It  hangs  for  those  who  hither  thither  fare. 

Close  interthreading  nature  with  our  kind. 

They,  hearing  History  speak,  of  what  men  were. 

And  have  become,  are  wise.    The  gain  is  great 

In  vision  and  solidity ;  it  lives. 

Yet  at  a  thought  of  life  apart  from  her. 

Solidity  and  vision  lose  their  state. 

For  Earth,  that  gives  the  milk,  the  spirit  givea. 


INTERNAL  HARMONY 

Abbtjked  of  worthiness  we  do  not  dread 
Competitors;  we  rather  give  them  hail 
And  greeting  in  the  lists  where  we  may  fail : 
Must,  if  we  bear  an  aim  beyond  the  head  I 
My  betters  are  my  masters :  purely  fed 
By  their  sustainmeot  I  likewise  shall  scale 
Some  rocky  steps  between  the  mount  and  vale ; 
Meanwhile  the  mark  I  have  and  I  will  wed. 
So  that  I  draw  the  breath  of  finer  air. 
Station  is  nought,  nor  footways  laurel-strewn. 
Nor  rivals  tightly  belted  for  the  race. 
Good  speed  to  them  1    My  place  is  here  or  there ; 
My  pride  is  that  among  them  I  have  place : 
And  thus  I  keep  this  instrument  in  tune. 


GRACE  AND  LOVE  • 

Two  flower-enfolding  crystal  vases  she 

1  love  fills  daily,  mindful  but  of  one : 

And  close  behind  pale  morn  she,  like  the  sun 

pours,  sweet  to  see, 


And  dose  behind  pale  morn  a 
Priming  our  worlcf  with  light. 


dbyGOOgIC 


SONNETS 

Clear  water  in  the  cup,  and  into  me 

The  image  of  herself :  and  that  being  done, 

Choice  of  what  blooms  round  her  fair  garden  run 

In  climbers  or  in  creepers  or  the  tree 

She  ranges  with  unerring  fingers  fine. 

To  harmony  so  vivid  that  through  sight 

I  hear,  I  have  her  heavenliness  to  fold 

Beyond  the  senses,  where  such  love  as  mine, 

Such  grace  as  hers,  should  the  strange  Fates  withhold 

Ttieir  starry  more  from  her  and  me,  unite. 


THE  SPIRIT  OF  SHAKESPEARE 

Tht  greatest  knew  thee,  Mother  Earth ;  unsoured 
He  knew  thy  sOns.    He  probed  from  hell  to  hell 
Of  human  passions,  but  of  love  deflowered 
His  wisdom  was  not,  for  he  knew  thee  well. 
Thence  came  the  honeyed  corner  at  his  lips, 
The  conquering  smile  wherein  his  spirit  sails 
Calm  as  the  God  who  the  white  sea-wave  whips. 
Yet  full  of  speech  and  intershifting  tales. 
Close  mirrors  of  us :  thence  had  lie  the  laugh 
We  feel  b  thine :  broad  as  ten  thousand  beeves 
At  pasture !  thence  thy  songs,  that  winnow  chaff 
From  grain,  bid  sick  Philosophy's  last  leaves 
Whirl,  if  they  have  no  response — they  enforced 
To  fatten  Earth  when  from  her  soul  divorced. 


THE  SPIRIT  OF  SHAKESPEARE 

(amtimutt) 
How  smiles  he  at  a  generation  ranked 
In  gloomy  noddings  over  life !    They  pass. 
Not  he  to  feed  upon  a  breast  unthanked, 
Or  eye  a  beauteous  face  in  a  cracked  glass. 
But  he  can  spy  that  little  twist  of  brain 
Which  moved  some  weighty  leader  of  the  blind 
Unwitting  'twas  the  goad  of  personal  pain, 
~      '   r  in  curst  eclipse  our  Mother's  mind. 


dbyGOOgIC 


L 


SONNETS 

And  show  m  of  some  rigid  harridan 
The  wretched  bondmen  till  the  end  of  time. 
O  lived  the  Master  now  to  paint  ua  Man, 
That  little  twist  of  brain  would  ring  a  chime 
Of  whence  it  came  and  what  it  caused,  to  start 
Thunders  of  laughter,  clearing  air  and  heart. 


APPRECIATION 

Earth  was  not  Earth  before  her  sous  appeared. 
Nor  Beauty  Beauty  ere  young  Love  was  bom : 
And  thou  when  I  lay  hidden  wast  as  morn 
At  city-wmdows,  touching  eyelids  bleared ; 
To  none  by  her  fresh  wingedness  endeared ; 
Unwelcome  unto  revellers  outworn. 
I  the  last  echoes  of  Diana's  horn 
Id  woodland  heard,  and  saw  thee  come,  and  cheered. 
No  longer  wast  thou  then  mere  light,  fair  soul  I 
And  more  than  simple  duty  moved  thy  feet. 
New  colours  rose  in  thee,  from  fear,  from  shame. 
From  hope,  effused :  though  not  less  pure  a  scroll 
May  men  read  on  the  heart  I  taught  to  beat : 
That  change  in  thee,  if  not  thyself,  I  claim. 

THE  DISCIPLINE  OF  WISDOM 

Rich  labour  is  the  struggle  to  be  wise. 
While  we  make  sure  the  struggle  cannot  cease. 
Else  better  were  it  in  some  bower  of  peace 
Sothfu)  to  swing,  contending  with  the  Sies. 
You  point  at  Wisdom  fixed  on  lofty  skies,    ' 
As  mid  barbarian  hordes  a  sculptured  Greece : 
She  falb.     To  live  and  shine,  she  grows  her  fleece. 
Is  shorn,  and  rubs  with  follies  and  with  lies. 
So  following  her,  your  hewing  may  attain 
The  right  to  speak  unto  the  mute,  and  shun 
That  sly  temptation  of  the  illumined  brain, 
Deliveries  oracular,  self-spun. 
Who  sweats  not  with  the  flock  will  seek  in  vdn 
To  shed  the  words  which  are  ripe  fruit  of  sun. 


dbyGOOgIC 


Rub  thou  thy  batteredJaiap :  nor  claini,jror  beg 
Honours  from  aught  about  thee!     Light  the  young. 
Thy  frame  b  as  a  dusty  mantle  hung, 
O  grey  one !  pendant  on  a  loosened  peg. 
Thou  art  for  this  our  life  an  ancient  egg, 
Or  a  tough  bird :  thou  hast  a  rudderless  tongue. 
Turning  dead  trifles,  like  the  cock  of  dung. 
Which  runs,  Time's  contrast  to  thy  halting  leg. 
Nature,  it  b  most  sure,  not  thee  admires. 
But  hast  thou  in  thy  season  set  her  fires 
To  bum  from  Self  to  Spirit  through  the  lash, 
Honoured  the  sons  of  Earth  shall  hold  thee  high : 
Yea,  to  spread  light  when  thy  proud  letter  I 
Drops  prone  and  void  as  any  thoughtless  dash. 

THE  WORLD'S  ADVANCE  ♦ 

JuDOK  mQdIy  the  tasked  world ;  and  disincline 

To  brand  it,  for  it  bears  a  heavy  pack. 

You  have  perchance  observed  the  inebriate's  track 

At  ni^t  when  he  has  quitted  the  inn-sign : 

He  plays  diversions  on  the  homeward  line, 

Still  that  way  bent  albeit  his  legs  are  slack  : 

A  hedge  may  take  him,  but  he  turns  not  back, 

Nor  turns  this  burdened  world,  of  curving  spine. 

'Spiral,*  the  memorable  Lady  terms 

Our  mind's  ascent :  our  world's  advance  presents 

That  figure  on  a  flat ;  *  the  way  of  worms. 

Cherish  the  promise  of  its  good  intents. 

And  warn  it,  not  one  instinct  to  efface 

Ere  Reason  ripens  for  the  vacant  place. 

THE  GARDEN  OP  EPICURUS 

That  Garden  of  sedate  Philosophy 

Once  flourished,  fenced  from  passion  and  mishap, 

A  shining  spot  upon  a  shaggy  map ; 

Where  mind  and  body,  in  fair  junction  free. 

Luted  their  joyful  concord ;  like  the  tree 


dbyGOOgIC 


SONNETS 

From  root  to  fiowering  twigs  a  flowing  sap. 
Clear  Wisdom  fouod  in  tended  Nature's  lap 
Of  gentlemen  the  happy  nursery. 
That  Garden  would  on  light  supremest  verge, 
Were  the  long  drawing  of  an  equal  breath 
Healthful  for  Wisdom's  head,  her  heart,  her  aims. 
Our  world  which  for  its  Babels  wants  a  scourge. 
And  for  its  wilds  a  husbandman,  acclaims 
The  crucifix  that  came  of  Nazareth. 


A  LATER  ALEXANDRIAN 

An  inspiration  caught  from  dubious  hues 

Filled  him,  and  mystic  wrynesses  he  chased ; 

For  they  lead  farther  than  the  single-faced. 

Wave  subtler  promise  when  desire  pursues. 

The  moon  of  cloud  discoloured  was  his  Muse, 

Hb  pipe  the  reed  of  the  old  moaning  waste. 

Love  was  to  him  with  anguish  fast  enlaced. 

And  Beauty  where  she  walked  blood-shot  the  dews. 

Men  railed  at  such  a  singer    women  thrilled 

Reaponsively  :  he  sang  not  Nature's  own 

Divinest,  but  his  lyric  had  a  tone. 

As  'twere  a  forest-echo  of  her  voice : 

What  barrenly  they  yearn  for  seemed  distilled 

From  what  they  dread,  who  do  through  tears  rejoice. 


ON  OF  THE  MUSE 

/■alt  Whitman] 

;  Muse's  livery 

Illy  paces  rouse  his  taunts, 

I  his  savage  haunts, 

II  he  bend  the  knee ; 
s  of  her  distillery 

urces ;  and  his  woes  and  wants 

il  limitation  daunts 

p;  the  nymphs  blush,  not  he. 


dbyGOOgIC 


(  SONNETS 

Him,  when  he  blows  of  Earth,  and  Man,  and  Fate, 

The  Muse  will  hearken  to  with  graver  ear 

Than  many  of  her  train  can  waken :  him 

Would  fain  have  taught  what  fruitful  things  and  dear 

Must  sink  beneath  the  tidewaves,  of  their  weight, 

If  in  no  vessel  built  for  sea  they  swim. 


THE  POINT  OF  TASTE 

Unhappt  poets  of  a  sunken  prime  I 

You  to  reviewers  are  as  ball  to  bat. 

They  shadow  you  with  Homer,  knock  you  flat 

With  Shakespeare :  bludgeons  brainingly  sublime 

On  you  the  excommunicates  of  Rhyme, 

Because  you  sing  not  in  the  living  Fat. 

The  wiry  whizz  of  an  intrusive  gnat 

Is  verse  that  shuns  their  self-producing  time. 

Sound  them  their  clocks,  with  loud  alarum  trump. 

Or  watches  ticking  temporal  at  their  fobs, 

You  win  their  pleased  attention.     But,  bright  God 

O'  the  lyre,  what  bully-drawl  era  they  applaud  I 

Rather  for  us  a  tavern-catch,  and  bump 

Chorus  where  Lumpkin  with  his  Giles  hobnobs. 


CAMELUS  SALT  AT  • 

What  say  you,  critic,  now  you  have  become 
An  author  and  maternal  ? — in  this  trap 
(To  quote  you)  of  poor  hollow  folk  who  rap 
On  instruments  as  like  as  drum  to  drum. 
You  snarled  tut-tut  for  welcome  to  tum-tum. 
So  like  the  nose  fly-teased  in  its  noon'   nap. 
You  scratched  an  insect-slaughtering  thunder-clap 
wrui.  *!,»*  i.ai«>^n  t\.^  fi""trs  and  the  thumb. 
Olympian  couch, 
ble  or  reject, 
ily  pecked, 
om  his  pouch  I 
the  voice  austere, 
ere,  the  jeer,  the  sneer. 


dbyGOOgIC 


CAMELUS  SALTAT  • 

(Continued) 

Oracle  of  the  market  I  thence  you  drew 

TTie  taste  which  stamped  you  guide  of  the  inept. — 

A  North-sea  pilot,  Hildebrand  yclept, 

A  sturdy  and  a  briny,  once  men  knew. 

He  loved  small  beer,  and  for  that  copious  brew. 

To  roll  ingurgitation  till  he  slept, 

Rations  exchanged  with  flavour  for  the  adept : 

And  merrily  plied  him  captain,  mate  and  crew. 

At  last  this  dancer  to  the  Polar  star 

Sank,  washed  out  within,  and  overboard  was  pitched, 

To  drink  the  aea  and  pilot  him  to  land. 

O  captain-critic !  printed,  neatly  stitched, 

Know,  while  the  pillory-eggs  fly  fast,  they  are 

Not  eggs,  hut  the  drowned  soul  of  Hildebraud. 


MY  THEME  * 

Of  me  and  of  my  theme  think  what  thou  wilt : 
The  song  of  gladness  one  straight  bolt  can  check. 
But  I  have  never  stood  at  Fortune's  beck : 
Were  she  and  her  light  crew  to  run  atilt 
At  my  poor  holding  little  would  be  spilt ; 
Small  were  the  praise  for  singing  o'er  that  wreck. 
Who  courts  her  dooms  to  strife  his  bended  neck ; 
He  grasps  a  blade,  not  always  by  the  hilt. 
Nathless  she  strikes  at  random,  can  be  fell 
With  other  than  those  votaries  she  deals 
The  black  or  brilliant  from  her  thunder-rift 
I  say  but  that  this  love  of  Earth  reveals 
A  soul  beside  our  own  to  quicken,  quell. 
Irradiate,  and  through  ruinous  floods  uplift. 


dbyGOOgIC 


1)  TO  CHILDREN:  FOR  TYRANTS 

MY  THEME  • 

{Continued) 

'Tib  true  the  wisdom  that  niy  mind  exacts 

Through  contemplation  from  a  heart  unbent 

By  many  tempests  may  be  stained  and  rent : 

The  Slimmer  flies  it  mightily  attracts. 

Yet  they  seem  choicer  than  your  sons  of  facts. 

Which  scarce  give  breathing  of  the  sty's  content 

For  their  diurnal  carnal  nourishment : 

Which  treat  with  Nature  in  official  pacts. 

The  deader  body  Nature  could  proclaim. 

Much  life  have  neither.     Let  the  heavens  of  wrath 

Rattle,  then  both  scud  scattering  to  froth. 

But  during  calms  the  flies  of  idle  aim 

Less  put  the  spirit  out,  less  baffle  thirst 

For  light  than  swinish  grunters,  bleat  or  curst, 

TO  CHILDREN  :  FOR  TYRANTS  * 


SnuKE  not  thy  dog  with  a  stick ! 

I  did  it  yesterday : 
Not  to  undo  though  I  gained 
The  Paradise  i  heavy  it  rained 

On  Kobold's  flanks,  and  he  lay. 

II 
Little  Bruno,  our  long-ear  pup. 

From  his  hunt  bad  come  back  to  my  heel. 
I  heard  a  sharp  worrying  sound, 
And  Bruno  foamed  on  the  ground. 

With  Koby  as  making  a  meal. 

Ill 
I  did  what  I  could  not  undo 

of  the  Paradise  shut 

ed  it  was  just. 

d  in  the  dust, 

m  the  woodman's  hut. 


dbyGoOgIC 


TO  CHILDREN ;  FOR  TYRANTS 


He  bewhimpered  his  welting,  and  I 

Scarce  thought  it  enough  for  him  :  so, 

By  degrees,  through  the  upper  box-grove. 

Within  me  an  old  story  hove. 

Of  a  matt  and  a  dog :  you  shall  know. 


The  dog  was  of  a  novel  breed. 

The  Shannon  retriever,  untried : 
His  master,  an  old  Irish  lord. 
In  an  oaken  armchair  snored 
At  midnight,  whiskey  beside. 


Perched  up  a  desolate  tower, 

Where  the  black  storm -wind  was  a  whip 
To  set  it  nigh  spinning,  these  two 
Were  alone,  like  the  last  of  a  crew. 

Outworn  in  a  wave-beaten  ship. 


The  dog  lifted  muzzle,  and  sniffed ; 

He  quitted  his  couch  on  the  rug. 
Nose  to  Soor,  nose  aloft ;  whined,  barked ; 
And,  finding  the  signals  unmarked. 

Caught  a  hand  in  a  death-grapple  tug. 


He  pulled  till  his  master  jumped 

For  fury  of  wrath,  and  laid  on 
With  the  length  of  a  tough  knotted  staff, 
Fit  to  drive  the  life  flying  like  chaff. 
And  leave  a  sheer  carcase  anon. 


That  done,  he  sat,  panted,  and  cursed 

•  cross  of  this  brute :  nevermore 

luse  it  to  rear  such  a  cur ! 

gged  his  legs,  pained  to  stir, 

s  master,  dropped,  barked  at  the  door. 


dbyGoOgIC 


dbjGooglC 


POEMS  AND  LYRICS  OF  THE  JOY  OF 
EARTH 


THE  WOODS  OF  WESTERMAIN  * 


Enter  these  enchanted  woods. 

You  who  dare. 
Nothing  harms  beneath  the  leaves 
More  than  waves  a  swimmer  cleaves. 
•  Toss  your  heart  up  with  the  lark. 
Foot  at  peace  with  mouse  and  worm. 

Fair  you  fare. 
Only  at  a  dread  of  dark 
Quaver,  and  they  quit  their  form : 
Thousand  eyeballs  under  hoods 

Have  you  by  the  hair. 
Enter  these  enchanted  woods. 

You  who  dare. 


Here  the  snake  across  your  path 
Stretches  in  his  golden  bath : 
Mossy-footed  squirrels  leap 
Soft  as  winnowing  plumes  of  Sleep : 
<  Ya69es  on  a  chuckle  skim 
Low  to  laugh  from  branches  dim : 
Up  the  pine,  where  sits  the  star, 
Rattles  deep  the  moth-winged  jar 
Each  has  business  of  his  own ;  t 
But  should  you  distrust  a  tone,  \ 

Then  beware. 
Shudder  all  the  haunted  roods, 
All  the  eyeballs  under  hoods 

Shroud  you  in  their  glare. 
Enter  these  enchanted  woods. 

You  who  dare. 


dbyGOOgIC 


THE  WOODS  OF  WESTERMAIN 


Open  hither,  open  hence, 
Scarce  a  bramble  weaves  a  fence. 
Where  the  strawberry  runs  red. 
With  white  star-flower  overhead ; 
Cumbered  by  dry  twig  and  cone, 
Shredded  husks  of  seedlings  flown. 
Mine  of  mole  and  spotted  flint : 
Of  dire  wizardry  no  hint. 
Save  mayhap  the  print  that  shows 
Hasty  outward -tripping  toes. 
Heels  to  terror,  on  the  mould. 
These,  the  woods  of  Westermain, 
Are  as  others  to  behold. 
Rich  of  wreathing  sun  and  rain ; 
Foliage  lustreful  around 
Shadowed  leagues  of  slumbering  sound. 
Wavy  tree-tops,  yellow  whins. 
Shelter  eager  minikins. 
Myriads,  free  to  peck  and  pipe : 
Would  you  better?  would  you  wprseT 
You  with  them  may  gaaier~r!pe 
Pleasures  flowing  not  from  purse. 
Quick  and  far  as  Colour  flies 
Taking  the  delighted  eyes. 
You  of  any  well  that  springs 
May  unfold  the  heaven  of  things ; 
Have  it  homely  and  within. 
And  thereof  its  likeness  win, 
Will  you  so  in  soul's  deare : 
This  do  sages  grant  t'  the  lyre, 
'  This  is  being  bird  and  more. 
More  than  glad  musician  this ; 
Granaries  you  will  have  a  store 
Past  the  world  of.  woe  and  bliss ; 
Shariag  stiitits  bliss -Mid  woe ; 
Harnessed  Jojts  hungers,  no. 
On  the  throne  Success  usurps 
You  shall  seat  the  joy  you  feel 
Where  a  race  of  water  chirps. 


dbyGOOgIC 


L 


THE  WOODS  OF  WESTERMAIN 

Twisting  hues  of  flourished  steel : 
Or  where  light  is  caught  io  hoop 
Up  a  clearing's  leafy  rise. 
Where  the  crossing  deerherds  troop   ^ 
Classic  splendours,  knightly  dyes. 
Or,  where  old-eyed  oxen  chew       \ 
Speculation  with  the  cud,  \ 

Read  their  pool  of  vision  through,     ] 
-   Back  to  hours  when  mind  was  mud  / 
Nigh  the  knot,  which  did  untwine    / 
Timelessly  to  drowsy  suns ;  \ 

Seeing  Earth  a  slimy  spine,  \ 

Heaven  a  3[>ace  for  winging  tons^i^-  ' 
Farther,  deeper,  may  you  readT" 
Have  you  sight  for  things  afield. 
Where  peeps  she,  the  Nurse  of  seed,*    ' 
Cloaked,  but  in  the  peep  revealed ; 
Showing  a  kind  face  and  sweet : 
Look  you  with  the  soul  you  see  't. 
Glory  narrowing  to  grace, 
Grace  to  glory  magnified. 
Following  that  will  you  embrace 
Close  in  arms  or  aery  wide. 
Banished  is  the  white  Foam-bom  * 
Not  from  here,  nor  under  ban 
Phoebus  lyrist,  Phoebe's  horn, 
Kpings  of  the  reedy  Fan. 
Loved  of  Earth  of  old  they  were,  I 
Loving  did  interpret  her ;  ' 

And  the  sterner  worship  bars 
None  whom  Song  has  made  her  stars. 
You  have  seen  the  huntress  moon 
Radiantly  facing  dawn. 
Dusky  meads  between  them  strewn 
Glimmering  like  downy  awn ; 
Argent  Westward  glows  the  hunt. 
East  the  blush  about  to  climb ; 
One  another  fair  they  front, 
Transient,  yet  outshine  the  time  ■ 
Even  as  dewlight  off  the  rose 
In  the  mind  a  jewel  sows. 


dbyGOOgIC 


THE  WOODS  OF  WESTERMAIN 

Thus  opposing  grandeurs  live 

Here  if  Beauty  be  their  dower : 

Doth  she  of  her  spirit  give. 

Fleetingness  will  spare  her  flower. 

This  is  in  the  time  we  phiy. 

Which  no  spring  of  strength  would  quell; 

In  subduing  does  not  slay ; 

(juides  the  channel,  guards  the  well : 

Tempered  holds  the  young  blood-heat. 

Yet  through  measured  grave  accord 

Hears  the  heart  of  wildaess  beat 

Like  a  centaiu-'s  hoof  on  sward. 

I  .Drink  the  sense  the  notes  infuse. 
You  a  larger  self  will  find : 
Sweetest  fellowship  ensues 

JJlHiib  the  creatures  of  your  kind. 

TAy,  and  Love,  if  Love  it  be 

I  Flaming  over  /  and  ME, 

I  Love  meet  they  who  do  not  shove 

(|  Cravings  in  the  van  of  Love. 

Knowing  love  if  it  be  true- 
Reverence  the  blossom-shoot 
Fervently,  they  are  the  fruit. 
Mark  them  stepping,  bear  them  talk, 
Goddess  is  no  myth  inane. 
You  will  say  of  those  who  walk 
In  the  wood   of  Westermain. 
Waters  that  from  throat  and  thigh 
Dart  the  sun  his  arrows  back ; 
Leaves  that  on  a  woodland  sigh 
Chat  of  secret  things  no  lack ; 
Shadowy  branch-leaves,  waters  clear, 
Bare  or  veiled  they  move  sincere ; 
Not  by  slavish  terrors  tripped ; 
Being  anew  in  nature  dipped, 

they  step  on,  these ; 

le  grace  of  trees. 

ley  give,  nor  hide, 

ttered  pride, 

rished  not  by  light. 


dbyGOOgIC 


-      THE  WOODS  OF  WESTERMAIN 

Lurks  the  shuffling  trickster  sprite :  * 
Whereof  are  strange  tales  to  tell ; 
Some  in  blood  writ,  tombed  in  hell. 
Here  the  ancient  battle  ends 
Joining  two  astonished  friends, 
Who  the  kiss  can  give  and  take 
With  more  warmth  than  in  that  world 
Where  the  tiger  claws  the  snake, 
Snake  her  tiger  clasps  infurled. 
And  the  issue  of  their  fight 
Peoples  lands  in  snarling  plight. 
Here  her  splendid  beast  she  leads 
Silken-leashed  and  decked  with  weeds 
Wild  as  he,  but  breathing  faint 
Sweetness  of  unfelt  constraint. 
Love,  the  great  volcano,  flings 
Fires  of  lower  Earth  to  aky ; 
I  "Love,  the  sole  permitted,  sings 
I  Sovereignly  of  ME  and  /. 
^~Bowers  he  has  of  sacred  shade. 
Spaces  of  superb  parade, 
Voiceful.  .  ,  .  But  bring  you  a  note 
Wrangling,  howsoe'er  remote. 
Discords  out  of  discord  spin 
Round  and  round  derisive  din : 

vill  a  pallor  pant 

icreeches  miscreant ; 

ipeetres,  thick  they  flee ; 

re  upon  horror  broods ; 

aughter,  monkish  glee, 

s  the  vital  air. 

sse  enchanted  woods 
who  dare. 


t  love  the  light  so  wetlJ 
darkness  will  seem  fell/ 
o  you  could  accost       *■ 
a  livid  ghost, 
the  phantom  wisps  away, 
n  smoke  to  cocks  of  day. 


dbyGOOgIC 


THE  WOODS  OF  WESTERMAIN 

In  your  breast  the  light  must  bum 

Fed  of  you,  like  corn  id  quern 

Ever  plumping  while  the  wheel 

Speeds  the  mill  and  drains  the  meal. 

Light  to  light  seea  little  strange. 

Only  features  heavenly  new ; 

Then  you  touch  the  nerve  o/  Change, 

Then  of  Earth  you  have  the  clue ; 

Then  her  two-sexed  meanings  melt 

Through  you,  wed  the  thought  and  felt. 

Sameness  locks  no  scurfy  pond 

Here  for  Custom,  crazy-fond  : 

Change  is  on  the  wing  to  bud 

Rose  in  brain  from  rose  in  blood. 

Wisdom  throbbing  shall  you  see 

Central  in  complexity ; 

From  her  pasture  'mid  the  beasts 

Rise  to  her  ethereal  feasts, 

Not,  though  lightnings  track  your  wit 

Starward,  scorning  them  you  quit: 

For  be  sure  the  bravest  wing 

Preens  it  in  our  common  spring. 

Thence  along  the  vault  to  soar. 

You  with  others,  gathering  more, 

Glad  of  more,  till  you  reject 

Your  proud  title  of  elect. 

Perilous  even  here  while  few 

Roam  the  arched  greenwood  with  you. 

Heed  that  snare. 
Muffled  by  his  cavem-cowl 
Squats  the  scaly  Dragon-fowl,' 
Who  was  lord  ere  light  you  drank. 
And  lest  blood  of  knightly  rank 
Stream,  let  not  your  fair  princess 
Stray :  he  holds  the  leagues  in  stress, 

Watches  keenly  there. 
Oft  has  he  been  riven ;  slain 

termain. 

I  forge  him  curbs, 

jes,  tame, 

as  cunning  herbs. 


dbyGOOgIC 


THE  WOODS  OF  WESTERMAIN 

How  to  cure  him  sick  and  lame. 
Much  restricted,  much  enringed, 
Much  he  frets,  the  hooked  and  winged. 

Never  known  to  spare. 
"Tis  enough :  the  name  of  Sage 
Hits  no  thing  in  nature,  nought ; 
Man  the  leaat,  save  when  grave  Age 
From  yon  Dragon  guards  his  thought. 
Eye  him  when  you  hearken  dumb 
To  what  words  from  Wisdom  come. 
When  she  says  how  few  are  by 
Listening  to  her,  eye  his  eye. 

Self,  his  name  declare. 
Him  shall  Change,  transforming  late, 
Wonderously  renovate. 
Hug  himself  the  creature  may : 
What  he  hugs  is  loathed  decay. 
Crying,  slip  thy  scales,  and  slough  1 
Change  will  strip  his  armour  off ; 
Make  of  him  who  was  all  maw. 
Inly  only  thrilling-shrewd, 
Such  a  servant  as  none  saw 
Through  his  days  of  dragoohood : 
Days  wheH  growling  o'er  his  bone. 
Sharpened  he  for  mine  and  thine ; 
Sensitive  within  alone; 
Scaly  as  in  clefts  of  pine. 
Change,  the  strongest  son  of  Life, 
Has  the  Spirit  here  to  wife. 
Lo,  their  young  of  vivid  breed 
Bear  the  lights  that  onward  speed. 
Threading  thickets,  mounting  glades, 
Up  the  verdurous  colonnades. 
Round  the  fluttered  curves,  and  down. 
Out  of  sight  of  Earth's  blue  crown. 
Whither,  in  her  central  space. 
Spouts  the  Fount  and  Lure  o'  the  chase.* 
Fount  unresting.  Lure  divine! 
There  meet  all :  too  late  look  most. 
Fire  in  water  hued  as  wine 
Springs  amid  a  shadowy  host ; 


dbyGOOgIC 


THE  WOODS  OP  WESTERMAIN 

Circled :  one  close-headed  mob, 
Breathless,  scanning  divers  heaps 
Where  a  Heart  begins  to  throb. 
Where  it  ceases,  slow,  with  leaps : 
And  'tis  very  strange,  'tis  said, 
How  you  spy  in  each  of  them 
Semblance  of  that  Dragon  red. 
As  the  oak  in  bracken-stem.' 
And,  'tis  said,  how  each  and  each : 
Which  commences,  which  subsides : 
First  my  Dragon  1  doth  beseech 
Her  who  food  for  all  provides.' 
And  she  answers  with  no  sign ; 
Utters  neither  yea  nor  nay ; 
Fires  the  water  hued  as  wine ; 
Kneads  another  spark  in  clay. 
Terror  is  about  her  hid ; 
Silence  of  the  thunders  locked ; 
Lightnings  lining  the  shut  lid ; 
Fixity  on  quaking  rocked. 
Lo,  you  look  at  Flow  and  Drought 
Interflashed  and  interwrought: 
Ended  b  begun,  begun 
Ended,  quick  as  torrents  run. 
Young  Impulsion  spouts  to  sink ; 
Luridness  and  lustre  link ; 
"lis  your  come  and  go  of  breath ; 
Mirrored  pants  the  Life,  the  Death ; 
Each  of  either  reaped  and  sown : 
Rosiest  rosy  wanes  to  crone. 
See  you  so  ?  your  senses  drift ; 
'Tis  a  shuttle  weaving  swift. 
^  Look  with  spirit  past  the  sense. 
Spirit  shines  in  permanence. 
That  is  she,  the  view  of  whom 
Is  the  dust  within  the  tomb. 
Is  the  inner  blush  above. 
Look  to  loathe,  or  look  to  love ; 
lliink  her  Lump,  or  know  her  Flame ; 
Dread  her  scourge,  or  read  her  aim ; 
Shoot  your  hungers  from  their  nerve ; 


dbyGOOgIC 


)DS  OF  WESTERMAIN 

xample,  serve. 

found  her  sitting  grave; 

onie ;  or,  browed  with  sweat, 

it  of  fool  and  knave 

;  smithy's  jet. 

:e  not  well  to  speak ; 

,  you  need  but  seek. 

i  she  gives  the  key 

Y  doorway,  she ; 

ou  stop  or  steer 

^ou  are  the  aeer, 

ace  she  will  witeh. 

Beauty  yours,  but  gaze 

the  soul  is  rich 
iting,  past  amaze, 
rage  that  endures 
ivful  tremhle  yours, 
eflex  of  that  Fount 
',  will  Reason  mount 
a  quenchless  force, 
lin  to  its  mad  source, 
ir  till  Fear  escapes, 
;h  all  its  phantom  shapes. 
spirit  will  perceive 
1  of  fleshly  sins ; 
passions  interweave, 
rpent  tangle  spins 
e  of  Earth  misprised, 
unrecognized ; 
ipirit  in  her  clods, 

the  God  of  Gods. 
)u  are  pleasures  pure, 
the  stars  are  sure : 
nton  beckoning  flags 
lattery  and  delight,  - 

grim  Habit-Hags 
s  of  men  to  night : 
lat  through  blood  run  sane, 

spirit  from  the  brain, 
ih  in  sequent  birth, 
brain  and  spirit,  three 


dbyGoOgIC 


THE  WOODS  OF  WESTERMAIN 

(Say  the  deepest  gnomes  of  Earth), 
Join  for  true  felicity. 
Are  they  parted,  then  expect 
Some  one  sailing  will  be  wrecked  : 
Separate  hunting  are  they  sped. 
Scan  the  morsel  coveted. 

■/  Earth  that  Triad  is :'  she  hides 
Joy  from  him  who  that  divides ; 
Showers  it  when  the  three  are  one 
Glassing  her  in  union. 
Earth  your  haven.  Earth  your  helm. 
You  command  a  double  realm ; 
Labouring  here  to  pay  your  debt. 
Till  your  little  sun  shall  set ; 
Leaving  her  the  future  task : 

J  Loving  her  too  well  to  ask. 
Eglantine  that  climbs  the  yew, 
She  her  darkest  wreathes  for  those 
Knowing  her  the  Ever-new, 
And  themselves  the  kin  o'  the  rose. 
Life,  the  chisel,  axe  and  sword. 
Wield  who  have  her  depths  explored : " 
Life,  the  dream,  shall  be  their  robe. 
Large  as  air  about  the  globe ; 
Life,  the  question,  hear  its  cry 
Ek;hoed  with  concordant  Why  ; 
Life,  the  small  self-dragon  ramped. 
Thrill  for  service  to  be  stamped. 
Ay,  and  over  every  height 
Life  for  them  shall  wave  a  wand : 
That,  the  last,  where  sits  affright. 
Homely  shows  the  stream  beyond. 
Love  the  light  and  be  its  lynx, 
You  will  track  her  and  attain ; 
Read  her  as  no  cruel  Sphinx 
In  the  woods  of  Westermain. 
Daily  fresh  the  woods  are  ranged ; 
Glooms  which  otherwhere  appal. 
Sounded :  here,  their  worths  exchanged. 
Urban  joins  with  pastoral : 
Little  lost,  save  what  may  drop 


Digitized  byGOOglt^ 


THE  WOODS  OF  WESTERMAIN 

Husk-like,  and  the  mind  preserves. 
Natural  overgrowths  they  lop. 
Yet  from  nature  neither  swerves. 
Trained  or  savage :  for  this  cause : 
Of  our  Earth  they  ply  the  laws. 
Have  in  Earth  their  feeding  root. 
Mind  of  man  and  bent  of  brute. 

"  Hear  that  song;  both  wild  and  ruled. 
Hear  it :  is  it  wail  or  mirth  ? 
Ordered,  bubbled,  quite  unschooled? 
None,  and  all :  it  springs  of  Earth. 
0  but  hear  it !  'tis  the  mind ; 
('Mind  that  with  deep  Earth  unites,' 
Round  the  solid  trunk  to  wind 
Rings  of  clasping  parasites. 
Music  have  you  there  to  feed 
Simplest  and  most  soaring  need. 
Free  to  wind,  and  in  desire 
Winding,  they  to  her  attached 
Feel  the  trunk  a  spring  of  fire. 
And  ascend  to  heights  unmatched. 
Whence  the  tidal  world  is  viewed 
As  a  sea  of  windy  wheat. 
Momently  black,  barren,  rude ; 
Golden-brown,  for  harvest  meet; 
Dragon-reaped  from  folly-sown ; 
Bride-like  to  the  sickle-blade : 
Quick  it  varies,  while  the  moan, 
Moan  of  a  sad  creature  strayed, 

J  Chie6y  is  its  voice.    So  flesh 
Conjures  tempest-flails  to  thresh 
Good  from  worthless.    Some  clear  lamps 
LJght  it ;  more  of  dead  marsh-damps. 
Monster  is  it  still,  and  blind. 
Fit  but  to  be  led  by  Pain. 
Glance  we  at  the  paths  behind, 
Fruitful  sight  has  Westermain. 
There  we  laboured,  and  in  turn 
Forward  our  blown  lamps  discern, 
As  you  see  on  the  dark  deep 
Far  the  loftier  billows  leap. 


dbyGOOgIC 


THE  WOODS  OF  WESTERMAIN 

Foam  for  beacon  bear. 
Hither,  hither,  if  you  will, 
Drink  instruction,  or  instil. 
Run  tJie  woods  like  vernal  sap. 
Crying,  hail  to  luminousness  1 

But  have  care. 
In  yourself  may  lurk  the  trap: 
On  conditions  they  caress. 
Here  you  meet  the  light  invoked : 
Here  is  never  secret  doaked. 
Doubt  you  with  the  monster's  fry 
All  his  orbit  may  exclude ; 
Are  you  of  the  stiff,  the  dry, 
Cursing  the  not  understood ; 
Grasp  you  with  the  monster's  claws ; 
Govern  with  his  tmncheon-saws ; 
Hate,  the  shadow  of  a  grain ; 
You  are  lost  in  Westermain : " 
Earthward  swoops  a  vulture  sun, 
Nighted  upon  carrion : 
Stnughtway  venom  winecups  shout 
Toasts  to  One  whose  eyes  are  out :  '* 
Flowers  along  the  reeling  floor 
Drip  henbane  and  hellebore : 
Beauty,  of  her  tresses  shorn. 
Shrieks  as  nature's  maniac : 
Hideousness  on  hoof  and  horn 
Tumbles,  yapping  in  her  track: 
Hazard  Wisdom,  stately  once. 
Leers  fantastical  and  trips : 
Allegory  drums  the  sconce, 
Impiousness  nibblenips. 
Imp  that  dances,  imp  that  flits. 
Imp  o'  the  demon-growing  gir). 
Maddest !  whirl  with  imp  o'  the  pits 
Round  you,  and  with  them  you  whirl 
Fast  where  pours  the  fountain-rout 
Out  of  Him  whose  eyes  are  out : 
Multitudes  on  multitudes. 
Drenched  in  wallowing  devilry ; 
And  you  ask  where  you  may  be. 


dbyGOOgIC 


A  BALLAD  OF  PAST  MERIDIAN  ■ 

In  what  reek  of  a  lair 
Given  to  bones  and  ogre-broods : 

And  they  yell  you  Where. 
Enter  these  enchanted  woods. 

You  who  dare. 


A  BALLAD  OF  PAST  MERIDIAN 


Last  night  returning  from  my  twilight  walk 
I  met  the  grey  mbt  Death,  whose  eyeless  brow 
Was  bent  on  me,  and  from  his  hand  of  chalk 
He  reached  me  flowers  as  from  a  withered  bough : 
O  Death,  what  bitter  nosegays  gjvest  thou  I 


Death  said,  I  gather,  and  pursued  his  way. 
Another  stood  by  me,  a  shape  in  stone. 
Sword-hacked  and  iron-stained,  with  breasts  of  clay. 
And  metal  veins  that  sometimes  fiery  shone : 
O  Life,  how  naked  and  how  hard  when  known  I 


Life  said,  As  thou  bast  carved  me,  such  am  I. 
Then  memory,  like  the  nightjar  on  the  pine. 
And  sightless  hope,  a  woodlark  in  night  sky. 
Joined  notes  of  Death  and  Life  till  night's  decline : 
Of  Death,  of  Life,  those  inwound  notes  are  mine. 


THE  DAY  OF  THE  DAUGHTER  OF  HADES  • 


He  who  has  looked  upon  Earth 
Deeper  than  flower  and  fruit, 
Ixising  some  hue  of  his  mirth, 
As  the  tree  striking  rock  at  the  root. 
Unto  him  shall  the  marvellous  tale 
Of  Callistes  more  humanly  come 
With  the  touch  on  his  breast  than  a  hail 
From  the  markets  that  hum. 


dbyGOOgIC 


206    THE  DAY  OF  THE  DAUGHTER  OF  HADES 


Now  the  youth  footed  awift  to  the  dawn. 

'Twas  the  season  when  wintertide, 

In  the  higher  rack-hollows  updrawD, 

Leaves  meadows  to  bud,  and  he  spied. 

By  light  throwing  shallow  shade, 

Between  the  beam  and  the  gloom, 

Sicilian  Eiina,  whose  Maid 

Such  aspect  wears  in  her  bloom 

Underneath  since  the  Charioteer 

Of  Darkness  whirled  her  away. 

On  a  reaped  afternoon  of  the  year. 

Nigh  the  poppy -droop  of  Day. 

O  and  naked  of  her,  all  dust,  ' 

The  majestic  Mother  and  Nurse, 

Ringing  cries  to  the  God,  the  Just, 

Curled  the  land  with  the  blight  of  her  curse : 

Recollected  of  this  glad  isle 

Still  quaking.     But  now  more  fair. 

And  momently  fraying  the  while 

The  veil  of  the  shadows  there, 

Soft  Enoa  that  prostrate  grief 

Sang  through,  and  revealed  round  the  vineSi 

Bronze-orange,  the  crisp  young  leaf. 

The  wheat-blades  tripping  in  lines, 

A  hue  unillumined  by  sun 

Of  the  flowers  flooding  grass  as  from  founts : 

All  the  penetrable  dun 

Of  the  mom  ere  she  mounts. 


Nor  had  saffron  and  sapphire  and  red 
Waved  aloft  to  their  sisters  below. 
When  gap>ed  by  the  rock-channel  head 
Of  the  l^e,  black,  a  cave  at  one  blow, 
Reverberant  over  the  plain : 
A  sound  oft  fearfully  swung 
For  the  coming  of  wrathful  rain : 
And  forth,  like  the  dragon-tongue 
Of  a  fire  beaten  flat  by  the  gale. 


dbyGOOgIC 


THE  DAUGHTER  OF  HADES    207 

the  amoke  to  behold, 
rst.    Then  a  wail 
b  of  the  love  that  would  fold 
urable,  bigger  than  heart, 
id'9 :  and  the  wheels  were  stayed, 
1  of  the  chariot  swart 
irble,  the  six,  dismayed, 
lat  by  night  plashing  sea 
.mp  from  the  vast  swan-wave ; 
rreat  Mother,  She  1 
I  gazed,  he  gave 
up  to  the  sight : 
of  the  Twain,  of  whom 
heir  day,  their  night, 
I  and  the  shearing  tomb : 
the  Sheaves 
of  Hadea,  the  Sweet 
saw  through  leaves 
and  Daughter  meet. 
y  the  chariot-wheel, 
cry  tall,  most  like 
rs,  wind-taken,  that  reel 
hivering  columns  and  strike 
I,  crossing  throats :  and  apart, 
of  the  look,  they  drew, 
less  no  longer  could  thwart ; 
>ke  together  anew, 
ears,  flower  and  bud. 
t  of  the  Rayleas  was  grave : 
it  Sleep  on  its  flood, 
of  all  we  crave : 
ce  of  eyes  awake 
t  enshrouded,  she  cast 
erworld  on  the  lake, 
re  so,  and  they  passed. 


ho  knew  the  law 
} :  he  stood  alive 
it  this  he  saw : 
I  see,  and  survive. 


dbyGOOgIC 


208  THE  DAY  OF  THE  DAUGHTER  OF  HADES 


Now  the  youth  was  not  ware  of  the  beams 
With  the  grasses  intertwined, 
For  each  thing  seen,  as  in  dreams, 
Came  stepping  to  rear  through  his  mind, 
Till  it  struck  his  remembered  prayer 
To  be  witness  of  this  which  had  flown 
Like  a  smoke  melted  thinner  than  air. 
That  the  vacancy  doth  disown. 
And  viewing  a  maiden,  he  thought 
It  might  now  be  mom,  and  afar 
Within  him  the  memory  wrought 
Of  a  something  that  slipped  from  the  car 
When  those,  the  august,  moved  by : 
Perchance  a  scarf,  and  perchance 
This  maiden.    She  did  not  8y, 
Nor  started  at  his  advance : 
She  looked,  as  when  infinite  thirst 
Pants  pausing  to  bless  the  springs. 
Refreshed,  unsated.     Then  first 
He  trembled  with  awe  of  the  things 
He  had  seen ;  and  he  did  transfer. 
Divining  and  doubting  in  turn, 
His  reverence  unto  her; 
Nor  asked  what  be  crouched  to  learn : 
The  whence  of  her,  whither,  and  why 
Her  presence  there,  and  her  name. 
Her  parentage :  under  which  sky 
Her  birth,  and  how  hither  she  came. 
So  yoimg,  a  virgin,  alone, 
Unfriended,  having  no  fear. 
As  Oreads  have ;  no  moan. 
Like  the  lost  upon  earth ;  no  tear ; 
Not  a  sign  of  the  torch  in  the  blood, 
Though  her  stature  had  reached  the  height 
When  mantles  a  tender  md 
In  maids  that  of  youths  have  sight. 
If  maids  of  our  seed  they  be : 
For  he  said :  A  glad  vision  art  thou  I 
And  she  answered  him :  Thou  to  me  I 
As  men  utt^r  a  vow. 


dbyGOOgIC 


THE  DAY  OF  THE  DAUGHTEE  OF  HADES    209 


Then  said  she,  quick  as  the  cries 

Of  the  rainy  cranes :  Light  I  light  t 

And  Helios  rose  in  her  eyes, 

That  were  full  as  the  dew-halb  bright, 

Relueent  to  him  as  dews 

Unshaded.    Breathing,  she  sent 

Her  voice  to  the  God  o!  the  Muse, 

And  along  the  vale  it  went. 

Strange  to  hear :  not  thin,  not  shrill : 

Sweet,  but  no  young  maid's  throat : 

The  echo  beyond  the  hill 

Ran  falling  on  half  the  note : 

And  under  the  shaken  ground 

Where  the  Hundred-headed  groans 

By  the  roots  of  great  Aetna  bound. 

As  of  him  were  hollow  tones 

Of  wondering  roared :  a  tale 

Repeated  to  sunless  halls. 

But  now  off  the  face  of  the  vale 

Shadows  fled  in  a  breath,  and  the  walb 

Of  the  lake's  rock-head  were  gold, 

And  the  breast  of  the  lake,  that  swell 

Of  the  crestless  long  wave  rolled 

To  shore-bubble,  pebble  and  shell. 

A  morning  of  radiant  lids 

O'er  the  dance  of  the  earth  opened  wide : 

T^e  bees  chose  their  flowers,  the  snub  kids 

Upon  hindlegs  went  sportive,  or  plied, 

Nosing,  hard  at  the  dugs  to  be  filled : 

There  was  milk,  honey,  music  to  make : 

Up  their  branches  the  little  birds  billed : 

Chirrup,  drone,  bleat  and  buzz  ringed  the  lake. 

0  shining  in  sunlight,  chief 

After  water  and  water's  caress. 

Was  the  young  bronze-orange  leaf. 

That  clung  to  the  tree  as  a  tress. 

Shooting  lucid  tendrils  to  wed 

With  the  vine-hook  tree  or  pole, 

Like  Arachne  launched  out  on  her  thread. 


dbyGOOgIC 


210  THE  DAY  OF  THE  DAUGHTER  OF  HADES 

Then  the  maideo  her  dusky  stole 
In  the  span  of  the  black-starred  zone 
Gathered  up  tor  her  footing  fleet. 
As  one  that  bad  toil  of  her  own 
She  followed  the  lines  of  wheat 
Tripping  straight  through  the  field,  green  bladeSi 
To  tie  groves  of  olive  grey. 
Downy-grey,  golden-tinged  :  and  to  glades 
\Vhere  the  pear-blossom  thickens  the  spray 
In  a  night,  like  the  snow-packed  storm : 
Pear,  apple,  almond,  plum  : 
Not  wintry  now :  pushing,  warm ! 
And  she  touched  them  with  finger  and  thumbi 
As  the  vine-hook  closes :  she  smiled, 
Recounting  again  and  again. 
Corn,  wine,  fruit,  oil !  like  a  child. 
With  the  meaning  known  to  men. 
For  hours  in  tbe  track  of  the  plough 
And  the  pmning-knife  she  stepped, 
And  of  how  the  seed  works,  and  of  how 
Yields  the  soil,  she  seemed  adept. 
Then  she  murmured  that  name  of  the  dearth, 
The  Beneficent,  Hers,  who  bade 
Our  husbandmen  sow  for  the  birth 
Of  the  grain  making  earth  full  glad. 
She  murmured  that  Other's :  the  dirge 
Of  life-light ;  for  whose  dark  lap 
Our  locks  are  clipped  on  the  verge 
Of  the  realm  where  runs  no  sap.' 
She  said :  We  have  looked  on  both  I 
And  her  eyes  had  a  wavering  beam 
Of  various  lights,  like  the  froth 
Of  the  storm -swollen  ravine  stream 
In  flame  of  the  bolt.    What  links 
Were  these  which  bad  made  him  her  friend  T 
He  eyed  her,  as  one  who  drinks. 
And  would  drink  to  the  end. 


Now  the  meadows  with  crocus  besprent. 
And  the  asphodel  woodsides  she  left. 


dbyGOOgIC 


THE  DAY  OF  THE  DAUGHTER  OF  HADES  2U 

And  the  lake-aiopes,  the  ravishing  scent 
Of  narcissus,  dark-sweet,  for  the  cleft 
That  tutors  the  torrent-brook. 
Delaying  its  forceful  spleen 
With  many  a  wind  and  crook 
Through  rock  to  the  broad  ravine. 
By  the  hyadnth-bells  in  the  brakes, 
And  the  shade-loved  white  windflower,  half  hid, 
And  the  sun-loving  lizards  and  snakes 
On  the  cleft's  barren  ledges,  that  sUd 
Out  of  sight,  smooth  as  waterdrops,  all, 
At  a  snap  of  twig  or  bark 
In  the  track  of  the  foreign  foot-fall. 
She  climbed  to  the  pineforest  dark, 
Overbrowing  an  emerald  chine 
Of  the  erass-billows.    Thence,  as  a  wreath, 
and  cypress  to  pine, 

are  seen,  and  beneath, 

«,  groves,  rivers,  towers,  farms, 

ching  the  bay, 

je  town  in  its  arms, 

ig  white  as  the  spray 

sea-wave  on  the  rock, 

stars  the  girdle  of  sea, 

s  the  midday  flock, 

:,  rings  the  round  of  the  tree. 

e  piercing  shaft 

h-shadows,  confused 

and  she  laughed, 

mouth  amused, 

e  flock,  adroop, 

tree-stem  as  one, 

illing  the  loop 

a  slant  of  sun. 

r  pent  of  the  crag, 

herds  in  piping  recline, 

I  stops,  burst  and  flag 

outstretched  swine : 

are  slack  and  unsure, 

(sues  querulous : — thorns 

>ut  she  listened  demure. 


dbyGOOgIC 


212  THE  DAY  OF  THE  DAUGHTER  OF  HADES 

Comparing  day's  music  with  morn's. 

Of  the  gentle  spirit  that  slips 

From  the  bark  of  the  tree  she  discoursed. 

And  of  her  of  the  wells,  whose  hps 

Are  coolness  enchanting,  rock-sourced. 

And  much  of  the  sacred  loon, 

The  frolic,  the  Goatfoot  God, 

For  stories  of  indolent  noon 

In  the  pineforest's  odorous  nod, 

She  questioned,  not  knowing :  be  can 

Be  waspish,  irascible,  rude. 

He  is  oftener  friendly  to  man. 

And  ever  to  beasts  and  their  brood. 

For  the  which  did  she  love  him  welt. 

She  said,  and  his  pipes  of  the  reed. 

His  twitched  Hps  puffing  to  tell 

In  music  bis  tears  and  his  need. 

Against  the  sharp  catch  of  his  hurt. 

Not  as  shepherds  of  Pan  did  she  speak. 

Nor  spake  as  the  schools,  to  divert. 

But  fondly,  perceiving  him  weak 

Before  Gods,  and  to  shepherds  a  fear, 

A  holiness,  bom  and  heel. 

AH  this  she  had  learnt  in  her  ear 

From  Callistes,  and  taught  him  to  feel. 

Yea,  the  solemn  divinity  flushed 

Through  the  shaggy  brown  skin  of  the  beast. 

And  the  steeps  where  the  cataract  rushed. 

And  the  wilds  where  the  forest  is  priest. 

Were  his  temple  to  clothe  him  in  awe. 

While  she  spake  :   'twas  a  wonder :  she  read 

The  haunts  of  the  beak  and  the  claw 

As  plain  as  the  land  of  bread. 

But  Cities  and  martial  States, 

Whither  soon  the  youth  veered  his  theme. 

Were  impervious  barrier-gates 

To  her :  and  that  ship,  a  trireme, 

Nearing  harbour,  scarce  wakened  her  glance. 

Though  he  dwelt  on  the  message  it  bore 

Of  sceptre  and  sword  and  lance 

To  the  bee-swarms  black  on  the  shore. 


dbyGOOgIt 


THE  DAY  OF  THE  DAUGHTER  OF  HADES    213 

Which  were  audible  almost, 
So  black  they  were.    It  befeU 
lliat  he  called  up  the  warrior  host 
Of  the  Song  pouring  hydromel 
Id  thunder,  the  wide-winged  Song. 
And  be  named  with  his  boyish  pride 
He  heroes,  the  noble  throng 
Past  Acheron  now,  foul  tide  1 
With  his  joy  of  the  godlike  band 
And  the  verse  divine,  he  named 
lie  chiefs  pressing  hot  on  the  strand. 
Seen  of  Gods,  of  Gods  aided,  and  maimed. 
The  Seetfoot  and  ireful ;  the  King ; 
Him,  the  prompter  in  stratagem, 
Many-ishifted  and  masterful :  Sing, 
0  Muse  I    But  she  cried :  Not  of  them  I 
She  breathed  as  if  breath  had  failed. 
And  her  eyes,  while  she  bade  him  desbt. 
Held  the  lost-to-light  ghosts  grey-mailed. 
As  you  see  the  grey  river-mist 
Holds  shapes  on  the  yonder  bank. 
A  moment  her  body  waned, 
The  light  of  her  sprang  and  sank : 
llieD  she  looked  at  the  sun,  she  regained 
Clear  featiu^,  and  she  breathed  deep. 
She  wore  the  wan  smile  he  had  seen, 
As  the  flow  of  the  river  of  Sleep, 
On  the  mouth  of  the  Shadow-Queen. 
In  sunlight  she  craved  to  bask, 
Saying:  Life!    And  who  was  she?  who? 
Of  what  issue?    He  dared  not  ask. 
For  that  partly  he  knew. 


A  noise  of  the  hollow  ground 
Turned  the  eye  to  the  ear  in  debate : 
Not  the  soft  overflowing  of  sound 
Of  the  pines,  ranked,  lofty,  straight. 
Barely  swayed  to  some  whispers  remote. 
Some  swarming  whispers  above : 
Not  the  pines  with  the  taint  airs  afloat. 


dbyGOOgIC 


214    THE  DAY  OF  THE  DAUGHTER  OF  HADES 

Huah-hushing  the  nested  dove : 

It  was  not  the  pines,  or  the  rout 

Oft  heard  from  mid-forest  in  chase. 

But  the  long  muffled  roar  of  a  shout 

Subterranean.    Sharp  grew  her  face. 

She  rose,  yet  not  moved  hy  affright ; 

"Twas  rather  good  haste  to  use 

Her  holiday  of  delight 

In  the  beams  of  the  God  of  the  Muse. 

And  the  steeps  of  the  forest  she  crossed. 

On  its  dry  red  sheddings  and  cones 

Up  the  paths  by  roots  green-mossed, 

Spotted  amber,  and  old  mossed  stones. 

TTien  out  where  the  brook-torrent  starts 

To  her  leap,  and  from  bend  to  curve 

A  hurrying  elbow  darts 

For  the  instant-glancing  swerve. 

Decisive,  with  violent  will 

In  the  action  formed,  like  hers, 

The  maiden's,  ascending ;  and  still 

Ascending,  the  bud  of  the  furze. 

The  broom,  and  all  blue-berried  shoots 

Of  stubborn  and  prickly  kind, 

The  juniper  flat  on  its  roots. 

The  dwtuf  rbododaphne,  behind 

She  left,  and  the  mountain  sheep 

Far  bebdnd,  goat,  herbage  and  flower. 

The  island  was  hers,  and  the  deep, 

All  heaven,  a  golden  hour. 

Then  with  wonderful  voice  that  rang 

Through  air  as  the  swan's  nigh  death. 

Of  the  glory  of  Light  she  sang, 

She  sang  of  the  rapture  of  Breath. 

Nor  ever,  says  he  who  heard. 

Heard  Earth  in  her  boundaries  broad, 

inger  or  bird 

:  rich  of  the  God 

9  always  are  sane. 

(w  and  seed, 
of  the  grain, 
the  showers  that  feed. 


dbyGOOgIC 


THE  DAY  OF  THE  DAUGHTER  OF  HADES  215 

And  the  green  blades  waxing  mature 
For  the  husbandman's  armful  brown. 
0,  the  song  in  its  burden  nm  pure, 
And  burden  to  song  was  a  crown. 
Callistes,  a  singer,  skilled 
In  the  ^t  he  could  measure  and  praise. 
By  a  rival's  art  was  thrilled, 
liiough  she  sang  but  a  Song  of  Days, 
Where  the  husbandman's  toil  and  strife 
Little  varies  to  strife  and  toil : 
But  the  milky  kernel  of  hfe. 
With  her  numbered :  com,  wine,  fruit,  oil  I 
The  song  did  pve  him  to  eat : 
Gave  the  first  rapt  vision  of  Good, 
And  the  fresh  young  sense  of  Sweet : 
Tbe  grace  of  the  battle  for  food. 
With  the  Issue  Earth  cannot  refuse 
When  men  to  their  labour  are  sworn. 
'Twaa  a  song  of  the  God  of  the  Muse 
To  the  forehead  of  Mom. 


Him  loved  she.     Lo,  now  was  he  veiled : 
Over  sea  stood  a  swelled  cloud-rack : 
The  fishing-boat  havenward  sailed, 
Bent  abeam  with  a  whitened  track. 
Surprised,  fast  hauling  the  net. 
As  it  flew :  sea  dashed,  earth  shook. 
S9ie  said  :  Is  it  night  ?     0  not  yet  1 
With  a  travail  of  thoughts  in  her  look. 
The  mounts  heaved  up  to  its  peak : 
Sea  darkened :  earth  gathered  her  fowl : 
Of  bird  or  of  branch  rose  the  shriek. 
Night?  but  never  so  fell  a  scowl 
Wore  night,  nor  the  sky  since  then 
When  ocean  ran  swallowing  shore. 
And  the  Gods  looked  down  for  men. 
Broke  tempest  with  that  stem  roar 
Never  yet,  save  when  black  on  the  whirl 
Rode  wrath  of  a  sovereign  Power. 
Thqn  the  youth  and  the  shuddering  girl, 


dbyGOOgIC 


216    THE  DAY  OP  THE  DAUGHTER  OP  HADES 

Dim  as  shades  in  the  angry  shower, 

Joined  hands  and  descended  a  maze 

Of  the  paths  that  were  racing  alive 

Round  boulder  and  bush,  cleaving  ways. 

Incessant,  with  sound  of  a  hive. 

The  height  was  a  fountain-um 

Pouring  streams,  and  the  whole  solid  height 

Leaped,  chasing  at  every  turn 

The  pair  in  one  spirit  of  flight 

To  the  folding  pineforest.    Yet  here, 

Like  the  piause  to  things  hunted,  in  douot, 

The  stillness  bred  spectral  fear 

Of  the  awful ness  ranging  without, 

And  imminent.     Downward  they  fled. 

From  under  the  haunted  roof. 

To  the  valley  aquake  with  the  tread 

Of  an  iron-resounding  hoof, 

As  of  legions  of  thunderful  horse 

Broken  loose  and  in  line  tramping  hard. 

For  the  rage  of  a  hungry  force 

Roamed  blind  of  its  mark  over  sward : 

They  saw  it  rush  dense  in  the  cloak 

Of  its  travelling  swathe  of  steam, 

All  the  vale  through  a  thin  thread-smoke 

Was  thrown  back  to  distance  extreme: 

And  dull  the  full  breast  of  it  blinked, 

Like  a  buckler  of  steel  breathed  o'er, 

Diminished,  in  strangeness  distinct. 

Glowing  cold,  unearthly,  hoar : 

An  Enna  of  fields  beyond  sun, 

in  a  lurid  web, 

ersing  fury  spun 

1  with  a  wave's  flow  and  ebb ; 

breaks  to  grasp  and  to  spurn, 

n  ravenous  greed, 

well  its  return. 

1,  as  if  wringing  from  speed 

aade  the  unsighted  appear, 

dissolve,  on  it  scoured. 

m  land  held  career 

plain  of  the  vale  half-devoured. 


dbyGOOgIC 


THE  DAY  OF  THE  DAUGHTER  OF  HADES    217 

Calliates  of  home  and  escape 
Muttered  swiftly,  unwitting  of  speech. 
She  gazed  at  the  Void  of  shape. 
She  put  her  white  hand  to  hia  reach. 
Saying :  Now  have  we  looked  on  the  Three.* 
And  divided  from  day,  from  night. 
From  air  that  is  breath,  stood  she, 
Like  the  vale,  out  of  light. 


Then  again  in  disorderly  words 

He  muttered  of  home,  and  was  mute. 

With  the  heart  of  the  cowering  birds 

Ere  they  burst  off  the  fowler's  foot. 

He  gave  her  some  redness  that  streamed 

Through  her  limbs  in  a  flitting  glow. 

The  sigh  of  our  life  she  seemed, 

The  bliss  of  it  clothing  in  woe. 

Frailer  than  flower  when  the  round 

Of  the  sickle  encircles  it :  strong 

To  tell  of  the  things  profound. 

Our  inmost  uttering  song, 

Unspoken.    So  stood  she  awhile 

In  the  gloom  of  the  terror  afield. 

And  the  silence  about  her  smile 

Said  more  than  of  tongue  is  revealed. 

I  have  breathed :  I  have  gazed ;  I  have  been : 

It  said :  and  not  joylessly  shone 

The  remembrance  of  light  through  the  screen 

Ot  a  face  that  seemed  shadow  and  stone. 

She  led  the  youth  trembling,  appalled, 

To  the  lake-banks  be  saw  sink  and  rise 

Like  a  panic-struck  breast.    Then  she  called. 

And  the  hurricane  blackness  had  eyes. 

It  launched  like  the  Thunderer's  bolt. 

Pale  she  drooped,  and  the  youth  by  her  side 

Would  have  clasped  her  and  dared  a  revolt 

Sacrilegious  as  ever  defied 

High  Olympus,  but  vainly  for  strength 

Hia  compassionate  heart  shook  a  frame 


dbyGOOgIC 


218  THE  DAY  OF  THE  DAUGHTER  OF  HADES 

Stricken  rigid  to  ice  all  its  length. 
On  amain  the  black  traveller  came. 
Lo,  a  chariot,  cleaving  the  storm. 
Clove  the  foimtaining  lake  with  a  plough. 
And  the  lord  of  the  steeds  was  in  form 
He,  the  God  of  implacable  brow, 
Darkness :  he :  he  in  person :  he  raged 
Through  the  wave  like  a  boar  of  the  wilds 
From  the  hunters  and  hounds  disengaged, 
And  a  name  shouted  hoarsely :  his  child's. 
Horror  melted  in  anguish  to  hear. 
Lo,  the  wave  hissed  apart  for  the  path 
Of  the  terrible  Charioteer, 
With  the  foam  and  torn  features  of  wrath, 
Hurled  aloft  on  each  arm  in  a  sheet ; 
And  the  steeds  clove  it,  rushing  at  land 
Like  the  teeth  of  the  famished  at  meat. 
Then  he  swept  out  his  hand. 


This,  no  more,  doth  Callistes  recall : 
He  saw,  ere  he  dropped  in  swoon. 
On  the  maiden  the  chariot  fall. 
As  a  thundercloud  swings  on  the  moon. 
Forth,  free  of  the  deluge,  one  cry 
From  the  vanishing  gallop  rose  clear : 
And :  Skiigeneia !  the  sky 
Rang :  Ski^geneia  1  the  sphere. 
And  she  left  him  therewith,  to  rejoice, 
Repine,  yearn,  and  know  not  his  aim, 
The  life  of  their  day  in  her  voice, 
L^t  her  life  in  her  name. 


Now  the  valley  in  ruin  of  fields 
And  fair  meadowland,  showing  at  eve 
Like  the  spear-pitted  warrior's  shields 
After  battle,  bade  men  believe 
That  no  other  than  wrathfidlest  God 


dbyGoogle 


THE  DAY  OF  THE  DAUGHTER  OP  HADES    219 

Had  been  loose  on  her  beautiful  breast. 

Where  the  flowery  grass  was  clod, 

Wheat  and  vine  as  a  trailing  nest. 

The  valley,  discreet  in  grief, 

Disclosed  hut  the  open  truth, 

And  Enna  had  hope  of  the  sheaf : 

There  was  none  for  the  desolate  youth 

Devoted  to  mourn  and  to  crave. 

Of  the  secret  he  had  divined 

Of  his  friend  of  a  day  would  he  rave : 

How  for  light  of  our  earth  she  pined : 

For  the  olive,  the  vine  and  the  wheat 

Biuning  through  with  inherited  fire: 

And  when  Mother  went  Mother  to  meet, 

She  was  prompted  by  simple  desire 

In  the  day-destined  car  to  have  place 

At  the  skirts  of  the  Goddess,  unseen. 

And  be  drawn  to  the  dear  earth's  face. 

She  was  fire  for  the  blue  and  the  green 

Of  our  earth,  dark  fire ;  athirst 

As  a  seed  of  her  bosom  for  dawn. 

White  air  that  had  robed  and  nursed 

Her  mother.    Now  was  she  gone 

With  the  Silent,  the  God  without  tear. 

Like  a  bud  peeping  out  of  its  sheath 

To  be  sundered  and  stamped  with  the  sere. 

And  Callistes  to  her  beneath, 

As  she  to  our  beams,  extinct. 

Strained  arms :  he  was  shade  of  her  shade. 

In  division  so  were  they  Unked. 

But  the  song  which  had  betrayed 

Her  flight  to  the  cavernous  ear 

For  its  own  keenly  wakeful :  that  song 

Of  the  sowing  and  reaping,  and  cheer 

Of  the  husbandman's  heart  made  strong 

Through  droughts  and  deluging  rains 

With  his  faith  in  the  Great  Mother's  love : 

O  the  joy  of  the  breath  she  sustains. 

And  the  lyre  of  the  light  above, 

And  the  first  rapt  vision  of  Good, 

And  the  fresh  young  sense  of  Sweet : 


dbyGOOgIC 


220  THE  DAY  OP  THE  DAUGHTER  OF  HADES 

That  soDg  the  youth  ever  pursued 
In  the  track  of  her  footing  fleet 
For  men  to  be  profited  much 
By  her  day  upon  earth  did  he  sing : 
Of  her  voice,  and  her  steps,  and  her  touch 
On  the  blossoms  of  tender  Spring, 
Immortal :  and  how  in  her  soul 
She  is  with  them,  and  tearless  abides, 
Folding  grain  of  a  love  for  one  goal 
In  patience,  past  flowing  of  tides. 
And  if  unto  him  she  was  tears, 
He  wept  not :  he  wasted  within : 
Seeming  sane  in  the  song,  to  his  peers. 
Only  crazed  where  the  cravings  begin. 
Our  Lady  of  Gifts  prized  he  leas 
Than  her  issue  in  darkness  :  the  dim 
Lost  Ski^geneia's  caress 
Of  our  earth  made  it  richest  for  him. 
And  for  that  was  a  curse  on  him  raised. 
And  he  withered  rathe,  dry  to  his  prime, 
Though  the  bounteous  Giver  he  praised 
Through  the  island  with  rites  of  old  time 
Exceedingly  fervent,  and  reaped 
Veneration  for  teachings  devout. 
Pious  hymns  when  the  com-sheaves  are  heaped. 
And  the  wine-presses  niddily  spout. 
And  the  olive  and  apple  are  Juice 
At  a  touch  light  as  hers  lost  below. 
Whatsoever  to  men  is  of  use 
Sprang  his  worship  of  them  who  bestow. 
In  a  measure  of  song?  unexcelled : 
But  that  soul  loving  earth  and  the  sun 
From  her  home  of  the  shadows  he  held 
For  his  beacon  where  beam  there  is  none : 
And  to  join  her,  or  have  her  brought  back. 
In  his  frenzy  the  singer  would  call. 
Till  he  followed  where  never  was  track, 
the  path  trod  of  all. 


dbyGOOgIC 


THE  LARK  ASCENDING 

He  rises  and  begins  to  round, 
He  drops  the  silver  chain  of  sound. 
Of  many  links  without  a  break. 
In  chirrup,  whistle,  slur  and  shake, 
All  intervolved  and  spreading  wide, 
Like  water-dimples  down  a  tide 
Where  ripple  ripple  overcurla 
And  eddy  into  eddy  whirls ; 
A  press  of  hurried  notes  that  run 
So  fleet  they  scarce  are  more  than  one, 
Yet  changeingly  the  trills  repeat 
And  linger  ringing  while  they  fleet, 
Sweet  to  the  quick  o'  the  ear,  and  dear 
To  her  beyond  the  handmaid  ear. 
Who  sits  beside  our  inner  springs, 
Too  often  dry  for  this  he  brings, 
Which  seems  the  very  jet  of  earth 
At  sight  of  sun,  her  music's  mirth. 
As  up  he  wings  the  spiral  stair, 
A  song  of  light,  and  pierces  air 
With  fountain  ardour,  fountain  play. 
To  reach  the  shining  tops  of  day, 
And  drink  in  everything  discerned 
An  ecstasy  to  music  turned. 
Impelled  by  what  his  happy  bill 
Disperses ;  drinking,  showering  still, 
Unthinking  save  that  he  may  give 
His  voice  the  outlet,  there  to  live 
Renewed  in  endless  notes  of  glee, 
So  thirsty  of  his  voice  is  he. 
For  all  to  hear  and  all  to  know 
That  he  is  joy,  awake,  aglow. 
The  tumult  of  the  heart  to  hear 
Through  pureness  filtered  crystal-clear, 
And  know  the  pleasure  sprinkled  bright 
By  simple  singing  of  delight. 
Shrill,  irreflective,  unrestrained. 
Rapt,  ringing,  on  the  jet  sustained 


dbyGOOgIC 


THE  LARK  ASCENDING 

Without  a  break,  without  a  fall, 

Sweet-silvery,  sheer  lyrical. 

Perennial,  quavering  up  the  chord 

Ijke  myriad  dews  of  sunny  sward 

That  trembling  into  fulness  sbioe, 

And  sparkle  dropping  argentine ; 

Such  wooing  as  the  ear  receives 

From  zephyr  caught  in  choric  leaves 

Of  aspens  when  their  chattering  net 

Is  flushed  to  white  with  shivers  wet; 

And  such  the  water-spirit's  chime 

On  mountain  heights  in  morning's  prime. 

Too  freshly  sweet  to  seem  excess. 

Too  animate  to  need  a  stress ; 

But  wider  over  many  heads 

The  starry  voice  ascending  spreads, 

Awakening,  as  it  waxes  thin. 

The  best  in  us  to  him  akin ; 

And  every  face  to  watch  him  raised 

Puts  on  the  light  of  children  praised. 

So  rich  our  human  pleasure  ripes 

When  sweetness  on  aincereness  pipes, 

Though  nought  be  promised  from  the  seas. 

But  only  a  soft-ruffling  breeze 

Sweep  glittering  on  a  still  content, 

Serenity  in  ravishment. 

For  singing  till  his  heaven  fills, 

Ti^  Invp  f,t  t^nj^'h  thyf  hp  inqtili, 

Arid  ever  winging  up  and  up. 

Our  valtey  is  bis  golden  cup. 

And  he  the  wine  which  overflows 

To  lift  us  with  him  as  he  goes : 

The  woods  and  brooks,  the  sheep  and  kine. 

He  is,  the  hills,  the  human  line. 

The  meadows  green,  the  fallows  brown. 

The  dreams  of  labour  in  the  town ; 

He  sings'  the  sap,  the  quickened  veins ; 

The  wedding  song  of  sun  and  rains 

He  b,  the  dance  of  children,  thanks 

Of  sowers,  shout  of  primrose-banks, 


dbyGOOgl 


f 


1  throat, 
free  ] 


THE  LARK  ASCENDING 

And  eye  of  violets  while  they  breathe ; 
All  these  the  circling  song  will  wreathe, 
And  you  shall  hear  the  herb  and  tre^-" 
The  hetter  heart  of  men  shall  see,    \ 
Shall  feel  celestially,  as  long  i 

As  you  crave  nothing  save  the  song.l 

Was  never  voice  of  ours  could  aay 
Our  inmost  in  the  sweetest  way, 
Ijke  yonder  voice  aloft,  and  link 
All  hearers  in  the  song  they  drink. 
Our  wisdom  speaks  from  failing  blogd, 
Our  passion  is.toQ  fuU.in. flood, 
We  want  the  key  of  his  wild  note 
Of  truthful  in  a  tuneful  t' 
JiThe  song  seraphicallxlree   j 
Of  taint  of  personality,         ' 
So  pure  that  it  salutes  the  suns. 
The  voice  of  one  for  millions! 
In  whom  the  millions  rejoice 
For  giving  their  one  spirit  voice. 

Yet  men  have  we,  whom  we  revere, 
Now  names,  and  men  stilt  housing  here, 
Whose  lives,  by  many  a  hattle-dint 
Defaced,  and  grinding  wheels  on  fiint, 
Yield  substance,  though  they  sing  not,  sweet 
For  song  our  highest  heaven  to  greet : 
Whom  heavenly  singing  gives  us  new. 
Enspheres  them  brilliant  in  our  blue, 
From  firmest  base  to  farthest  leap. 
Because  their  love  of  Earth  is  deep, 
And  they  are  warriors  in  accord 
With  life  to  serve,  and  pass  reward. 
So  touching  purest  and  so  heard 
In  the  brain's  reflex  of  yon  bird : 
Wherefore  their  soul  in  me,  or  mine. 
Through  self-forgetfulness  divine. 
In  them,  that  song  aloft  maintains. 
To  fill  the  sky  and  thrill  the  plains 


dbyGOOgIC 


PHOEBUS  WITH  ADMETUS 

With  showerings  drawn  from  humfui  stores, 

As  he  to  silence  nearer  soars. 

Extends  the  world  at  wings  and  dome. 

More  spacious  making  more  our  home. 

Till  lost  on  his  aerial  rings 

In  light,  and  then  the  fancy  sings. 


PHOEBUS  WITH  ADMETUS  * 


When  by  Zeus  relen^ng  the  mandate  was  revoked. 

Sentencing  to  exile  the  bright  Sun-God, 
Mindful  were  the  ploughmen  of  who  the  steer  had  yoked. 

Who :  and  what  a  track  showed  the  upturned  sod ! 
Mindful  were  the  shepherds  as  now  the  noon  severe 

Bent  a  burning  eyebrow  to  brown  evetide, 
How  the  rustic  flute  drew  the  silver  to  the  sphere 
Sister  of  his  own,  till  her  rays  fell  wide.' 
God !  of  whom  music 
And  song  and  blood  are  pure, 
The  day  is  never  darkened 
That  had  thee  here  obscure. 


Chirping  none  the  scarlet  cicalas  crouched  in  ranks : 

Slack  the  thistle-head  piled  its  down-silk  grey : 
Scarce  the  stony  Hzard  sucked  hollows  in  his  flanks : 
Thick  on  spots  of  umbrage  our  drowsed  flocks  lay. 
Sudden  bowed  the  chestnuts  beneath  a  wind  unheard, 

Lengthened  ran  the  grasses,  the  sky  grew  slate : 
Then  amid  a  swift  flight  of  winged  seed  white  as  curd, 
Clear  of  limb  a  Youth  smote  the  master's  gate. 
God !  of  whom  music 
And  song  and  blood  are  pure. 
The  day  is  never  darkened 
niat  had  thee  here  obscure. 


dbyGOOgIC 


PHOEBUS  WITH  ADMETUS 


Water,  first  of  stngers,  o'er  rocky  mount  and  mead, 

First  of  earthly  aingers,  the  sun-loved  rill, 
Sang  of  him,  and  flooded  the  ripples  on  the  reed. 

Seeking  whom  to  waken  and  what  ear  fill. 
Water,  sweetest  soother  to  kiss  a  wound  and  cool, 

Sweetest  and  divineat,  the  sky-bom  brook. 
Chuckled,  with  a  whimper,  and  made  a  mirror-pool 
Round  the  guest  we  welcomed,  the  strange  hand  shook. 
God !  of  whom  music 
And  song  and  blood  are  pure. 
The  day  is  never  darkened 
That  had  thee  here  obscure. 


Many  swarms  of  wild  bees  descended  on  our  Gelds : 

Stately  stood  the  wheatstalk  with  head  bent  high : 
Big  of  heart  we  laboured  at  storing  mighty  yields, 
Wool  and  com,  and  clusters  to  make  men  cry  I 
Hand-like  rushed  the  vintage ;  we  strung  the  bellied  skins 

Flump,  and  at  the  sealing  the  Youth's  voice  rose: 
Maidens  clung  in  circle,  on  little  fists  their  chins ; 
Gentle  beasties  through  pushed  a  cold  long  nose. 
God  1  of  whom  music 
And  song  and  blood  are  pure. 
The  day  is  never  darkened 
That  had  tnee  here  obscure. 


Foot  to  fire  in  snowtime  we  trimmed  the  slender  shaft: 

Often  down  the  pit  spied  the  lean  wolf's  teeth 
Grin  against  his  will,  trappted  by  masterstrokes  of  craft; 

Helpless  in  his  froth-wrath  as  green  logs  seethe ! 
S^fe  the  tender  Iambs  tugged  the  teats,  and  winter  sped 

Whirled  before  the  crocus,  the  year's  new  gold. 
Hung  the  hooky  beak  up  aloft  the  arrowhead 
Reddened  through  his  feathers  for  our  dear  fold. 
God  [  of  whom  music 
And  song  and  blood  are  pure. 
The  day  is  never  darkened 
That  had  thee  here  obscure. 


dbyGOOgIC 


PHOEBUS  WITH  ADMETCS 


Tales  we  drank  of  giants  at  war  with  Gods  above : 

Rocks  were  they  to  look  on,  and  earth  climbed  air  I 
Tales  of  search  for  simples,  and  those  who  sou^t  of  love 

Ease  because  the  creature  was  all  too  fair. 
Pleasant  run  our  thinking  that  while  our  work  was  good, 

Sure  as  fruits  for  sweat  would  the  praise  come  fast. 
He  that  wrestled  stoutest  and  tamed  the  billow-brood 
Danced  in  rings  with  girls,  like  a  sail-flapped  mast. 
God !  of  whom  music 
And  song  and  blood  are  pure, 
The  day  is  never  darkened 
That  had  thee  here  obscure. 


Lo,  the  herb  of  healing,  when  once  the  herb  b  known, 

Shines  in  shady  woods  bright  as  new-spnuig  flame. 

Ere  the  string  was  tightened  we  heard  the  mdlow  tone. 

After  he  had  taught  how  the  sweet  sounds  came. 
Stretched  about  bis  feet,  labour  done,  'twas  as  you  see 

Red  pomegranates  tumble  and  burst  hard  rind. 
So  began  contention  to  give  delight  and  be 
Excellent  in  things  aimed  to  make  life  kind. 
God  !  of  whom  music 
And  song  and  blood  are  pure, 
The  day  is  never  darkened 
That  had  thee  here  obscure. 


You  with  shelly  boms,  rams  I  and  promontory  goats, 

You  whose  browsing  beards  dip  in  coldest  dew ! 
Bulls,  that  walk  the  pastures  in  kingly-flashing  coats  I 

Laurel,  ivy,  vine,  wreathed  for  feasts  not  few ! 
You  that  build  the  shade-roof,  and  you  that  court  the  rays. 

You  that  leap  besprinkling  the  rock  stream-rent : 
He  has  been  our  fellow,  the  morning  of  our  days ; 
Us  he  chose  for  housemates,  and  this  way  went. 
God  I  of  whom  music 
And  song  and  blood  are  pure. 
The  day  is  never  darkened 
That  had  thee  here  obscure. 


dbyGOOgIC 


MELAMPUS  • 
I 
With  love  exceeding  a  simple  love  of  the  things 

That  glide  in  grasses  and  rubble  of  woody  wreck ; 
Or  change  their  perch  on  a  beat  of  quivering  wings 

From  branch  to  branch,  only  restful  to  pipe  and  peck ; 
Or,  bristled,  curl  at  a  touch  their  snouts  in  a  ball ; 

Or  cast  their  web  between  bramble  and  thomy  hook ; 
The  good  physician  Melampus,  loving  them  all, 

Among  them  walked,  as  a  scholar  who  reads  a  book. 

n 

For  him  the  woods  were  a  home  and  gave  him  the  key 

Of  knowledge,  thirst  for  then-  treasures  in  herbs  and 
flowers. 
The  secrets  held  by  the  creatures  nearer  than  we 

To  earth  he  sought,  and  the  link  of  their  life  with  ours : 
And  where  alike  we  are,  unlike  where,  and  the  veined 

Division,  veined  par^lel,  of  a  blood  that  flows 
In  them,  in  us,  from  the  source  by  man  unattained 

Save  marks  he  well  what  the  mystical  woods  disclose, 
iti 
And  this  he  deemed'might  be  boon  of  love  to  a  breast 

Embracing  tenderly  each  little  motive  shape. 
The  prone,  the  flitting,  who  seek  their  food  whither  best 

Their  wits  direct,  whither  best  from  their  foes  escape : 
For  closer  drawn  to  our  mother's  natural  milk, 

As  babes  they  learn  where  her  motherly  help  is  great : 
Tbey  know  the  juice  for  the  honey,  juice  for  the  silk, 

And  need  they  medical  antidotes  find  them  straight. 

IV 

Of  earth  and  sun  they  are  wise,  they  nourish  tbeir  broods, 

Weave,  build,  hive,  burrow  and  battle,  take  joy  and  pain 
Like  swimmers  varying  billows :  never  in  woods 

Runs  white  insanity  fleeing  itself :  all  sane 
The  woods  revolve :  as  the  tree  its  shadowing  limns 

To  some  resemblance  in  motion,  the  rooted  life 
Restrains  disorder :  you  hear  the  primitive  hymns 

Of  earth  in  woods  issue  wild  of  the  web  of  strife. 


dbyGOOgIC 


Now  sleeping  once  on  a  day  of  marvellous  fire, 

A  brood  of  snakes  he  had  cherished  in  grave  regret 
That  death  his  people  had  dealt  their  dam  and  their  sire, 

Through  savage  dread  of  them,  crept  to  his  neck,  and  set 
Their  tongues  to  lick  him :  the  swift  affectionate  tongue 

Of  each  ran  licking  the  slumberer :  then  his  ears 
A  forked  red  tongue  tickled  shrewdly :  sudden  upsprung, 

He  heard  a  voice  piping :  Ay,  for  be  has  no  feai^ ! 


A  bird  said  that,  in  the  notes  of  birds,  and  the  speech 

Of  men,  it  seemed :  and  another  renewed :  He  moves 
To  learn  and  not  to  pursue,  he  gathers  to  teach ; 

He  feeds  his  young  as  do  we,  and  as  we  love  loves. 
No  fears  have  I  of  a  man  who  goes  with  his  head 

To  earth,  chance  looking  aloft  at  us,  kind  of  hand : 
I  feel  to  him  as  to  earth  of  whom  we  are  fed ; 

I  pipe  him  much  for  bis  good  could  be  understand. 


Melampus  touched  at  his  ears,  laid  finger  on  wrist : 

He  was  not  dreaming,  he  sensibly,  felt  and  heard. 
Above,  through  leaves,  where  the  tree-twigs  thick  intertwist 

He  spied  the  birds  and  the  bill  of  the  speaking  bird. 
His  cushion  mosses  in  shades  of  various  green, 

The  lumped,  the  antlered,  he  pressed,  while  the  sunny 
snake 
Slipped  under :  draughts  he  had  drunk  of  clear  Hippocrene, 

It  seemed,  and  sat  with  a  gift  of  the  Gods  aw^e. 

VIII 

Divinely  thrilled  was  the  man,  exultjngly  full. 

As  quick  well-waters  that  come  of  the  heart  of  earth. 
Ere  yet  they  dart  in  a  brook,  are  one  bubble-pool 

To  light  and  sound,  wedding  both  at  the  leap  of  birth. 
The  soul  of  light  vivid  shone,  a  stream  within  stream ; 

The  soul  of  sound  from  a  musical  shell  outflew ; 
Where  others  hear  but  a  hum  and  see  but  a  beam. 

The  tongue  and  eye  of  the  fountain  of  life  he  knew. 


dbyGoogle 


He  knew  the  Hours :  they  were  round  him,  laden  with  seed 

Of  hours  bestrewn  upon  vapour,  and  one  by  one 
They  winged  aa  ripened  in  fruit  the  burden  decreed 

For  each  to  scatter :  they  flushed  hke  the  buds  id  sun. 
Bequeathing  seed  to  successive  similar  rings, 

Their  abtets,  bearers  to  men  of  what  men  have  earned : 
He  knew  them,  talked  with  the  yet  unreddened ;  the  stings 

The  sweets,  they  warmed  at  their  bosoms  divined,  dis- 
cemed. 


Not  unsolicited,  sought  by  diligent  feet. 

By  riddling  fingers  expanded,  oft  watched  in  growth 
With  brooding  deep  as  the  noon-ray's  quickening  wheat, 

Ere  touch'd,  the  pendulous  flower  of  the  plants  of  sloth. 
The  plants  of  ri^dness,  answered  question  and  squeeze, 

Revealing  wherefore  It  bloomed  uninviting,  bent, 
Yet  making  harmony  breathe  of  life  and  disease, 

The  deeper  chord  of  a  wonderful  instrument 


So  passed  he  luminous-eyed  for  earth  and  the  fates 

We  arm  to  bruise  or  caress  us  :  his  ears  were  charged 
With  tones  of  love  in  a  whirl  of  voluble  hates. 

With  music  wrought  of  distraction  his  heart  enlarged. 
Celestial-shining,  though  mortal,  singer,  though  mute. 

He  drew  the  Master  of  harmonies,  voiced  or  stilled. 
To  seek  him ;  heard  at  the  silent  medicine-root 

A  song,  beheld  in  fulfilment  the  unfulfilled. 


Him  Phoebus,  lending  to  darkness  colour  and  form 

Of  light's  excess,  many  lessons  and  counsels  gave ; 
Showed  Wisdom  lord  of  the  human  intricate  swarm. 

And  whence  prophetic  it  looks  on  the  hives  that  rave ; 
And  how  acquired,  of  the  zeal  of  love  to  acquire. 

And  where  it  stands,  in  the  centre  of  life  a  sphere; 
And  Measure,  mood  of  the  lyre,  the  rapturous  lyre, 

He  said  was  Wisdom,  and  struck  him  the  notes  to  hear. 


dbyGOOgIC 


dbjGooglc 


LOVE  IN  THE  VALLEY  231 

Had  I  the  heart  to  slide  an  arm  beneath  her. 
Press  her  parting  Ups  as  her  wabt  I  gather  slow. 

Waking  in  amazement  she  could  not  but  embrace  me : 
llien  would  she  hold  me  and  never  let  me  go? 

Shy  as  the  squirrel  and  wayward  as  the  swallow, 

Swift  as  the  swallow  along  the  river's  light 
Circleting  the  surface  to  meet  his  mirrored  wingleta. 

Fleeter  she  seems  in  her  stay  than  in  her  flight. 
Shy  as  the  squirrel  that  leaps  among  the  pine-tops. 

Wayward  as  the  swallow  overhead  at  set  of  sun. 
She  whom  I  love  is  hard  to  catch  and  conquer. 

Hard,  but  O  the  glory  of  the  winning  were  she  won ! 

When  her  mother  tends  her  before  the  laughing  mirror. 

Tying  up  her  laces,  looping  up  her  hair, 
Often  she  thinks,  were  this  wild  thing  wedded, 

More  love  shoidd  I  have,  and  much  less  care. 
When  her  mother  tends  her  before  the  lighted  mirror. 

Loosening  her  laces,  combing  down  her  curls. 
Often  she  thinks,  were  this  wild  thing  wedded, 

I  should  miss  but  one  for  many  boys  and  girb. 

Heartless  she  b  as  the  shadow  in  the  meadows 

Flying  to  the  hills  on  a  blue  and  breezy  noon. 
No,  she  is  athirst  and  drinking  up  her  wonder : 

Earth  to  her  is  young  as  the  slip  of  the  new  moon. 
Deals  she  an  unkindness,  'tis  but  her  rapid  measure. 

Even  as  in  a  dance ;  and  her  smile  can  heal  no  less : 
like  the  swinging  May-clood  that  pelts  the  flowers  with 
hailstones 

Off  a  sunny  border,  she  waa  made  to  bruise  and  bless. 

Lovely  are  the  curves  of  the  white  owl  sweeping 

Wavy  in  the  dusk  lit  by  one  large  star. 
Lone  on  the  fir-branch,  his  rattle-note  unvaried. 

Brooding  o'er  the  gloom,  spins  the  brown  eve-jar. 
Darker  grows  the  valley,  more  and  more  forgetting : 

So  were  it  with  me  if  forgetting  could  be  willed. 
Tell  the  grassy  hollow  that  holds  the  bubbling  well-spring. 

Tell  it  to  forget  the  source  that  keeps  it  filled. 


dbyGOOgIC 


232  LOVE  IN  THE  VALLEY 

Stepping  down  the  hill  with  her  fair  companions. 

Arm  in  arm,  all  against  the  raying  West, 
Boldly  she  sings,  to  the  merry  tune  she  marches. 

Brave  in  her  shape,  and  sweeter  unpossessed. 
Sweeter,  for  she  is  what  my  heart  first  awaking 

Whispered  the  world  was ;  morning  light  is  she. 
Love  that  so  desires  would  fain  keep  her  changeless ; 

Fain  would  fiing  the  net,  and  fain  have  her  free. 

Happy  happy  time,  when  the  white  star  hovers 

Low  over  dim  fields  fresh  with  bloomy  dew. 
Near  the  face  of  dawn,  that  draws  athwart  the  darkness. 

Threading  it  with  colour,  like  yewberries  the  yew. 
Thicker  crowd  the  shades  as  the  grave  East  deepens 

Glowing,  and  with  crimson  a  long  cloud  swdls. 
Maiden  still  the  morn  is ;  and  strange  she  is,  and  secret ; 

Strange  her  eyes ;  her  cheeks  are  cold  as  cold  sea-shells. 

Sunrays,  leaning  on  our  southern  hills  and  lighting 

Wild  cloud-mountains  that  drag  the  hilb  along. 
Oft  ends  the  day  of  your  shifting  brilliant  laughter 

Chill  as  a  dull  face  frowning  on  a  song. 
Ay,  but  shows  the  South-West  a  ripple-feathered  bosom 

Blown  to  silver  while  the  clouds  are  shaken  and  ascend 
Scaling  the  mid-heavens  as  they  stream,  there  comes  a  sunset 

Rich,  deep  like  love  in  beauty  without  end. 

When  at  dawn  she  sighs,  and  like  an  infant  to  the  window 

Turns  grave  eyes  craving  light,  released  from  dreams, 
Beautiful  she  looks,  like  a  white  water-lily 

Bursting  out  of  bud  in  havens  of  the  streams. 
When  from  bed  she  rises  clothed  from  neck  to  ankle 

In  her  long  nightgown  sweet  as  boughs  of  May, 
Beautiful  she  looks,  like  a  tall  garden  lily 

Pure  from  the  night,  and  splendid  for  the  day. 

Mother  of  the  dews,  dark  eye-lashed  twilight. 

Low-lidded  twilight,  o'er  the  valley's  brim. 
Rounding  on  thy  breast  sings  the  dew-delighted  skylark, 

Clear  as  though  the  dewdrops  had  their  voice  in  him. 


dbyGoogle 


LOVE  IN  THE  VALLEY  233 

Hidden  whwe  the  rose-flush  drinks  the  rayless  planet. 
Fountain-full  he  pours  the  spraying  foun tain-showers. 

Let  me  hear  her  Uughter,  I  would  have  her  ever 
Cool  as  dew  in  twilight,  the  lark  above  the  flowers. 

All  the  girb  are  out  with  their  baskets  for  the  primrose ; 

Up  lanes,  woods  through,  they  troop  in  joyful  bands. 
My  sweet  leads :  she  knows  not  why,  but  now  she  loiters. 

Eyes  the  bent  anemones,  and  hangs  her  hands. 
Such  a  look  will  tell  that  the  violets  are  peeping. 

Coming  the  rose :  and  unaware  a  cry 
Springs  in  her  bosom  for  odours  and  for  colour. 

Covert  and  the  nightingale ;  she  knows  not  why. 

Kerchiefed  head  and  chin  she  darts  between  her  tulips, 

Streaming  like  a  willow  grey  in  arrowy  rain : 
Some  bend  beaten  cheek  to  gravel,  and  their  angel 

She  will  be ;  she  lifts  them,  and  on  she  speeds  again. 
Black  the  driving  raincloud  breasts  the  iron  gateway : 

She  is  forth  to  cheer  a  neighbour  lacking  mirth. 
So  when  sky  and  grass  met  rolling  dumb  for  thunder 

Saw  I  once  a  white  dove,  sole  light  of  earth. 

Prim  little  scholars  are  the  flowers  of  her  garden. 

Trained  to  stand  in  rows,  and  asking  if  they  please. 
I  might  love  them  well  but  for  loving  more  the  wild  ones : 

O  my  wild  ones  I  they  tell  me  more  than  these. 
You,  my  wild  one,  you  tell  of  honied  field-rose, 

Violet,  blushing  eglantine  in  life ;  and  even  as  they, 
They  by  the  wayside  are  earnest  of  your  goodness, 

You  are  of  life's,  on  the  banks  that  line  the  way. 

Peering  at  her  chamber  the  white  crowns  the  red  rose. 

Jasmine  winds  the  porch  with  stars  two  and  three. 
Parted  is  the  window ;  she  sleeps ;  the  starry  jasmine 

Breathes  a  falling  breath  that  carries  thoughts  of  me- 
Sweeter  unpossessed,  have  I  said  of  her  my  sweetest? 

Not  while  she  sleeps :  while  she  sleeps  the  jasmine  breathes. 
Luring  her  to  love ;  she  sleeps ;  the  starry  jasmine 

Bears  me  to  her  pillow  under  white  rose-wreaths. 


dbyGOOgIC 


234  LOVE  IN  THE  VALLEY 

Yellow  with  birdfoot-trefoil  are  the  graas-glades '  .. 

Yellow  with  cinquefoil  of  the  dew-grey  leaf ;  ' 
Yellow  with  stonecrop ;  the  moss-mounds  are  yellow ; 

Blue-necked  the  wheat  sways,  yellowing  to  the  sheaf. 
Green-yellow  bursts  from  the  copse  the  laughing  yafHe: 

Sharp  as  a  sickle  is  the  edge  of  shade  and  shine : 
Earth  in  her  heart  laughs  looking  at  the  heavens. 

Thinking  of  the  harvest :  I  look  and  think  of  mine. 

This  I  may  know :  her  dressing  and  undressing 

Such  a  change  of  light  shows  as  when  the  skies  in  sport 
Shift  from  cloud  to  moonlight ;  or  edging  over  thunder 

Slips  a  ray  of  sun;  or  sweeping  into  port 
White  sails  furl ;  or  on  the  ocean  borders 

White  saib  lean  along  the  waves  leaping  green. 
Visions  of  her  shower  before  me,  but  from  eyesight 

Guarded  she  would  be  like  the  sun  were  sJie  seen. 

Front  door  and  back  of  the  mossed  old  farmhouse 

Open  with  the  mom,  and  in  a  breezy  link 
Freely  sparkles  garden  to  stripe-shadowed  orchard, 

Green  across  a  rill  where  on  sand  the  minnows  wink. 
Busy  in  the  grass  the  early  sun  of  summer 

Swarms,  and  the  blackbird's  mellow  fiuting  notes 
Call  my  darling  up  with  round  and  roguish  challenge : 

Quaintest,  richest  carol  of  all  the  singing  throats  I 

Cool  was  the  woodside ;  cool  as  her  white  dairy 

Keeping  sweet  the  cream-pan;  and  there  the  boys  from 
school. 
Cricketing  below,  rushed  brown  and  red  with  sunshine ; 

O  the  dark  translucence  of  the  deep-eyed  cool  I 
Spying  from  the  farm,  herself  she  fetched  a  pitcher 

Full  of  milk,  and  tilted  for  each  in  turn  the  beak. 
Then  a  little  fellow,  mouth  up  and  on  tiptoe. 

Said,  'I  will  kiss  you':  she  laughed  and  leaned  her  cheek. 

Doves  of  the  fir-wood  walling  high  our  red  roof 
Through  the  long  noon  coo,  crooning  through  the  coo. 

Loose  droop  the  leaves,  and  down  the  sleepy  roadway 
Sometimes  pipes  a  chaffinch ;  loose  droops  the  blue. 


dbyGoogte 


LOVE  IN  THE  VALLEY  235 

Cows  flaf     alow  tail  knee-deep  in  thfe  river, 
Breathl.  j,  given  up  to  sun  and  gnat  and  fly. 

Nowhere  b  she  seen ;  and  if  I  see  her  nowhere. 
Lightning  may  come,  straight  rains  and  tiger  sky. 

O  the  golden  sheaf,  the  rustling  treasure-armful  I 

O  the  nutbrown  tresses  nodding  interlaced  ! 
O  the  treasure-tresses  one  "another  over 

Nodding  1  0  the  girdle  slack  about  the  waist ! 
Slain  are  the  poppies  that  shot  their  random  scarlet 

Quick  amid  the  wheatears :  wound  about  the  waist, 
Gathered,  see  these  brides  of  Earth  one  blush  of  ripeness  I 

O  the  nutbrown  tresses  nodding  interlaced  I 

Large  and  smoky  red  the  sun's  cold  disk  drops,  | 

Clipped  by  n^ed  hills,  on  violet  shaded  snow  t  1 

Eastward  large  and  still  lights  up  a  bower  of  moonrise. 

Whence  at  her  leisure  steps  the  moon  aglow. 
Nightlong  on  black  print-branches  our  beech-tree 

Gazes  in  this  whiteness :  nightlong  could  L 
Here  may  life  on  death  or  death  on  life  be  painted. 

Let  me  clasp  her  soul  to  know  she  cannot  die ! 

Gossips  count  her  faults ;  they  scour  a  narrow  chamber 

Where  there  is  no  window,  read  not  heaven  or  her. 
'When  she  was  a  tiny,'  one  aged  woman  quavers. 

Plucks  at  my  heart  and  leads  me  by  the  ear. 
Faults  she  had  once  as  she  learnt  to  run  and  tumbled : 

Faults  of  feature  some  see,  beauty  not  complete. 
Yet,  good  gossips,  beauty  that  makes  holy 

E^ih  and  air,  may  have  faults  from  head  to  feet. 

Hither  she  comes ;  she  comes  to  me ;  she  lingers. 

Deepens  her  brown  eyebrows,  while  in  new  surprise 
High  rise  the  lashes  in  wonder  of  a  stranger ; 

Yet  am  I  the  light  and  living  of  her  eyes. 
Something  friends  have  told  her  fills  her  heart  to  brimming, 

Nets  her  in  her  blushes,  and  wounds  her,  and  tames. — 
Sure  of  her  haven,  0  like  a  dove  alighting, 

Arms  up,  she  dropped :  our  souls  were  in  our  names. 


dbyGOOgIC 


m  LOVE  IN  THE  VALLEY 

Soon  will  she  lie  like  a  white-frost  sunrise. 

Yellow  oats  and  brawn  wheat,  barley  pale  as  rye. 
Long  since  your  sheaves  have  yielded  to  the  thnsher. 

Felt  the  girdle  loosened,  seen  the  tresses  fly. 
Soon  will  she  lie  like  a  blood-red  sunset. 

Swift  with  the  to-morrow,  green-winged  Spring! 
Sing  from  the  South-West,  bring  her  back  the  truants. 

Nightingale  and  swallow,  son^  and  dipping  wing. 

Soft  new  beech-leavea,  up  to  beamy  April 

Spreading  bough  on  bough  a  primrose  mountain,  you. 
Lucid  in  the  moon,  raise  lilies  to  the  skyfields. 

Youngest  green  transfused  in  silver  shining  through : 
Fairer  than  the  lily,  than  the  wild  white  cherry : 

Fair  as  in  image  my  seraph  love  appears 
Borne  to  me  by  dreams  when  dawn  is  at  my  eyelids ; 

Fair  as  in  the  flesh  she  swims  to  me  on  tears. 

Could  I  find  a  place  to  be  alone  with  heaven, 

I  would  speak  my  heart  out :  heaven  is  my  need. 
Every  woodland  tree  is  flushing  like  the  dogwood. 

Flashing  like  the  whitebeam,  swaying  like  the  reed. 
Flushing  like  the  dogwood  crimson  in  October ; 

Streaming  like  the  flag-reed  South-West  blown ; 
Flashing  as  in  gusts  the  sudden -lighted  whitebeam : 

All  seem  to  know  what  is  for  heaven  alone. 


THE  THREE  SINGERS  TO  YOUNG    BLOOD* 

Carols  nature,  counsel  men. 
Different  notes  as  rook  from  wren 
Hear  we  when  our  steps  begin, 
And  the  choice  is  cast  within. 
Where  a  robber  raven's  tale 
'jn's  nightingale. 

I  three.    Chimed  they  in  one, 
lusic  of  the  sun. 
,  and  then  the  caw, 
y  that  knows  not  law. 


dbyGOOgIC 


THE  THREE  SINGERS  TO  YOUNG  BLOOD    237 


As  the  birds  do,  so  do  we, 
Bill  our  mate,  and  choose  our  tree. 
Swift  to  building  work  addressed. 
Any  straw  will  help  a  nest. 
Mates  are  warm,  and  this  is  truth, 
Glad  the  young  that  come  of  youth. 
They  have  bloom  i'  the  blood  and  sap 
Chilling  at  no  thunder-clap. 
Man  and  woman  on  the  thorn 
Trust  not  Earth,  and  have  her  scorn. 
They  who  in  her  lead  confide. 
Wither  me  if  they  spread  not  wide  I 
Look  for  aid  to  little  things. 
You  will  get  them  quick  as  wings. 
Thick  as  feathers ;  would  you  feed. 
Take  the  leap  that  springs  the  need. 


Contemplate  the  rutted  road : 
Life  ia  both  a  lure  and  goad. 
Each  to  hold  in  measure  just, 
Trample  appetite  to  dust. 
Mark  the  fool  and  wanton  spin : 
Keep  to  harness  as  a  sldn. 
Ere  you  follow  nature's  lead, 
Of  her  powers  in  you  have  heed ; 
Else  a  shiverer  you  will  find 
You  have  challenged  humankind. 
Mates  are  chosen  marketwise : 
Coolest  bargainer  best  buys. 
Leap  not,  nor  let  leap  the  heart : 
Trot  your  track,  and  drag  your  cart. 
So  your  end  may  be  in  wool. 
Honoured,  and  with  manger  full. 


O  the  rosy  light  1  it  fleets, 
Dearer  dying  than  all  sweets. 
That  is  life :  it  waves  and  goes ; 
Solely  in  that  cherished  Rose 


dbyGOOgIC 


THE  ORCHARD  AND  THE  HEATH 

Palpitates,  or  else  'tis  death. 

Call  it  love  with  all  thy  breath. 

Love !  it  lingers '.  Love  I  it  nears  : 

Love !  O  Love  1  the  Rose  appears. 

Blushful,  magic,  reddening  air. 

Now  the  choice  is  on  thee  :  dare  ! 

Mortal  seems  the  touch,  but  makes 

Immortal  the  hand  that  takes. 

Feel  what  sea  within  thee  shames 

Of  its  force  all  other  claims. 

Drowns  them.     Clasp !  the  world  will  be 

Heavenly  Rose  to  swelling  sea. 


THE  ORCHARD  AND  THE  HEATH  • 

I  CBANCED  upon  an  early  walk  to  spy 

A  troop  of  children  through  an  orchard  gate : 

The  boughs  hung  low,  the  grass  was  high ; 

They  had  but  to  lift  hands  or  wait 
For  fruits  to  fill  them ;  fruits  were  all  their  sky. 

They  shouted,  running  on  from  tree  to  tree. 

And  played  the  game  the  wind  plays,  on  and  round. 

'Twas  visible  invisible  glee 

Pursuing ;  and  a  fountain's  sound 
Of  laughter  spouted,  pattering  fresh  on  me. 

I  could  have  watched  them  till  the  daylight  fled. 
Their  pretty  bower  made  such  a  light  of  day. 
A  small  one  tumbling  sang,  '  Oh  1  head  ! ' 
The  rest  to  comfort  her  straightway 
Seized  on  a  branch  and  thumped  down  apples  red. 

The  tiny  creature  flashing  through  green  grass, 
And  laughing  with  her  feet  and  eyes  among 

Fresh  apples,  while  a  little  lass 

Over  as  o'er  breeze-ripples  hung : 
That  sight  I  saw,  and  passed  as  aliens  pass. 


dbyGOOgIC 


THE  ORCHARD  AND  THE  HEATH    23S 

My  footpath  left  the  pleasant  farms  and  lanes, 

Soft  cottage-emoke,  straight  cocks  a-crow,  gay  fiowers ; 

Beyond  the  wheel-ruta  of  the  waina, 

Across  a  heath  I  walked  for  hours. 
And  met  its  rival  tenants,  rays  and  rains. 

Still  in  my  view  mile-distant  firs  appeared. 
When,  under  a  patched  channel-bank  enriched 

With  foxglove  whose  late  belb  dropped  seared. 

Behold,  a  family  had  pitched 
Their  camp,  and  labouring  the  low  tent  upreared. 

Here,  too,  were  many  children,  quick  to  scan 

A  new  thing  coming ;  swarthy  cheeks,  white  teeth ; 

In  many-coloured  rags  they  ran, 

like  iron  runlets  of  the  heath. 
Dispersed  lay  broth-pot,  sticks,  and  drinking-can- 

Three  girls,  with  shoulders  like  a  boat  at  sea 
Tipped  sideways  by  the  wave  (their  clothing  slid 

From  either  ridge  unequally). 

Lean,  swift  and  voluble,  bestrid 
A  starting-point,  unfrocked  to  the  bent  knee. 

They  raced;  their  brothers  yelled  them  on,  and  broke 
In  act  to  follow,  but  as  one  they  snuffed 

Wood-fumes,  and  by  the  fire  that  spoke 

Of  provender  its  pale  flame  puffed, 
And  rolled  athwart  dwarf  furzes  grey-blue  smoke. 

Soon  on  the  dark  edge  of  a  ruddier  gleam. 
The  mother-pot  perusing,  all,  stretched  Hat, 

Paused  for  its  bubbling-up  supreme : 

A  dog  upright  in  circle  sat, 
And  oft  his  nose  went  with  the  flying  steam. 

7  t,,,^^  ^T,A  looked  on  heaven  awhile,  where  now 
d  sunset  broaden'd  with  red  light; 
;h  aloft  a  golden  bough, 
Ed  the  desert  of  the  night 
I  mellow  orchards  to  endow. 


dbyGOOgIC 


EARTH  AND  MAN  • 


On  her  great  venture,  Man, 
Earth  gazes  while  her  fingers  dint  the  breast 
Which  is  his  well  of  strength,  his  home  of  rest, 
And  fair  to  scan.' 

II 
More  aid  than  that  embrace. 
That  nourishment  she  cannot  give :  his  heart 
Involves  his  fate ;  and  she  who  urged  the  start 
Abides  the  race. 

Ill 
For  he  is  in  the  lists 
,  Contentious  with  the  elements,  whose  dower 
First  sprang  him ;  for  swift  vultures  to  devour 
If  he  desists. 

IV 

His  breath  of  instant  thirst 

Is  warning  of  a  creature  matched  with  strife. 

To  meet  it  as  a  bride,  or  let  fall  life 

On  life's  accursed. 


No  longer  forth  he  bounds 

The  lusty  animal,  afield  to  roam. 

But  peering  in  Earth's  entraib,  where  the  gnome 

Strange  themes  propounds. 


By  hunger  sharply  sped 
To  grasp  at  weapons  ere  he  learns  their  use, 
In  each  new  ring  he  bears  a  giant's  thews. 
An  infant's  head. 

VII 

•        "    isk 

is  and  whence  be  came, 
:  wilder  letters  Same 


dbyGOOgIC 


EARTH  AND  MAN 


She  bears  his  wailful  prayer, 

When  now  to  the  Invisible  •  he  raves 

To  rend  him  fram  her,  now  of  his  mother  craves 

Her  calm,  her  care. 


The  thing  that  shudders  most 
Within  him  is  the  burden  of  his  cry. 
Seen  of  his  dread,  she  is  to  his  blank  eye 
The  eyeless  Ghost. 


Or  sometimes  she  will  seem 
Heavenly,  but  her  blush,  soon  wearing  white. 
Veils  like  a  gorsebusb  in  a  web  of  blight. 
With  gold-buds  dim. 


Once  worshipped  Prime  of  Powers, 

She  still  was  the  Implacable :  as  a  beast. 

She  struck  him  down  and- dragged  him  ^m  the  feast 

She  crowned  with  flowers. 


Her  popip  of  glorious  hues. 
Her  revelries  of  ripeness,  her  kind  smile. 
Her  songs,  her  peeping  faces,  lure  awhile 
With  symbol-clues. 


The  mystery  she  holds 
For  him,  inveterately  he  strains  to  see, 
And  sight  of  his  obtuseness  is  the  key 
Among  those  folds. 


He  may  entreat,  aspire. 

He  may  despair,  and  she  has  never  heed. 

She  drinking  his  warm  sweat  will  soothe  his  need. 

Not  his  desire. 


dbyGOOgIC 


EARTH  AND  MAN 


She  prompts  him  to  rejoice. 
Yet  scares  him  on  the  threshold  with  the  shroud. 
He  deema  her  cherishing  of  her  best-endowed  ' 
A  wanton's  choice. 


Albeit  thereof  he  has  found 
Firm  roadway  between  lustfulness  and  pain; 
Has  half  transferred  the  battle  to  his  brun. 
From  bloody  ground ; 

XVII 

.  He  will  not  read  her  good. 
Or  wise,  but  with  the  passion  Self  obscures ; 
Through  that  old  devil  of  the  thousand  lures. 
Through  that  dense  hood : 


Through  terror,  through  distrust ; 
The  greed  to  touch,  to  view,  to  have,  to  live: 
Through  all  that  makes  of  him  a  sensitive 
Abhorring  dust. 


Behold  his  wormy  home ! 

And  he  the  wind-whipped,  anywhither  wave 

Crazily  tumbled  on  a  shingle-grave 

To  waste  in  foam. 


Therefore  the  wretch  inclines 
Afresh  to  the  Invisible,  who,  he  saith. 
Can  raise  him  high :  with  vows  of  living  faith 
For  little  signs. 


Some  signs  he  must  demand. 

Some  proofs  of  slaughtered  nature ;  some  prized  few. 

To  satisfy  the  senses  it  is  true. 

And  in  his  hand. 


dbyGOOgIC 


EARTH  AND  MAN 

XXII 

This  miracle  which  saves 
Himself,  himself  doth  from  extinction  clutch, 
By  virtue  of  his  worth,  contrasting  much 
With  brutes  and  knaves. 


From  dust,  of  him  abhorred. 

He  would  be  snatched  by  Grace  discovering  worth. 

'  Sever  me  from  the  hoUowncss  of  Earth  I 

Me  take,  dear  Lord  I' 


She  hears  him.     Him  she  owes 

For  half  her  loveliness  a  love  well  won 

By  work  that  lights  the  shapeless  and  the  dun, 

Their  common  foes. 


XXV 

-  He  builds  the  soaring  spires, 
That  sing  his  soul  in  stone ;  of  her  he  draws, 
Though  blind  to  her,  by  spelling  at  her  laws, 
Her  purest  fires. 

XXVI 

Through  him  hath  she  exchanged. 
For  the  gold  harvest-robes,  the  mural  crown. 
Her  haggard  quarry-features  and  thick  frown 
Where  monsters  ranged. 


And  order,  high  discourse, 
And  decency,  than  which  is  life  less  dear, 
She  has  of  him ;  the  lyre  of  language  clear, 
Love's  tongue  and  source. 

xxvni 

She  hears  him,  and  can  hear 
With  glory  in  his  gains  by  work  achieved : 
With  grief  for  grief  that  is  the  unperceived 
In  her  so  near. 


dbyGOOgIC 


EARTH  AND  MAN 


If  he  aloft  for  aid 

Imploring  stonns,  her  essence  is  the  spur. 

His  cry  to  heaven  is  a  cry  to  her 

He  would  evade. 


Not  elsewhere  can  he  tend. 
Those  are  her  rules  which  bid  him  wash  foul  sins ; 
Those  her  revulsions  from  the  skull  that  grins 
To  ape  bis  end. 

XXXI 

And  her  desires  are  those 
For  happiness,  for  lastingness,  for  light. 
'Tis  she  who  kindles  in  his  haunting  night 
The  hoped  dawn-rose. 

XXXlt 

Fair  fountains  of  the  dark 
Daily  she  waves  him,  that  his  inner  dream 
May  clasp  amid  the  glooms  a  springing  beam, 
'  A  quivering  lark : 

xxxin 

This  life  and  her  to  know 
For  Spirit :  with  awakenedness  of  glee 
To  feel  stern  joy  her  oiigin :  not  he 
The  child  of  woe. 


But  that  the  senses  still 

Usurp  the  station  of  their  issue  mind, 

He  would  have  burst  the  chrysalis  of  the  blind : 

As  yet  he  will ; 


prays, 

listempered  devil  of  Sdf ; — 

r  fruits,  the  wily  elf 


dbyGOOgIC 


EARTH  AND  MAN 

That  captain  of  the  scorned ; 
The  coveter  of  life  in  soul  and  shell, 
The  fratricide,  the  thief,  the  infidel, 
The  hoofed  and  homed , — 

xxxvn 
He  angularly  doomed 
To  what  he  execrates  and  writhes  to  shun  ;- 
When  fire  has  passed  him  vapour  to  the  sui 
And  sun  relumed. 


Then  shall  the  horrid  pall 
Be  lifted,  and  a  spirit  nigh  divine, 
'Live  in  thy  offspring  as  I  live  in  mine,' 
Will  hear  her  caU. 

Whence  looks  he  on  a  land 
Whereon  his  labour  is  a  carven  page ; 
And  forth  from  heritage  to  heritage 
Nought  writ  on  sand. 


His  fables  of  the  Above, 

And  his  gapped  readings  of  the  crown  and  sword. 
The  hell  detested  and  5ie  heaven  adored. 
The  hate,  the  love. 


The  bright  wing,  the  black  hoof. 
He  shall  peruse,  from  Reason  not  disjoined, 
,  And  never  unfaith  clamouring  to  be  coined 
To  faith  by  proof. 


She  her  just  Lord  may  view, 
'  Not  he,  her  creature,  till  his  soul  has  yearned 
With  all  her  gifts  to  reach  the  light  decerned 
Her  spirit  thn>u^.* 


dbyGOOgIC 


246    A  BALLAD  OF  FAIR  LADIES  IN  REVOLT 

xuit 
Then  in  him  time  shall  run 
As  in  the  hour  that  to  young  sunlight  crows ; 
-'    And — '  If  thou  hast  good  faith  it  can  repose,' 
She  tells  her  son. 


Meanwhile  on  him,  her  chief 
Expression,  her  great  word  of  life,  looks  she ; 
Twi-minded  of  him,  as  the  waxing  tree. 
Or  dated  leaf. 


A  BALLAD  OF  FAIR  LADIES  IN  REVOLT  * 


See  the  sweet  women,  friend,  that  lean  beneath 
The  ever-falling  fountain  of  green  leaves 
Round  the  white  bending  stem,  and  like  a  wreath 
Of  our  most  blushful  flower  shine  trembling  through. 
To  teach  philosophers  the  thirst  of  thieves : 
Is  one  for  me  ?  b  one  for  you  ? 


—Fair  sirs,  we  give  you  welcome,  yield  you  place, 
And  you  shall  choose  among  us  which  you  will. 
Without  the  idle  pastime  of  the  chase. 
If  to  this  treaty  you  can  well  agree : 
To  wed  our  cause,  and  its  high  task  fulfil. 
He  who 's  for  us,  for  hjm  are  we  I 


—Most  gradous  ladies,  nigh  when  light  has  birth, 
A  troop  of  maids,  brown  as  burnt  heather^bells. 
And  rich  with  life  as  moss-roots  breathe  of  earth 
In  the  first  plucking  of  them,  past  us  flew 
To  labour,  sin^ng  rustic  ritomells : 

Had  they  a  cause  ?  are  they  of  you  ? 


dbyGOOgIC 


A  BALLAD  OP  PAIR  LADIES  IN  REVOLT    247 


—Sirs,  they  are  as  UDthiakiag  armies  are 
To  thoughtful  leaders,  and  our  cause  is  theirs. 
When  they  know  men  they  know  the  state  of  war : 
But  now  they  dream  like  sunlight  on  a  sea. 
And  deem  you  hold  the  half  of  happy  pairs. 
He  who 's  for  us,  for  him  are  we  I 


—Ladies,  I  listened  to  a  ring  of  dames ; 
Judicial  in  the  robe  and  wig ;  secure 
As  venerated  portraits  in  their  frames ; 
And  they  denounced  some  insurrection  new 
Against  sound  laws  which  keep  you  good  and  pure. 
Are  you  of  them  ?  are  they  of  you  ? 


— Sirs,  they  are  of  us,  as  their  dress  denotes. 
And  by  as  much :  let  them  together  chime : 
It  b  an  ancient  bell  within  their  throats. 
Fulled  by  an  aged  ringer ;  with  what  glee 
Befits  the  yellow  yesterdays  of  time. 

He  who 's  for  us,  for  him  are  we  1 


—Sweet  ladies,  you  with  beauty,  you  with  wit ; 
Dowered  of  all  favours  and  aJl  blessed  things 
Whereat  the  ruddy  torch  of  Love  ia  lit ; 
Wherefore  this  vain  and  outworn  strife  renew. 
Which  stays  the  tide  no  more  than  eddy  brings  ? 
W^o  is  for  love  must  be  for  you. 


—The  manners  of  the  market,  honest  airs, 
"lis  hard  to  quit  when  you  behold  the  wares. 
You  Batter  us,  or  perchance  our  milliners 
You  flatter ;  so  this  vain  and  outworn  She 
May  still  be  the  charmed  snake  to  your  soft  ai 
A  higher  lord  than  Love  claim  we. 


dbyGOOgIC 


248    A  BALLAD  OF  PAIR  LADIES  IN  REVOLT 


— One  day,  dear  Udy,  missiog  the  broad  track, 
I  came  on  a  wood's  border,  by  a  mead, 
Where  golden  May  ran  up  to  moted  black : 
And  there  I  saw  Queen  Beauty  hold  review. 
With  Love  before  her  throne  in  act  to  plead. 
Take  him  for  me,  take  her  for  you. 


— Ingenious  gentleman,  the  tale  is  known. 

Love  pleaded  sweetly :  Beauty  would  not  melt : 
She  would  not  melt :  he  turned  in  wrath :  her  throne 
The  shadow  of  his  back  froze  witheringly, 
And  sobbing  at  his  feet  Queen  Beauty  knelt. 
O  not  such  slaves  of  Love  are  we  I 


— Love,  lady,  like  the  star  above  that  lance 
Of  radiance  flung  by  sunset  on  ridged  cloud, 
Sad  as  the  last  line  of  a  brave  romance  !^ 
Young  Love  hung  dim,  yet  quivering  round  him  threw 
Beams  of  fresh  fire  while  Beauty  waned  and  bowed. 
Scorn  Love,  and  dread  the  doom  for  you. 


— Called  she  not  for  her  mirror,  sir?     Forth  ran 
Her  women :  I  am  lost,  she  cried,  when  lo. 
Love  in  the  form  of  an  admiring  man 
Once  more  in  adoration  bent  the  knee 
And  brought  the  faded  Pagan  to  full  blow : 

For  which  her  throne  she  gave :  not  we  I 


—My  version,  madam,  runs  not  to  that  end. 
A  certain  madness  of  an  hour  half  past 
Caught  her  like  fever :  her  just  lord  no  friend 
She  fancied ;  aimed  beyond  beauty,  and  thence  grew 
The  prim  acerbity,  sweet  Love's  outcast. 

Great  heaven  ward  off  that  stroke  from  you .' 


dbyGoOgk 


A  BALLAD  OF  FAIR  LADIES  IN  REVOLT    249 


—Your  prayer  to  heaven,  good  air,  b  generous : 
How  generous  likewise  that  you  do  not  name 
Offended  nature  I    She  from  all  of  U9 
Couched  idle  UDdemeath  our  showering  tree 
May  quite  withhold  her  most  destructive  flame ; 
And  then  what  woeful  women  we  I 


— Quite,  could  not  be,  fair  lady ;  yet  your  youth 
May  run  to  drought  in  visionary  schemes  : 
And  a  late  waking  to  perceive  the  truth, 
When  day  falls  shrouding  her  supreme  adieu. 
Shows  daricer  wastes  thaii  unaccomplished  dreams : 
And  that  may  be  in  store  for  you. 


— 0  sir,  the  truth,  the  truth  I  is 't  in  the  skies. 
Or  in  the  grass,  or  in  this  heart  of  ours  ? 
But  0  the  truth,  the  truth  I  the  many  eyes 
That  look  on  it  I  the  diverse  things  they  see, 
Ac(»rding  to  their  thirst  for  fruit  or  flowers  1 
Pass  on :  it  b  the  truth  seek  we. 


— Lady,  there  b  s  truth  of  settled  laws 

That  down  the  past  bums  like  a  great  watch-fire. 
Let  youth  hail  changeful  mornings ;  but  your  cause. 
Whetting  its  edge  to  cut  the  race  in  two, 
la  felony :  you  forfeit  the  bright  lyre. 

Much  honour  and  much  glory  you  I 

3cvni 
— Sir,  was  it  glory,  was  it  honour,  pride. 
And  not  as  cat  and  serpent  and  poor  slave. 
Wherewith  we  walked  in  union  by  your  sidef 
Spare  to  false  womanliness  her  delicacy, 
(>  hid  true  manliness  give  ear,  we  crave : 
In  our  defence  thus  chained  are  we. 


dbyGOOgIC 


250   A  BALLAD  OF  FAIR  LADIES  IN  REVOLT 


—Yours,  madam,  were  the  privileges  of  life 
Proper  to  man's  ideal ;  you  were  the  mark 
Of  action,  and  the  banner  in  the  strife : 
Yea,  of  your  very  weakness  once  you  drew 
The  strength  that  sounds  the  wells,  outflies  the  lark : 
Wrapped  in  a  robe  of  flame  were  you ! 


—Your  friend  looks  thoughtful.    Sir,  when  we  were  chill. 
You  clothed  us  warmly ;  all  in  honour !  when 
We  starved  you  fed  us ;  all  in  honour  still : 
Oh,  all  in  honour,  ultra-honourably  1 
Deep  is  the  gratitude  we  owe  to  men. 
For  privileged  indeed  were  we ! 

XXI 

—You  cite  ext^eptions,  madam,  that  are  sad. 
But  come  in  tiie  red  struggle  of  our  growth. 
Aloq  that  I  should  have  to  say  it!  bad 

sed  upon  earth :  this  which  you  do 
imal  impatience,  mental  sloth : 
Ein  monstrous,  pining  seraphs  you  1 

XXII 

uld  ask  your  friend  .  .  .  but  I  will  ask 
bow  if  in  place  of  numbers  vague, 
exceptions  were  to  break  that  mask 
ir  for  your  cool  mind  historically, 
:  like  black  lists  of'  a  preaeni  plague  ? 
it  in  that  light  behold  them  we. 


it  breathes  a  mist  upon  our  world, 

1  like  a  rain  to  pierce  the  roof 

ch  the  bed  where  toil-toased  man  lies  curled 

rd-eamed  oblivion  !     You  are  few, 

,  ill-counselled,  blinded :  for  a  proof, 

lave  lived,  and  have  known  none  like  you. 


dbyGOOgIC 


A  BALLAD  OF  FAIR  LADIES  IN  REVOLT    251 

XXIV 

—We  may  be  blind  to  men,  sir :  we  embrace 
A  future  now  beyond  the  fowler's  nets. 
Though  few,  we  hold  a  promise  for  the  race 
That  was  not  at  our  rising :  you  are  free 
To  wiD  brave  matea;  you  lose  but  marionnettes. 
He  who 's  for  us,  for  him  are  we. 

XXV 

—Ah !  madam,  were  they  puppets  who  withstood 
Youth's  cravings  for  adventure,  to  preserve 
The  dedicated  ways  of  womanhood  ? 
The  light  which  leads  us  from  the  paths  of  rue. 
That  light  above  us,  never  seen  to  swerve, 

Should  be  the  home-lamp  trimmed  by  you. 

XXVI 

—Ah !  sir,  our  worshipped  posture  we  perchance 
Shalt  not  abandon,  though  we  see  not  how. 
Being  to  that  lamp-post  fixed,  we  may  advance 
Beside  our  lords  in  any  real  degree. 
Unless  we  move :  and  to  advance  is  now 

A  sovereign  need,  think  more  than  we. 


—So  push  you  out  of  harbour  in  small  craft. 
With  little  seamanship ;  and  comes  a  gale, 
The  world  will  laugh,  the  world  has  often  laughed, 
Lady,  to  see  how  bold  when  skies  are  blue. 
When  black  winds  chum  the  deeps  how  panic-pale. 
How  swift  to  the  old  nest  fly  you  I 


—What  thinks  your  friend,  kind  sir?    We  have  escap< 
But  partly  that  old  half-tamed  wild  beast's  paw 
Whereunder  woman,  the  weak  thing,  was  shaped : 
Men  too  have  known  the  cramping  enemy 
In  grim  brute  force,  whom  force  of  brdn  shall  awe : 
Him  our  deliverer  await  we ! 


dbyGOOgIC 


252    A  BALLAD  OF  FAIR  LADIES  IN  REVOLT 


— Delusions  are  with  eloquence  endowed, 
And  yours  might  pluck  an  angel  from  the  spheres 
To  play  in  this  revolt  whereto  you  are  vowed. 
Deliverer,  lady  I  but  like  summer  dew 
O'er  fields  that  crack  for  rain  your  friends  drop  teai 
Who  see  the  awakening  for  you. 

XXX 

— Is  he  our  friend,  there  silent?  he  weeps  not. 
O  sir,  delusion  mounting  like  a  sun 
On  a  mind  blank  as  the  white  wife  of  Lot, 
Giving  it  warmth  and  movement  1  if  this  be 
Delusion,  think  of  what  thereby  was  won 

For  men,  and  dream  of  what  win  we. 

XXXI 

— Lady,  the  destiny  of  minor  powers. 
Who  would  recast  us,  is  but  to  convulse: 
You  enter  on  a  strife  that  frets  and  sours ; 
You  can  but  win  sick  disappointment's  hue ; 
And  simnlv  an  accelerated  pulse ; 

Du  have  drunk  moves  you. 


»?    Good  sir,  yout  wit  b  bright ; 

to  speak  the  popular  voice 

and  puts  out  its  light ; 

your  conqueror's  decree 

and  we  have  no  chmce 
s  or  rebellion,  we  I 


diate  way  is  clef 
ssion :  you  that  rave 
to  right  and  left 
ladam :  and  'tis  due 
un  it  as  the  grave, 
pie  offered  you. 


dbyGOOgIC 


A  BALLAD  OF  FAIR  LADIES  IN  REVOLT    253 


—This  apple  is  not  ripe,  it  is  not  sweet ; 
Nor  rosy,  sir,  nor  golden  :  eye  and  mouth 
Are  little  wooed  by  it ;  yet  we  would  eat. 
We  are  somewhat  tired  of  Eden,  is  our  plea. 
We  have  thirsted  long ;  this  apple  suits  our  drouth : 
"Tis  good  for  men  to  halve,  think  we. 


—But  aay,  what  seek  you,  madam  ?    Tis  enough 
That  you  should  have  dominion  o'er  the  springs 
Domestic  and  man's  heart :  those  ways,  how  rough. 
How  vile,  outside  the  stately  avenue 
Where  you  walk  sheltered  by  your  angel's  wings. 
Are  happily  unknown  to  you. 

XXXVI 

— We  hear  women's  shrieks  on  them.    We  like  your  phras 
Dominion  domestic  I    And  that  roar, 
'What  seek  you?'  is  of  tyrants  in  all  days. 
Sir,  get  you  something  of  our  purity, 
And  we  will  of  your  strength :  we  a^  no  more. 
That  is  the  sum  of  what  seek  we. 

XXXVII 

— O  for  an  image,  madam,  in  one  word, 
To  show  you,  as  the  lightning  night  reveals, 
Your  error  and  your  perils :  you  have  erred 
Id  mind  only,  and  the  perils  that  ensue 
Swift  heeb  may  soften ;  wherefore  to  swift  heels 
Address  your  hopes  of  safety  you  1 

XXXVIII 

— ^To  err  in  mind,  sir  .  .  .  your  friend  smiles :  he  may ! 
To  err  in  mind,  if  err  in  mind  we  can. 
Is  grievous  error  you  do  well  to  stay. 
But  O  how  different  from  reality 
Men's  fiction  is !  how  like  you  in  the  p)an 
Is  woman,  knew  you  her  as  we  1 


dbyGOOgIC 


254    A  BALLAD  OF  FAIR  LADIES  IN  REVOLT 


— Look,  lady,  where  yon  river  winds  its  line 

Toward  sunset,  and  receives  on  breast  and  face 
^The  splendour  of  fair  life :  to  be  divine, 
f^Tis  nature  bids  you  be  to  nature  true, 
I  Flowing  with  beauty,  lending  earth  your  grace. 
Reflecting  heaven  in  clearness  you. 


—Sir,  you  speak  well :  your  friend  no  word  vouchsafes. 
To  flow  with  beauty,  breeding  fools  and  worse. 
Cowards  and  worse :  at  such  fair  life  she  chafes 
Who  is  not  wholly  of  the  nursery, 
Nor  of  your  schools :  we  shore  the  primtd  curse ; 
Together  shake  it  off,  say  we  I 


— Hear,  then,  my  friend,  madam !    Tongue-restrained   he 
"  stands 
Till  words  are  thoughts,  and  thoughts,  like  swords  enriched 
With  traceries  of  the  artificer's  hands, 
|iAre  fire-proved  steel  to  cut,  fair  flowers  to  view. — 
f  Do  I  hear  him?     Oh,  he  is  bewitched,  bewitched  1 
(^  Heed  him  not !    Traitress  beauties  you  1 

xui 
— We  have  won  a  champion,  sisters,  and  a  sage  I 
— Ladies,  you  win  a  guest  to  a  good  feast  I 
— Sir  spokesman,  sneers  are  weakness  veiling  rage. 
— Of  weakness,  and  wise  men,  you  have  the  key. 
— Then  are  there  fresher  mornings  mounting  East 
Than  ever  yet  have  dawned,  sing  we ! 

xuii 
"  '  '        •  ■     •  idam,  be  sure  I 

^use  purifies  I 
le  lure  ? 

high  light  pursue, 
lown :  the  wary  wise 
lasque  with  you  I 


dbyGOOgIC 


A  BALLAD  OF  FAIR  LADIES  IN  REVOLT   255 

xuv 
— Sir,  for  the  friend  you  bring  us,  take  our  thanks. 
Yes,  Beauty  was  of  old  tfab  barren  goal ; 
A  thing  with  claws ;  and  brute-like  in  her  pranks  I 
But  could  she  give  more  loyal  guarantee 
Than  wooing  wisdom,  that  in  her  a  soul 

Has  risen  ?    Adieu :  content  are  we  1 


rniose  ladies  led  their  captive  to  the  flood's 
Green  edge.    He  floating  with  them  seemed  the  most 
Fool-flushed  old  noddy  ever  crowned  with  buds. 
Happier  than  1 1    llien,  why  not  wiser  too? 
For  he  that  lives  with  Beauty,  he  may  boast 
His  comrade  over  me  and  you. ' 


Have  women  nursed  some  dream  since  Helen  sailed. 
Over  the  sea  of  blood  the  blushing  star. 
That  beauty,  whom  frail  man  as  Goddess  hailed, 
When  not  possessing  her  (for  such  ia  he !), 
Might  in  a  wondering  season  seen  afar 

Be  tamed  to  say  not '  I,'  but '  we '  ? 


And  shall  they  make  of  Beauty  their  estate, 
Tlie  fortress  and  the  weapon  of  their  sex? 
Shall  she  in  her  frost-brilliancy  dictate. 
More  queenly  than  of  old,  how  we  must  woo. 
Ere  she  will  melt?    The  halter  's  on  our  necks. 
Kick  as  it  likes  us,  I  and  you. 

XLVIII 

Certain  it  is,  if  Beauty  has  disdained 
Her  ancient  conquests,  with  an  aim  thus  high : 
If  this,  if  that,  if  more,  the  fight  is  gwned. 
But  can  she  keep  her  followers  without  fee? 
Yet  ah  I  to  hear  anew  those  ladies  cry, 
He  who  's  for  us,  for  him  are  we  I 


dbyGOOgIC 


BALLADS  AND  POEMS  OF  TRAGIC  LIFE 
THE  TWO  MASKS' 


Melpouene  among  her  livid  people. 
Ere  stroke  of  lyre,  upon  Thaleia  looks, 
Warned  by  old  contests  that  one  museful  ripple 
Along  those  lips  of  rose  with  tendril  hooks 
Forebodes  disturbance  in  the  springs  of  pathos, 
Perehance  may  change  of  masks  midway  demand 
Albeit  the  man  rise  mountainous  as  Athos, 
The  woman  wild  as  Cape  Leucadia  stand. 


For  this  the  Comic  Muse  exacts  of  creatures 
Appealing  to  the  fount  of  tears :  that  they 
Strive  never  to  outleap  our  human  features, 
And  do  Right  Reason's  ordinance  obey. 
In  peril  of  the  hum  to  laughter  nighest. 
But  prove  they  under  stress  of  action's  fire 
Nobleness,  to  that  test  of  Reason  highest. 
She  bows :  she  waves  them  for  the  loftier  lyie. 


ARCHDUCHESS  ANNE* 


In  middle  age  an  evil  thing 
ihess  Anne : 
ie  her  wedding-ring 
ly  man. 


dbyGOOgIC 


:HDUCHESS  ANNE 


ub  was  for  horse  and  arma ; 
its  beacon  waved, 
but  ladies  had  not  charms 
ch  a  danger  braved. 


Gelds  he  was  the  bow 
ig  to  fly  the  sliaft : 
urs  bis  heart  would  flow 
is  on  currents  waft 


was  of  those  warrior  tribes 
reamed  from  morning's  fire, 
w  with  traps  and  now  with  bribes 
iy  Council  wire. 


ess  Anne  the  Council  ruled, 
Louis  hia  great  dame ; 
to  both  when  one  had  cooled  1 
'as  she  to  blame. 


!r  chiefs  who  spun  their  plots, 
aken  stood  the  sword : 
his  wits  for  cutting  knots 
jie  he  abhorred. 


need  her  name  and  line, 
ler  merit  had 
ierwise  to  wait  her  sign, 
the  deed  she  bade. 


ST  hand  jump  at  her  side 
ally  she  smiled 
and  his  fair  young  bride 
courtly  ranks  defiled. 


dbyGOOgIC 


ARCHDUCHESS  ANNE 


That  was  a  moment  when  &  shock 

Through  the  procession  ran. 
And  thrilled  the  plumes,  and  stayed  the  clock. 

Yet  smiled  Archduchess  Anne. 


No  touch  gave  she  to  hound  in  leash. 
No  wink  to  sword  in  sheath : 

She  seemed  a  woman  scarce  of  flesh ; 
Above  it,  or  beneath. 


Old  Kraken  spied  with  kennelled  snarl. 
His  Lady  deemed  disgraced. 

He  footed  as  on  burning  marl. 
When  out  of  Hall  he  paced. 


;  hammered  striding  legs, 
id,  and  strode  again, 
ice  has  a  brood  of  eggs, 
ce  must  be  hen. 

xni 
they  for  wrath  to  hatch, 
r  time  to  rear. 
:ept  unwinking  watch ; 
his  day  appear. 

XIV 

laugh,  though  moods  were  rough 

iards  in  revolt : 

[x>l£  the  news  for  snuff, 

ng  lips  for  salt 

XV 

wavy  cock's  plumes  led 
of  black-haired  manes, 
old  Kraken  sped 
m  OD  the  plains. 


dbyGoogle 


ARCHDUCHESS  ANNE 


Then  camp  opposed  to  camp  did  they 
Fret  earth  with  panther  claws 

For  signal  of  a  bloody  day. 
Each  reading  from  the  Laws. 


'Forefendit,  heaven  t'  Count  Loub  cried, 
'  And  let  the  righteous  [dead : 

My  country  is  a  willing  bride, 
Waa  never  slave  deo^eed. 


'Not  we  for  thirst  of  blood  appeal 
To  sword  and  slaughter  curst ; 

We  have  God's  blesung  on  our  steel, 
Do  we  our  pleading  first.' 


Count  Louis,  soul  of  chivalry. 
Put  trust  in  plighted  word ; 

By  starlight  on  the  broad  brown  lea. 
To  bar  the  strife  he  spuired. 


Across  his  breast  a  crimson  spot, 
That  in  a  quiver  glowed. 

The  ruddy  crested  camp-fires  shot, 
As  he  to  darkness  rode. 


He  rode  while  omens  called,  beware 
Old  Kraken's  pledge  of  faith  1 

A  smile  and  waving  hand  in  air. 
And  outward  flew  the  wnutb. 


Before  pale  mom  had  mixed  with  gold. 
His  army  roared,  and  chilled. 

As  men  who  have  a  woe  foretold, 
And  see  it  red  fulfilled. 


dbyGoogle 


ARCHDUCHESS  ANNE 

mil 

Away  and  to  hia  young  wife  speed. 
And  say  that  Honour 's  dead ! 

Another  word  she  will  not  need 
To  bow  a  widow's  head. 


Old  Kraken  roped  hia  white  moustache 
Right,  left,  for  savage  glee: 

— To  swing  him  in  his  soldier's  sash 
Were  kind  for  auch  as  be  1 

XXV 

Old  Kraken's  look  hard  Winter  wears 
When  sweeps  the  wild  snow-blast : 

He  had  the  hug  of  Arctic  bears 
For  captives  he  held  faat. 


Archduchesa  Anne  sat  carved  in  frost. 
Shut  off  from  priest  and  spouse. 

Her  lips  were  locked,  her  arms  were  crossed. 
Her  eyes  were  in  het  brows. 


fWio  hanA  enclosed  a  paper  scroll, 
strangled  asp. 
ee  the  woman's  soul 
;  tempter's  grasp. 


croll  Count  Louia'  doom 
till  the  letters  flamed, 
in  his  scornful  bloom, 
im  chained  and  shamed. 


dbyGoogle 


ARCHDUCHESS  ANNE 


Around  that  scroll  Count  Louis'  fate 

Was  acted  to  her  stare. 
And  hate  in  love  and  love  in  hate 

Fought  fell  to  amite  or  spare. 


Between  the  day  that  struck  her  old, 
And  this  black  star  of  days, 

Her  heart  swung  like  a  storm-beli  tolled 
Above  a  town  ablaze. 


His  beauty  pressed  to  intercede. 

His  beauty  served  him  ill. 
— Not  Vengeance,  'tis  his  rebel's  deed, 

Tis  Justice,  not  our  will  1 


Yet  who  had  sprung  to  life's  full  force 
A  breast  that  loveless  dried  ? 

But  who  had  sapped  it  at  the  source, 
With  scarlet  to  het  pride ! 


He  brought  her  waning  heart  as  'twere 
New  message  from  the  sides. 

And  he  betrayed,  and  left  on  her 
The  burden  of  their  sighs. 


In  floods  her  tender  memories  poured ; 

They  foamed  with  waves  of  spite : 
She  crushed  them,  high  her  heart  outsoared, 

"To  keep  her  mind  alight. 


— Tbe  crawling  creature,  called  in  scorn 

A  woman  1 — with  this  pen 
We  sign  a  paper  that  may  warn 

His  crowing  fellowmen. 


dbyGoogle 


ARCHDUCHESS  ANNE 


— ^We  read  them  lesson  of  a  power 
They  slight  who  do  us  wrong. 

That  bitter  hour  this  bitter  hour 
Provokes ;  by  turns  the  strong  I 

XII 

— That  we  were  woman  once  is  known : 

That  we  are  Justice  now. 
Above  our  sex,  above  the  throne. 

Men  quaking  shall  avow. 


Arohduchess  Anne  ascending  flew. 
Her  heart  outsoared,  but  felt 

The  demon  of  her  sex  pursue. 
Incensing  or  to  melt. 


Those  counterfloods  below  at  leap 
Still  in  her  breast  blew  storm. 

And  farther  up  the  heavenly  steep 
Wrestled  in  angels'  form. 


To  disentangle  one  clear  wish 
Not  of  her  sex,  she  sought ; 

And  womanish  to  womanish 
Discerned  in  lighted  thought. 


With  Louis'  chance  it  went  not  well 
When  at  herself  she  raged ; 

A  woman,  of  whom  men  mi^t.tell 
She  doted,  crazed  and  aged. 


Or  else  enamoured  of  a  sweet 
Withdrawn,  a  vengeful  crone ! 

And  say,  what  figure  at  her  feet 
Is  this  that  utters  moan? 


dbyGoogle 


:HDUCHESS  ANNE 

3CVIII 

teas  Loub  from  her  head 
eil :  '  Great  Lady,  hear ! 
ind  deems  you  Justice  dread, 
you  Meroy  dear. 


upon  him  may  fall ; 

not  breathe  a  nay. 
lelpless  mate  in  ail, 
for  grace  to  pray. 


e  on  me  his  choice  inclined, 
his  House  an  heir : 
marriage  with  his  mind, 
nsel  could  not  share. 


t  no  portion  for  his  weal 
i  one  instinct  true, 
Is  me  in  my  weakness  kneel, 
:hess  Anne,  to  you.' 

XXII 

ling  Lady  uttered,  'Forth!' 
k  forbade  delay : 
mine  to  weigh  your  worth ; 
isband's  others  weigh. 


th  the  woman  in  your  speech, 
hing  it  avails 
's  fashion  to  beseech 
lustice  holds  the  scales.' 


:  and  went  the  lady  wan, 
^bhness  made  grey 
;hts  that  through  Archduchess  Ann 
sd  like  stormy  spray. 


dbyGoogle 


ARCHDUCHESS  ANNE 

XXV 

LoDg  sat  she  there,  as  flame  that  strives 

To  hold  on  beating  wind : 
— His  wife  must  be  the  fool  of  wives. 

Or  cunningl}'  designed  I 


She  sat  until  the  tempest-pitch 

In  her  torn  bosom  fell ; 
— His  wife  must  be  a  subtle  witch 

Or  else  God  loves  her  well  I 


Old  Kraken  read  a  missive  penned 
By  his  great  Lady's  hand. 

Her  condescension  called  him  friend. 
To  raise  the  crest  she  fanned. 


Swiftly  to  where  he  lay  encamped 

It  flew,  yet  breathed  aloof 
From  woman's  feeling,  and  he  atamped 

A  heel  more  like  a  hoof. 


She  wrote  of  Mercy :  'She  was  loth 

Too  hard  to  goad  a  foe.' 
He  stamped,  as  when  men  drive  an  oath 

Devils  transcribe  below. 


She  wrote :  '  We  have  him  half  by  theft.' 

His  wrinkles  listened  keen : 
And  see  the  Winter  storm-cloud  cleft 

To  lurid  skies  between  I 


dbyGoogle 


CHESS  ANNE 


Crakenr  'ChriatourG 

spikes  of  apar : 

te  snow-storm  divide 

itart 


1  to  understand,' 
1  further  prayed 
ht  rule  the  land, 
laughter  nnghed. 


ok ;  her  nods  and  winks 
man's  fog. 
:  his  mistress  thinks, 
lithfui  dog. 


lak  old  Kraken  ripped ; 
m  he  loathed. 

nadam,  shows  you  stripped, 
iU  keep  you  clothed. 

IX 

red  scar  in  haste 
his  cheek-bone. 
I  man  shall  taste ; 
ill  be  shown. 


)nour  to  your  race 
QUncil-hall : 
ope  by  special  grace, 
Jier  fall.' 


many  sins, 
irtue  die, 

1. — They  play  at  shins, 
( the  reply. 


dbyGoogle 


ARCHDUCHESS  ANNE 


Uprose  the  day  of  crimson  sight, 

The  day  without  a  God. 
At  mom  the  hero  said  Good-night : 

See  there  that  stain  on  sod ! 

xm 
At  mom  the  Countess  Louis  heard 

Young  light  sing  in  the  lark. 
Ere  eve  it  was  that  other  bird. 

Which  brings  the  starless  dark. 


To  heaven  she  vowed  herself,  and  yearned 

Beside  her  lord  to  lie. 
Archduchess  Anne  on  Kraken  turned. 

All  white  as  a  dead  eye. 


If  I  could  kill  thee  1  shrieked  her  look : 
\g  from  Will  1 
Kraken  shook, 
tank  or  kill. 


ed  her  heart  in  mail 

las  torn. 

am  leaped  a  wail, 

-bom. 


iKJurtly  use, 
,rd  them  prate 
red  upon  views 
raised  debate. 


d  must  she  trust, 


>au3e  so  just, 
essing  moan. 


dbyGoogle 


ARCHDUCHESS  ANNE 


Austerely  she  her  heart  kept  down. 
Her  woman's  tongue  was  mute 

When  voice  of  People,  voice  of  Crown, 
In  cannon  held  dispute. 

XX 

The  Crown  on  seas  of  blood,  like  swine, 
Swam  forefoot  at  the  throat : 

It  drank  of  its  dear  veins  for  wine. 
Enough  if  it  might  float ! 

XXI 

It  sank  with  piteous  yelp,  resurged 

Electrical  with  fear. 
O  had  she  on  old  Kraken  urged 

Her  word  of  mercy  dear  1 

XXII 

0  had  they  with  Count  Louis  been 

Accordant  in  his  plea  1 
Cursed  are  the  women  vowed  to  screen 

A  heart  that  all  can  see  I 


The  godless  drove  unto  a  goal 
Was  worse  than  vile  defeat. 

Did  vengeance  prick  Count  Louis'  soul 
They  dressed  him  luscious  meat. 

XXIV 

Wonns  will  the  faithless  find  their  lies 

In  the  close  treasure-chest. 
Without  a  God  no  day  can  rise, 

llough  it  should  slay  our  b»t. 

XXV 

The  Crown  it  furled  a  draggled  flag, 
It  sheathed  a  broken  blade. 

Behold  its  triumph  in  the  hag 
That  lives  with  looks  decayed  I 


Digitized  byGOOgle 


ARCHDUCHESS  ANNE 

XXVI 

And  lo,  the  man  of  oaken  head, 
Of  soldier's  honour  bare, 

He  fled  his  land,  but  most  be  &ed 
Hia  Lady's  frigid  stare. 


Judged  by  the  issue  we  discern 
God's  blessing,  and  the  bane. 

Count  Louis'  dust  would  fill  an  urn. 
His  deeds  are  waving  grain. 

XXVIII 

And  she  that  helped  to  slay,  yet  bade 

To  spore  the  fated  man. 
Great  were  her  errors,  but  she  had 

Great  heart.  Archduchess  Anne. 


THE  SONG  OF  THEODOLINDA  • 


Qdeen  Thgodound  has  built 
In  the  earth  a  furnace-bed : 


dbyGoogle 


THE  SONG  OF  THEODOLINDA 


Brown-cowled  hammermen  around 
Nerve  their  naked  anna  to  strike 
Death  with  Resurrection  crowned. 
Each  upon  that  cruel  spike. 
R«d  of  heat  the  furnace  leaps, 
White  of  heat  transfigured  sleeps. 


Hard  against  the  furnace  core 
Holds  the  Queen  her  streaming  eyes : 
Lo  I  that  thing  of  piteous  gore 
In  the  lap  of  radiance  lies. 
Red  of  heat,  as  when  He  takes. 
White  of  heat,  whom  earth  forsakes. 


id  fear! 
thus, 
>f  ua. 


jased  Tliee,  Lord  I 

ouch  it :  dear, 

irred: 

hcxe. 

heat, 

set 


out  with  rods 

lay 

1  was  God's ! 

pressed, 

ay  breast  I 


dbyGoogle 


THE  SONG  OF  THEODOUNDA 


Quick  I  the  reptile  in  me  shrieks, 
Not  the  soul.     Again ;  the  Cross 
Bum  there.    Oh !  this  pain  it  wreaks 
Rapture  is :  pain  is  not  loss. 
.  Red  of  heat,  the  tooth  of  Death, 
White  of  heat,  has  caught  my  breath. 


Brand  me,  hite  me,  bitter  thing ! 
Thus  He  felt,  and  thus  am  I 
One  with  Him  in  sufTering, 
One  with  Him  in  bliss,  the  Lamb. 
Red  of  heat,  0  white  of  heat. 
Thus  is  bitterness  made  sweet. 


Now  am  I,  who  bear  that  stamp 
Scorched  in  me,  the  living  sign 
Sole  on  earth — the  lighted  lamp 
Of  the  dreadful  day  divine. 
White  of  heat,  beat  on  it  fast  1 
Red  of  heat,  its  shape  has  passed. 


Out  in  angry  sparks  they  fly, 
They  that  sentenced  Him  to  bleed  : 
Pontius  and  his  troop  :  they  die. 
Damned  for  ever  for  the  deed  I 
White  of  heat  in  vain  they  soar : 
Red  of  heat  they  strew  the  floor. 


Fury  on  it !  have  its  debt  I 
Thunder  on  the  Hill  accurst, 
Golgotha,  be  ye  I  and  sweat 
Blood,  and  thirst  the  Passion's  thirst. 
Red  of  heat  and  white  of  heat. 
Champ  it  like  fierce  teeth  that  eat. 


dbyGoogle 


THE  SONG  OF  THEODOUNDA 


Strike  it  as  the  ages  crush 
Towers !  for  while  s  shape  is  seen 
I  am  rivalled.     Quench  its  blush. 
Devil !    But  it  crowns  me  Queen, 
Red  of  heat,  as  none  before, 
White  of  heat,  the  circlet  wore. 

XIV 

Lowly  I  will  be,  and  quail. 
Crawling,  with  a  beggar's  hand : 
On  my  breast  the  branded  Nail, 
On  my  head  the  iron  band. 
Red  of  heat,  are  none  so  base ! 
White  of  heat,  none  know  such  grace  I 


In  their  heaven  the  sainted  hostSi 
Robed  in  violet  unflecked, 
Gaze  on  humankind  as  ghosts : 
I  draw  down  a  ray  direct. 
Red  of  heat,  across  my  brow. 
White  of  heat,  I  touch  Him  now. 


Robed  in  violet,  robed  in  gold. 
Robed  in  pearl,  they  make  our  dawn. 
What  am  I  to  them  ?    Behold 
What  ye  are  to  me,  and  fawn. 
Red  of  heat,  be  humble,  ye  1 
White  of  heat,  O  teach  it  me  I 

XVII 

Martyrs  I  hungry  peaks  in  air, 
Rent  with  lightnings,  clad  with  snow. 
Crowned  with  stars !  you  strip  me  bare. 
Pierce  me,  shame  me,  stretch  me  low. 
Red  of  heat,  but  it  may  be, 
White  of  heat,  some  envy  me  I 


dbyGoogle 


THE  SONG  OF  THEODOLINDA 


O  poor  enviers !    God's  own  gifts 
Have  a.  <Iev!l  for  the  weak. 
Yea,  the  very  force  that  lifts 
Finds  the  vessel's  secret  leak. 
Red  of  heat,  I  rise  o'er  all : 
White  of  heat,  I  faint,  I  fall. 


Those  old  Martyrs  sloughed  their  pride. 

Taking  humbleness  like  mirth. 

I  am  to  His  Glory  tied, 

I  that  witness  Him  on  earth  t 

Red  of  heat,  my  pride  of  dust, 

White  of  heat,  feeds  fire  in  trust. 

XX 

Kindle  me  to  constant  lire, 
Lest  the  nail  be  but  a  nail  1 
Give  me  wings  of  great  desire. 
Lest  I  look  within,  and  fail  I 
Red  of  heat,  the  furnace  light 
White  of  heat,  fix  on  my  sight. 

XXI 

Never  for  the  Chosen  peace  I 
Know,  by  me  tormented  know. 
Never  shall  the  wrestling  cease 
Till  with  our  outlasting  Foe, 
Red  of  heat  to  white  of  heat. 
Roll  we  to  the  Godhead's  feet! 

Beat,  beat  I  white  of  heat. 

Red  of  heat,  beat,  beat ! 

A  PREACHING  FROM  A  SPANISH  BALLAD  • 

I 

Ladies  who  in  chains  of  wedlock 


dbyGoogle 


FROM  A  SPANISH  BALLAD  273 


Prado  strolled  my  seigneur, 
dly  bow  OD  hip, 
nming  his  moiistachios, 
rate  fellowship. 


ihe  that  owned  him  master ; 
)wer  heat  to  ground 
arged  and  sun-forsaken ; 
:  her  hair  unbound. 

IV 

her  feet  a  lover 
;  knelt  and  wooed ; 
'ery  gift  from  heaven 
•ved  of  common  food. 


she  his  vows  repeated ; 
oft  sung  and  thrummed : 
as  on  earth  a  stranger ; 

rusted,  and  succumbed. 


youth  I  my  lover ! 
lover  I  take  my  life 
line  in  soul  and  body, 
ii  of  more  than  wife ! 


or  no  helplea 
oward,  though  I  sink 
le  thee,  like  an  infant 
lame  ere  it  can  think. 


lence  to  do  thee  service, 
cour,  prove  thy  shield ; 
II  bear! — in  house  thy  handmaid, 
n  the  battlefield. 


dbyGoogle 


274    A  PREACHING  FROM  A  SPANISH  BALLAD 

At  my  breasts  I  cool  thy  footsoles ; 
Wine  I  pour,  I  dress  thy  meats ; 
Humbly,  when  my  lord  it  pleaseth, 
lie  with  him  on  perfumed  sheets : 


Fray  for  him,  my  blood's  dear  fountun, 
While  be  sleeps,  and  watch  his  yawn 
In  that  wakening  babeiike  moment, 
Sweeter  to  my  thought  than  dawn  I — 


"nimideTed  then  her  lord  of  thunders; 
Burst  the  door,  snd,  flashing  sword. 
Loud  disgorged  the  woman's  title: 
Condemnation  in  one  word. 


Grand  by  righteous  wrath  transfigured, 
Towers  the  husband  who  provides 
In  his  person  Judge  and  witness, 
Death's  black  doorkeeper  besides  I 

XIII 

Round  hb  head  the  ancient  terrora* 
Conjured  of  the  stronger's  law. 
Circle,  to  abash  the  creature 
Daring  twist  beneath  his  paw. 

XIV 

How  though  he  hath  squandered  Honour 
High  of  Honour  let  him  scold : 
Gilding  of  the  man's  possesaon, 
'Tis  the  wpinao's  coin  of  gold. 


She  inheriting  from  many 
Bleeding  mothers  bleeding  sense 
Feels  'twixt  her  and  sharp-fanged  nature 
Honour  first  did  plant  the  fence. 


dbyGoogle 


A  PREACHING  FROM  A  SPANISH  BALLAD    275 


Nature,  that  30  shrieks  for  justice ; 
Honour's  thirst,  that  biood  will  slake ; 
lliese  are  women's  riddles,  roughly 
Mixed  to  write  them  saiat  or  snake. 

xvn 

Never  nature  cherished  woman : 
She  throughout  the  sexes'  war 
Serves  as  temptress  and  betrayer, 
Favouring  man,  the  muscular. 

XVIII 

Lureful  is  she,  bent  for  folly ; 
Doating  on  the  child  which  crows : 
Yours  to  teach  him  grace  in  fealty. 
What  the  bloom  Is,  what  the  rose. 

XIX 

Hard  the  task :  your  prison-chamber 
Widens  not  for  lifted  latch 
Till  the  giant  thews  and  sinews 
Meet  their  Godlike  overmatch. 


Read  that  nddle,  scorning  pity's 
Tears,  of  cockatrices  shed : 
When  the  heart  ia  vowed  for  freedom. 
Captaincy  it  yields  to  head. 


Meanwhile  you,  freaked  nature's  martyrs, 
Honour's  army,  flower  and  weed. 
Gentle  ladies,  wedded  ladies. 
See  for  you  this  fair  one  bleed. 

XXII 

Sole  stood  her  offence,  she  faltered ; 
Prayed  her  lord  the  youth  to  spare ; 
IVayed  that  in  the  orange  garden 
She  might  lie,  and  ceased  her  prayer. 


dbyGoogle 


dbjGoogle 


L 


THE  YOUNG  PRINCESS 


When  the  South  was  a  fervid  nightingale. 

And  she  a  chilling  moon, 
Twas  pity  to  see  on  the  garden  swai^, 
Agunst  Love's  laws,  those  rival  lords 

As  willow-wan^  lie  strewn. 


>  The  South  had  throat  of  a  nightingale 
For  her,  the  young  princess : 
She  gave  no  vine  of  Love  to  rear. 
Love's  wine  drank  not,  yet  bent  her  ear 
To  themes  of  Love  no  less. 


The  lords  of  the  Court  they  sighed  heart-sick. 

Heart-free  Lord  Dusiote  laughed : 
I  prize  her  no  more  than  a  fling  o'  the  dice. 
But,  or  shame  to  my  manhood,  a  lady  of  ice. 
We  master  her  by  craft  I 


Heart-sick  the  lords  of  joyance  yawned. 

Lord  Dusiote  laughed  heart-free : 
I  count  her  as  much  as  a  crack  o'  my  thumb. 
But,  or  shame  of  my  manhood,  to  me  she  shall  come 

Like  the  bird  to  roost  in  the  tree  I 


At  dead  of  night  when  the  palace-guard 

Had  passed  the  measured  rounds. 
The  young  princess  awoke  to  feel 
A  shudder  of  blood  at  the  crackle  of  steel 
Within  the  garden-bounds. 


dbyGoogle 


dbjGoogle 


THE  YOUNG  PRINCESS 


You  are  dying)  0  greitt-hearted  lord. 
You  are  dying  for  me,  she  cried ; 
O  take  my  band,  O  take  my  kiss. 
And  take  of  your  right,  for  love  like  this, 
The  vow  that  plights  me  bride. 


She  hade  the  priest  retnte  his  words 
While  hand  in  hand  were  they, 

Lord  I>usiot«'s  soul  to  waft  to  hliss ; 

He  had  her  hand,  her  vow,  her  kiss. 
And  his  hody  was  home  away. 


Lord  Dusiote  sprang  from  priest  and  squire ; 

He  gazed  at  her  lighted  room  : 
The  laughter  in  his  heart  grew  slack ; 
He  knew  not  the  foree  that  pushed  him  back 

From  her  and  the  mom  in  bloom. 


Like  a  drowned  man's  length  on  the  strong  6ood-tide, 

Like  the  shade  of  a  bird  in  the  sun. 
He  fled  from  his  lady  whom  he  might  claim 
As  ghost,  and  who  made  the  daybeams  flame 
To  scare  what  he  had  done. 


There  was  grief  at  Court  for  one  so  gay. 
Though  he  was  a  lord  less  keen 

For  training  the  vine  than  at  vintage-press ; 

But  in  her  soul  the  young  princess 
Believed  that  love  had  been. 


dbyGoogle 


THE  YOUNG  PRINCESS 


Lord  Dusiote  fled  the  Court  and  land. 

He  crossed  the  woeful  seas, 
Till  his  traitorous  doing  seemed  clearer  to  bum, 
And  the  lady  beloved  drew  hia  heart  for  return, 

like  the  banner  of  war  in  the  breese. 


He  neared  the  palace,  he  spied  the  Court, 

And  music  he  heard,  and  they  told 
Of  foreign  lords  arrived  to  bring 
The  nuptial  gifts  of  a  bridegroom  king 
To  the  princess  grave  and  cold. 


The  masque  and  the  dance  were  cloud  on  wave. 
And  down  the  masque  and  the  dance 

Lord  Dusiote  stepped  from  dame  to  dame. 

And  to  the  young  princess  he  came, 
With  a  bow  and  a  burning  glance. 


Do  you  take  a  new  husband  to-morrow,  lady  ? 

She  shrank  a^  at  prick  of  steel. 
Must  the  first  yield  place  to  the  second,  he  sighed. 
Her  eyes  were  like  the  grave  that  is  wide 

For  the  corpse  from  head  to  heel. 


My  lady,  my  love,  that  little  hand 

Has  mine  ringed  fast  in  plight : 
I  bear  for  your  lips  a  lawful  thirst, 
And  as  justly  the  second  should  follow  the  first, 

I  come  to  your  door  this  night. 

nc 

If  a  ghost  should  come  a  ghost  will  go : 


wrath  began 
living  man. 


dbyGoogle 


THE  YOUNG  PRINCESS 

IV* 
I 
The  soft  night-wind  went  laden  to  death 
With  smell  of  the  orange  in  flower ; 
The  light  leaves  prattled  to  neighbour  ears ; 
The  bird  of  the  passion  sang  over  his  tears ; 
The  night  named  hour  by  hour. 
11 
Sang  loud,  sang  low  the  rapturous  bird 

Till  the  yellow  hour  was  nigh. 
Behind  the  folds  of  a  darker  cloud : 
He  chuckled,  be  sobbed,  alow,  aloud ; 
The  voice  between  earth  and  sky. 
ui 
O  will  you,  will  you,  women  are  weak ; 

The  proudest  are  yielding  mates 

For  a  forward  foot  and  a  tongue  of  fire : 

So  thought  Lord  Dusiote's  trusty  squire. 

At  watch  by  the  palace-gates. 

rv 

1  The  song  of  the  bird  was  wine  in  his  blood. 

And  woman  the  odorous  bloom : 

His  master's  great  adventure  stirred 

Within  him  to  mingle  the  bloom  and  bird. 

And  mom  ere  its  coming  illume. 

Beside  him  strangely  a  piece  of  the  dark 

Had  moved,  and  the  undertones 
Of  a  priest  in  prayer,  like  a  cavernous  wave, 
He  heard,  as  were  there  a  soul  to  save 
For  urgency  now  in  the  groans. 

VI 

No  priest  was  hired  for  the  play  this  night : 
And  the  squire  tossed  head  like  a  deer 
At  sniff  of  the  tainted  wind ;  he  gazed 
Where  cresset-lamps  in  a  door  were  raised, 
Belike  on  a  passing  bier. 


dbyGoogle 


THE  YOUNG  PRINCESS 


All  cloaked  and  masked,  with  naked  blades, 

lliat  flashed  of  a  judgement  done. 
The  lords  of  the  Court,  from  the  palace-door. 
Came  issuing  silently,  bearers  four. 
And  flat  on  their  shoulders  one. 


They  marched  the  body  to  squire  and  priest, 
They  lowered  it  sad  to  earth : 

The  priest  they  gave  the  burial  dole 

Bade  wrestle  hourly  for  his  soul, 
Who  was  a  lord  of  worth. 


One  said,  farewell  to  a  gallant  knight  I 

And  one,  but  a  restless  ghost  I 
"T^  a  year  and  a  day  since  in  this  place 
He  died,  sped  high  by  a  lady  of  grace. 
To  join  the  blissful  host. 


Not  vainly  on  us  she  charged  her  cause, 

"ITie  lady  whom  we  revere 
For  faith  in  the  mask  of  a  love  untrue 
To  the  Love  we  honour,  the  Love  her  due, 

llie  Love  we  have  vowed  to  rear. 


A  trap  for  the  sweet  tooth,  lures  for  the  light. 

For  the  fortress  defiant  a  mine : 
Right  well  I    But  not  in  the  South,  princess. 
Shall  the  lady  snared  of  her  nobleness 
Ever  shamed  or  a  captive  pine. 


When  the  South  had  voice  of  a  nightingale 

Above  a  Maying  bower, 
On  the  heights  of  Love  walked  radiant  peers ; 
The  bird  of  the  passion  sang  over  hb  tears 

To  the  breeze  and  the  orange-flower. 


dbyGoogle 


KING  HARALD'S  TRANCE  * 


Sword  in  Ieng;th  &  reaping-hook  amBin 
Harald  sheared  his  field,  blood  up  to  shank : 

'Mid  the  swathes  of  slain, 

First  at  moonrise  drank, 
u 
Thereof  hunger,  as  for  meats  the  knife. 
Pricked  his  ribs,  in  one  sharp  spur  to  reach 

Home  and  his  young  wife. 

Nigh  the  sea-ford  beach. 
Ill 
After  battle  keen  to  feed  was  he : 
Smoking  flesh  the  thresher  washed  down  fast. 

Like  an  angry  sea 

Ships  from  keel  to  mast. 

IV 

Name  us  glory,  singer,  name  us  pride 
Matching  Huald's  in  his  deeds  of  strength ; 
Chiefs,  wife,  sword  by  side, 
Foemen  stretched  their  length  I 

V 

Half  a  winter  night  the  toasts  hurrahed. 
Crowned  him,  clothed  him,  trumpeted  him  high 

Till  awink  he  bade 

Wife  to  chamber  fly. 

VI 

Twice  the  sun  had  mounted,  twice  had  sunk. 
Ere  his  ears  took  sound ;  he  lay  for  dead ; 

Mountain  on  his  trunk. 

Ocean  on  his  head. 

VII 

Clamped  to  couch,  his  fiery  hearing  sucked 
Whispers  that  at  heart  made  iron-dang ; 

Here  fool-women  ducked. 

There  men  held  harangue. 


dbyGoogle 


KING  HARALD'S  TRANCE 

vin 
Burial  to  6t  their  lord  of  war 
They  decreed  him :  hailed  the  kingling :  ha  I 

Hateful !  but  this  Thor 

Failed  a  weak  lamb's  baa. 

IX 

KiQg  they  hailed  a  hranchlet,  shaped  to  fare. 
Weighted  so,  like  quaking  shingle  spume. 

When  his  blood's  own  heir 

Ripened  in  the  womb  I 


Still  he  heard,  and  doglike,  hoglike,  ran 
Nose  of  hearing  till  his  blind  sight  saw : 

Woman  stood  with  man 

Mouthing  low,  at  paw. 

XI 

Woman,  man,  they  mouthed ;  they  spake  a  thing 
Armed  to  split  a  mountain,  sunder  seas : 

Still  the  frozen  king 

Lay  and  ieit  him  freeze. 


Doglike,  boglike,  borselike  now  he  raced. 
Riderless,  in  ghost  across  a  ground 

Flint  of  breast,  blank-faced, 

Past  the  fleshly  bound. 


Smell  of  brine  his  nostrils  filled  with  might : 
Nostrils  quickened  eyelids,  eyelids  hand : 
Hand  for  sword  at  right 
Groped,  the  great  haft  spanned. 

XIV 

Wonder  struck  to  ice  his  people's  eyes : 
Him  they  saw,  the  prone  upon  the  bier. 

Sheer  from  backbone  rise, 

Sword  uplifUng  peer. 


dbyGoogle 


KING  HARALD'S  TRANCE 


Sitting  did  he  breathe  against  the  blade. 
Standing  kiss  it  for  that  proof  of  life : 

Strode,  as  netters  wade. 

Straightway  to  his  wife. 

XVI 

Her  he  eyed :  his  judgement  was  one  word, 
Foulbed  1  and  she  fell :  the  blow  clove  two. 

Fearful  for  the  third, 

All  their  breath  indrew. 

XVII 

Morning  danced  along  the  waves  to  beach ; 

Dumb  his  chiefs  fetched  breath  for  what  might  hap : 

Glassily  on  each 

Stared  the  iron  cap. 
xvin 
Sudden,  as  it  were  a  monster  oak 
Split  to  yield  a  limb  by  stress  of  heat, 

Strained  he,  staggered,  broke 

Doubled  at  their  feet. 


WHIMPER  OF  SYMPATHY 

Hawk  or  shrike  has  done  this  deed 
Of  downy  feathers :  rueful  sight  I 
Sweet  sentimentalist,  invite 
Your  bosom's  Power  to  intercede. 

So  hard  it  seems  that  one  must  bleed 
Because  another  needs  will  bite  I 
All  round  we  find  cold  Nature  slight 
The  feelings  of  the  totter-knee'd. 

O  it  were  pleasant  with  you 

To  fiy  from  this  tussle  of  foes. 

The  shambles,  the  chamel,  the  wrinkle  I 

To  dwell  in  yon  dribble  of  dew 

On  the  cheek  of  your  sovereign  rose. 

And  live  the  young  life  of  a  twinkle. 


dbyGoogle 


YOUNG  REYNARD 


Gracepullest  leaper,  the  dappled  fox-cub 
Curves  over  brambles  with  berries  and  buds. 
Light  as  a  bubble  that  flies  from  the  tub, 
Whisked  by  the  laundry-wife  out  of  her  suds. 
Wavy  he  comes,  woolly,  all  at  his  ease, 
Elegant,  fashioned  to  foot  with  the  deuce ; 
Nature's  own  prince  of  the  dance :  then  he  sees 
Me,  and  retires  as  if  making  excuse. 


Never  closed  minuet  courtlier !    Soon 
Cub-hunting  troops  were  abroad,  and  a  yelp 
Told  of  sure  scent :  ere  the  stroke  upon  noon 
Reynard  the  younger  lay  far  beyond  help. 
Wild,  my  poor  friend,  ha^  the  fate  to  be  chased ; 
Civil  will  conquer :  were  'l  other  'twere  worse ; 
Fair,  by  the  flushed  early  morning  embraced, 
Haply  you  live  a  day  longer  in  verse. 


Projected  from  the  bilious  Childe, 

This  clatterjaw  his  foot  could  set 

On  Alps,  without  a  breast  beguiled 

To  glow  in  shedding  rascal  sweat. 

Somewhere  about  Us  grinder  teeth. 

He  mouthed  of  thoughts  that  grilled  beneath, 

And  summoned  Nature  to  her  feud 

With  bile  and  buskin  Attitude. 


Considerably  was  the  world 
Of  spinsterdom  and  clergy  racked 
While  he  his  hinted  horrors  hurled. 
And  she  pictorially  attacked. 


dbyGoogle 


HERNANI 

A  duel  hugeous.    Tragic f    Hoi 
The  cities,  not  the  mountains,  blow 
Such  bladders ;  in  their  shapes  confessed 
An  after-dinner's  indigest. 


HERNANI  * 

CiBTERCUNS  might  crack  tbeir  sides 
With  laughter,  and  exemption  get. 
At  sight  of  heroes  clasping  brides. 
And  bearing — 0  tbe  horn !  the  horn  I 
The  horn  of  their  obstructive  debt  1 

But  quit  the  stage,  that  note  applies 
For  sermons  cosmopolitan, 
Hemani.    Have  we  filched  our  prize. 
Forgetting  .  .  .  ?    O  the  horn  I  the  horn  t 
The  horn  of  the  Old  Gentleman  I 


THE  NUPTIALS  OF  ATTILA  * 


Flat  as  to  an  eagle's  eye. 

Earth  hung  under  Attila. 
Sign  for  carnage  gave  be  none. 
In  the  peace  of  bis  disdain. 
Sun  and  rain,  and  rain  and  sun, 
Cherished  men  to  wax  again. 
Crawl,  and  in  their  manner  die. 
On  his  people  stood  a  frost. 
Like  tbe  charger  cut  in  stone. 
Rearing  stiff,  the  warrior  host, 
Which  had  life  from  him  alone, 
Craved  the  trumpet's  eager  note, 
As  the  bridled  earth  the  Spring. 
Rusty  was  tbe  trumpet's  throat. 
He  let  chief  and  prophet  rave ; 
Venturous  earth  around  him  string 


dbyGoogle 


THE  NUPTIALS  OF  ATHLA 

Threads  of  grass  and  slender  rye. 

Wave  them,  and  untrampled  wave. 

0  for  the  time  when  God  did  cry, 

Eye  and  have,  my  Attila  I 


Scom  of  conquest  filled  tike  sleep 
Him  that  drank  of  havoc  deep 
When  the  Green  Cat  pawed  the  globe : 
When  the  horsemen  from  his  bow 
Shot  in  sheaves  and  made  the  foe 
Crimson  fringes  of  a  robe, 
Trailed  o'er  towns  and  fields  in  woe ; 
When  they  streaked  the  rivers  red. 
When  the  saddle  was  the  bed. 
Attila,  my  Attila  1 


He  breathed  peace  and  pulled  a  flower. 

Eye  and  have,  my  Attila  I 
Thb  was  the  damsel  Ildico, 
Rich  in  bloom  until  that  hour : 
Shyer  than  the  forest  doe 
Twinkling  slim  through  branches  green. 
Yet  the  shyest  shall  be  seen. 

Make  the  bed  for  Attila  I 


Seen  of  Attila,  desired. 

She  was  led  to  him  straightway : 

Radiantly  was  she  attired ; 

Rifled  lands  were  her  array, 

Jewels  bled  from  weeping  crowns. 

Gold  of  woeful  fields  and  towns. 

She  stood  pallid  in  the  light. 

How  she  walked,  how  withered  white. 

From  the  blessing  to  the  board. 

She  who  should  have  proudly  blushed, 

Women  whispered,  asking  why, 

Hinting  of  a  youth,  and  hushed. 

Was  it  terror  of  her  lord  ? 


dbyGoogle 


THE  NUPTIALS  OF  ATTILA 

Was  she  childish  T  was  ahe  sly  T 
Was  it  the  bright  mantle's  ilyo 
Drained  her  blood  to  hues  of  unci 
Like  the  ash  that  shoots  the  nimrkT 
See  the  green  tree  all  in  leaf ; 
See  the  green  tree  strippw!  «f  bark  I— 
Make  the  bed  for  Attila ! 

V 

Round  the  banquet-tabk'n  load 
Scores  of  iron  horsemen  rink ; 
Chosen  warriors,  keen  and  hard ; 
Grain  of  threshing  Uttk-dinU ; 
Attila's  fierce  l>ody-«u«"l' 
Smelling  war  like  fir*  in  ftintJi. 
Gnot  them  pea'*r  !«»■  fu/i'iv<r , 
Iroo-cappeH  and  i/on-t.**^.'-'), 
Eacb  ajraia^t  i.U  Hl'/w',  r.t.M-i 

Afila'  K-y  A"J-»'. 
Eari*-  «^  '/  ''-^  '/f**^, 
E«^  t«:i  '-'-^  '■^"•"  '-'■^'  '^  ■ 
Bavi-  ii«-.  JCjC  v-'_>*-'.  vt :  ^-  ■*, 


Be  WW  'Jf  -T.^  V.-rX  V.  «•  - 
iiTunat  n.  j".-'-  '  f-'r  >>«  "^  '-"■ 
Jiatnumr  ■  ■"-'  "■'*^  c-f"'^  •■ 

IxMt^^  lit  'A'^  •  *»''  '-"  '  '■ 

i,-*r  nut    IlE-»     «',■    <--'■ 


dbyGoogle 


THE  NUPTIALS  OF  ATTILA 


Under  the  thin  hoop  of  gold 
Whence  in  waves  her  hair  outroUed, 
'Twixt  her  brows  the  women  saw 
Shadows  of  a  vulture's  claw 
Gript  in  flight :  strange  knots  that  sped 
Closing  and  dissolving  aye : 
Such  as  wicked  dreams  betray 
When  pale  dawn  creeps  o'er  the  bed. 
They  might  show  the  common  pang 
Known  to  virgins,  in  whom  dread 
Hunts  their  bliss  like  famished  hounds ; 
While  the  chiefs  with  roaring  rounds 
Tossed  her  to  her  lord,  and  sang 
Praise  of  him  whose  hand  was  large. 
Cheers  for  beauty  brought  to  yield. 
Chirrups  of  the  trot  afield. 
Hurrahs  of  the  battle-charge. 


Those  rock-faces  hung  with  weed 
Reddened :  their  great  days  of  speed. 
Slaughter,  triumph,  flood  and  flame, 
Like  a  jealous  frenzy  wrought. 
Scoffed  at  them  and  did  them  shame, 
Quaffing  idle,  conquering  naught. 
0  for  the  time  when  God  decided 

Earth  the  prey  of  Attila  I 
God  called  on  thee  in  his  wrath. 
Trample  it  to  mire  I    "Twas  done. 
Swift  as  Danube  clove  our  path 
Down  from  East  to  Western  sun, 
Huns !  behold  your  pasture,  gaze, 
Take,  our  king  said  :  heel  to  flank 
(Whisper  it,  the  warhorse  neighs  !) 
Forth  we  drove,  and  blood  we  drank 
Fresh  as  dawn-dew :  earth  was  ours : 
Men  were  flocks  we  lashed  and  spumed : 
Fast  as  windy  flame  devours, 
Flame  along  the  wind,  we  burned. 


dbyGoogle 


THE  NUPTIALS  OF  AITILA 

Arrow,  javelin,  spear,  and  sword ! 
Here  the  snows  and  there  the  plains ; 
On  I  our  signal :  onward  poured 
Torrents  of  the  tightened  reins, 
Foaming  over  vine  and  com 
Hot  against  the  city-wall. 
Whisper  it,  you  sound  a  horn 
To  the  grey  beast  in  the  stall  1 
Yea,  he  whinnies  at  a  nod. 
O  for  sound  of  the  trumpet-notes  I 
O  for  the  time  when,  thunder-shod, 
He  that  scarce  can  munch  his  oats 
Hung  on  the  peaks,  brooded  aloof. 
Champed  the  grain  of  the  wrath  of  God, 
Pressed  a  cloud  on  the  cowering  roof. 
Snorted  out  of  the  blackness  fire  ! 
Scarlet  broke  the  sky,  and  down. 
Hammering  West  with  print  of  his  hoof. 
He  burst  out  of  the  bosom  of  ire 
Sharp  as  eyeUght  under  thy  frown, 
Attila,  my  Attila  1 

IX 

Ravaged  cities  rolling  smoke 
Thick  on  cornfields  dry  and  black 
Wave  his  banners,  bear  his  yoke. 
Track  the  lightning,  and  you  track 
Attila.    They  moan :  'tis  he ! 
Bleed :  'tis  he  I    Beneath  his  foot 
Leagues  are  deserts  charred  and  mute ; 
Where  he  passed,  there  passed  a  sea, 
Attila,  my  Attila  1 

X 

— Who  breathed  on  the  king  cold  breath  ? 
Said  a  voice  amid  the  host. 
He  is  Death  that  weds  a  ghost. 
Else  a  ghost  that  weds  with  Death  f 
Ildico's  chill  little  hand 
Shuddering  he  beheld :  austere 
Stared,  as  one  who  would  command 
Sight  of  what  has  filled  his  ear : 


dbyGoogle 


THE  NUPTIALS  OF  ATTILA 

Plucked  his  thin  beard,  laughed  disdain. 
Feast,  ye  Huns  I    His  arm  he  raised. 
Like  the  warrior,  battle-dazed, 
Joining  to  the  fight  amain. 
Make  the  bed  for  Attila  1 


Silent  Ildico  stood  up. 
King  and  chief  to  pledge  her  well 
Shocked  sword  sword  and  cup  on  cup. 
Clamouring  like  a  brazen  bell. 
Silent  stepped  the  queenly  slave. 
Fair,  by  heaven  !  she  was  to  meet 
On  a  midnight,  near  a  grave. 
Flapping  wide  the  winding-^eet. 

XII 

Death  and  she  walked  through  the  crowd. 
Out  beyond  the  flush  of  light. 
Ceremonious  women  bowed 
Following  her :  'twas  middle  night. 
Then  the  warriors  each  on  each 
Spied,  nor  overloudly  laughed ; 
Like  the  victims  of  tibe  leech. 
Who  have  drunk  of  a  strange  draught. 

XI  I 
Attila  remained.    Even  so 
Frowned  he  when  he  struck  the  blow, 
Bruned  his  horse  that  stumbled  twice, 
On  a  bloody  day  in  Gaul, 
Bellowing,  Perish  omens  1    All 
Marvelled  at  the  sacrifice. 
But  the  battle,  swinging  dim, 
Rang  off  that  axe-blow  for  him. 
Attila,  my  Attila  1 

XIV 

Brightening  over  Danube  wheeled 
Star  by  star ;  and  she,  most  fair. 
Sweet  as  victory  half-revealed, 
Seized  to  make  him  glad  and  young ; 


dbyGOOgl^ 


THE  NUPTIAI^  OP  AITILA 

She,  0  swe«t  as  the  dark  sign 
Given  him  oft  io  battles  gone. 
When  the  voice  within  said.  Dare  I 
And  the  trumpet-notes  were  sprung 
Rapturous  for  the  charge  in  line : 
She  lay  waiting :  fair  as  dawn 
Wrapped  in  folds  of  night  she  lay ; 
Secret,  lustrous ;  flaglike  there. 
Waiting  him  to  stream  and  ray. 
With  one  loosening  blush  outflung, 
Colours  of  his  hordes  of  horse 
Ranked  for  combat :  still  he  hung 
Like  the  fever-dreading  air. 
Cursed  of  heat ;  and  as  a  corse 
Gathers  vultures,  in  his  brain 
Images  of  her  eyes  and  kiss 
Plucked  at  the  limbs  that  could  remain 
Loitering  nigh  the  doors 'of  bliss. 
Make  the  bed  for  Attila  I 


Fasten  on  one  band,  on  one 
Destiny  led  forth  the  Hun. 
Heard  ye  outcries  of  affright. 
Voices  that  through  many  a  fray, 
In  the  press  of  flag  and  spear. 
Warned  the  king  of  peril  near  ? 
Men  were  dumb,  they  gave  him  way, 
Eager  heads  to  left  and  right. 
Like  the  bearded  standard,  thrust. 
As  in  battle,  for  a  nod 
Prom  their  lord  of  battle-dust. 

Attila,  my  Attila  I 
Slow  between  the  lines  he  trod. 
Saw  ye  not  the  sun  drop  slow 
On  this  nuptial  day,  ere  eve 
Pierced  him  on  the  couch  aglow? 

Attila,  my  Attila ! 
Here  and  there  his  heart  would  cleave 
Clotted  memory  for  a  space : 
Some  stout  chief's  familiar  face. 


dbyGoogle 


THE  NUPTIAl^  OF  ATTILA 

Choicest  of  hb  fighting  brood. 
Touched  him,  as  'twere  one  to  know 
Ere  he  met  his  bride's  embrace. 

Attila,  my  Attila ! 
Twisting  fingers  in  a  beard 
Scant  as  winter  underwood, 
With  a  narrowed  eye  he  peered ; 
Like  the  sunset's  graver  red 
Up  old  pine-stems.    Grave  he  stood 
Eyeing  them  on  whom  was  shed 
Burning  light  from  him  alone. 

Attila,  my  Attila  I 
Red  were  they  whose  mouths  recalled 
Where  the  slaughter  mounted  high, 
High  on  it,  o'er  earth  appalled. 
He;  heaven's  finger  in  their  sight 
Raising  him  on  waves  of  dead : 
Up  to  heaven  his  trumpets  blown. 
O  for  the  time  when  God's  delight 

Crowned  the  head  of  Attila ! 
Hungry  river  of  the  crag 
Stretehing  hands  for  earth  he  came : 
Force  and  Speed  astride  his  nune 
Pointed  back  to  spear  and  flag. 
He  came  out  of  miracle  cloud. 
Lightning-swift  and  spectre-lean. 
Now  those  days  are  in  a  shroud : 
Have  him  to  bis  ghostly  queen. 

Make  the  bed  for  Attila  I 


One,  with  winecups  overstrung, 

CrieJ  him  farewell  in  Rome's  tongue. 

Who  ?  for  the  great  king  turned  as  though 

Wrath  to  the  shaft's  head  strained  the  bow. 

Nay,  not  wrath  the  king  possessed, 

But  a  radiance  of  the  breast. 

In  that  sound  he  had  the  key 

Of  his  cunning  malady. 

Lo,  where  gleamed  the  sapphire  lake, 

Leo,  with  his  Rome  at  stake. 


dbyGoogle 


THE  NUPTIAI5  OF  ATTILA 

Drew  blank  air  to  hues  and  forms ; 
Whereof  Two  that  shone  distinct,' 
Linked  as  orbed  stars  are  linked. 
Clear  among  the  myriad  swarms. 
In  a  constellation,  dashed 
Full  on  horse  and  rider's  eyes 
Sunless  light,  but  light  it  was — 
Light  that  blinded  and  abashed, 
Froze  his  members,  bade  him  pause, 
Caught  him  mid-gallop,  blazed  him  home. 

Attila,  my  Attila ! 
What  are  streams  that  cease  to  flow  ? 
What  was  Attila,  rolled  thence, 
Cheated  by  a  juggler's  show? 
Like  that  lake  of  blue  intense. 
Under  tempest  lashed  to  foam. 
Lurid  radiance,  as  he  passed, 
Filled  him,  and  around  was  glassed, 
When  deep-voiced  he  uttered,  Rome  1 

XVII 

Rome  I  the  word  was :  and  like  meat 
Flung  to  dogs  the  word  was  torn. 
Soon  Rome's  magic  priest  shall  bleat 
Round  their  magic  Pope  forlorn ! 
Loud  they  swore  the  lung  had  sworn 
Vengeance  on  the  Roman  cheat. 
Ere  he  passed  a»,  grave  and  still, 
Danube  through  the  shouting  hill : 
Sworn  it  by  his  naked  life  ! 
Eagle,  snakes  these  women  are : 
Take  them  on  the  wing !  but  war, 
Smoking  war 's  the  warrior's  wife  I 
Then  for  plunder !  then  for  brides 
Won  without  a  winking  priest ! — 
Danube  whirled  his  train  of  tides 
Black  toward  the  yellow  East. 
Make  the  bed  for  Attila ! 

XVIll 

Chirrups  of  the  trot  afield. 
Hurrahs  of  the  battle-charge. 


dbyGoogle 


THE  NUPTIALS  OF  ATTILA 

How  they  answered,  how  they  pealed. 
When  the  morning  rose  and  drew 
Bow  and  javelin,  lance  and  targe. 
In  the  nuptial  casement's  view  I 

Attila,  my  Attila  1 
Down  the  hillspurs,  out  of  tents 
Glimmering  in  mid-forest,  through 
Mists  of  the  cool  morning  scents. 
Forth  from  city-alley,  court, 
Arch,  the  bounding  horsemen  flew. 
Joined  along  the  plains  of  dew. 
Raced  and  gave  the  rein  to  sport. 
Closed  and  streamed  like  curtain-rents 
Fluttered  by  a  wind,  and  flowed 
Into  squadrons :  trumpets  blew. 
Chargers  neighed,  and  trappings  glowed 
Brave  as  the  briglit  Orient's. 
Look  on  the  seas  that  run  to  greet 
Sunrise :  look  on  the  leagues  of  wheat : 
Look  on  the  lines  and  squares  that  fret 
Leaping  to  level  the  lance  blood-wet. 
Tens  of  thousands,  man  and  steed, 
Tossing  like  field-flowers  in  Spring; 
Ready  to  be  hurled  at  need 
Whither  their  great  lord  may  sling. 
Finger  Homeward,  Homeward,  King  I 

Attila,  my  Attila  1 
Still  the  woman  holds  him  fast 
As  a  night-flag  round  the  mast. 


Nigh  upon  the  fiery  noon. 
Out  of  ranks  a  roaring  burst. 
'Ware  white  women  like  the  moon  I 
They  are  poison :  they  have  thirst 
First  for  love,  and  next  for  rule. 
Jealous  of  the  army,  she? 
Ho,  the  little  wanton  fool ! 
We  were  his  before  she  squealed 
Blind  for  mother's  milk,  and  heeled 


dbyGoogle 


THE  NUPTIALS  OP  ATTILA 

Kickiog  on  her  mother's  knee. 
His  in  life  and  death  are  we : 
She  but  one  flower  of  a  field. 
We  have  given  him  bliss  tenfold 
In  an  hour  to  match  her  night : 

Attila,  my  Attila  I 
Still  her  arras  the  master  bold, 
As  on  wounds  the  scarf  winds  tif^t. 


Over  Danube  day  no  more. 
Like  the  warrior's  planted  spear. 
Stood  to  hail  the  King :  in  fear 
Western  day  knocked  at  his  door. 

Attila,  my  Attila  I 
Sudden  in  the  army's  eyes 
Rolled  a  blast  of  lights  and  cries : 
Flashing  through  them :  Dead  are  ye  I 
Dead,  ye  Huns,  and  torn  piecemeal  t 
See  the  ordered  army  reel 
Stricken  through  the  ribs :  and  see. 
Wild  for  speed  to  cheat  despair, 
Horsemen,  clutching  knee  to  chin. 
Crouch  and  dart  they  know  not  where. 

Attila,  my  Attila ! 
Faces  covered,  faces  bare, 
Light  the  palace-front  like  jets 
Of  a  dreadful  fire  within. 
Beating  hands  and  driving  hair 
Start  on  roof  and  parapets. 
Dust  rolls  up ;  the  slaughter  din. 
— Death  to  them  who  call  him  dead ! 
Death  to  them  who  doubt  the  tale  I 
Choking  in  his  dusty  veil, 
Sank  the  sun  on  his  death-bed. 

Make  the  bed  for  Attila  1 

XXI 

*Tis  the  room  where  thunder  sleeps. 
Frenzy,  as  a  wave  to  shore 
Surging,  burst  the  silent  door, 
And  drew  back  to  awful  deeps, 


dbyGoogle 


THE  NUPTIALS  OF  ATTILA 

Breath  beaten  out,  foam-wtute.     Anew 
Howled  and  pressed  the  ghastly  crew. 
Like  storm-waters  over  rocks. 

Attila,  my  AttUa  I 
One  long  shaft  of  sunset  red 
Laid  a  Biiger  on  the  bed. 
Horror,  with  the  snaky  locks. 
Shocked  the  surge  to  stiiTened  heaps. 
Hoary  as  the  glacier's  head 
Paced  to  the  moon.     Insane  they  look. 
God  it  is  in  heavea  who  weeps 
Fallen  from  his  hand  the  Scourge  he  shook. 

Make  the  bed  for  AtdU  t 

XXII 

Square  along  the  couch,  and  stark. 
Like  the  sea-rejected  thing 
Sea-sucked  white,  behold  their  King. 

Attila,  my  Attila  I 
Beams  that  panted  black  and  bright. 
Scornful  lightnings  danced  their  sight : 
Him  they  see  an  oak  in  bud. 
Him  an  oaklog  stripped  of  bark : 
Him,  their  lord  of  day  and  night, 
White,  and  lifting  up  his  blood 
Dumb  for  vengeance.     Name  us  that. 
Huddled  in  the  comer  dark. 
Humped  and  grinning  like  a  cat. 
Teeth  for  lips ! — 'tis  she  I  she  stares, 
Glittering  through  her  bristled  hairs. 
Rend  her  I    Pierce  her  to  the  hilt  1 
oi..  :-  Murder ;  have  her  out  I 
this  little  fist,  as  big 
southern  summer  fig  I 
Madness,  none  may  doubt, 
who  dares  deny  her  guilt  I 
who  says  his  blood  she  spilt  I 
oke  the  bed  for  Attila  I 

XXIII 

and  lamp  and  sunset-red 
ree-fing^«d  on  the  bed. 


dbyGoogle 


THE  NUPTIALS  OF  ATTILA 

In  the  torch  the  beord-bair  scant 
With  the  great  breast  seemed  to  pant: 
Id  the  yellow  lamp  the  limbs 
Wavered,  as  the  lake-Bower  awims : 
In  the  sunset  red  the  dead 
Dead  avowed  him,  dry  blood-red. 

XXIV 

Hatred  of  that  abject  slave, 
Earth,  was  in  each  cbiettain's  heart. 
Earth  baa  f!ot  him,  whom  God  gave. 
Earth  may  sing,  and  earth  shall  smart  I 
Attila,  my  Attilal 

XXV 

Thus  their  prayer  was  raved  and  ceased. 
Then  had  Veiigeance  of  ber  feast 
Scent  in  their  quick  pang  to  smite 
Which  they  knew  not,  but  huge  pain 
Urged  them  for  some  victim  slain 
Swift,  and  blotted  from  the  sight. 
Each  at  each,  a  crouching  beast. 
Glared,  and  quivered  for  the  word. 
Each  at  each,  and  all  on  that. 
Humped  and  grinning  like  a  cat. 
Head-bound  with  its  bridal- wreath. 
Then  the  bitter  chamber  heard 
Vengeance  in  a  cauldron  seethe. 
Hurried  counsel  rage  and  craft 
Yelped  to  hungry  men,  whose  teeth 
Hard  the  grey  lip-ringlet  gnawed. 
Gleaming  till  their  fury  laughed. 
With  the  steel-hilt  in  the  clutch, 
Eyes  were  shot  on  her  that  froze 
In  tbeir  blood-thirst  overawed  ; 
Burned  to  rend,  yet  feared  to  touch. 
She  that  was  bis  nuptial  rose. 
She  was  of  his  heart's  blood  clad : 
Oh  1  the  last  of  him  she  had ! — 
Could  a  little  fist  as  big 
As  the  southern  summer  fig 


dbyGoogle 


dbjGoogle 


THE  NUPTIA1£  OF  ATTILA 

xxvni 

Thus  their  prayer  was  raved  and  passed : 
Passed  in  peace  their  red  sunset : 
HeWD  and  earthed  those  men  of  sweat 
Who  had  housed  him  in  the  vast, 
Where  no  mortal  might  declare. 
There  lies  he — his  end  was  there ! 
Attila,  my  Attilal 


^ngless  was  the  army  left : 
Of  its  head  the  race  bereft. 
Every  fury  of  the  pit 
Tortured  and  dismembered  it. 
Lo,  upon  a  silent  hour, 
When  the  pitch  of  frost  subsides, 
Danube  with  a  shout  of  power 
Loosens  his  imprisoned  tides : 
Wide  around  the  frighted  pl^ns 
Shake  to  hear  his  riven  chains, 
Dreadfuller  than  heaven  in  wrath. 
As  he  mokes  himself  a  path : 
High  leap  the  ice-cracks,  towering  pile 
Floes  to  bergs,  and  giant  peers 
Wrestle  on  a  drifted  isle ; 
Island  on  ice-island  rears; 
Dissolution  battles  fast; 
Big  the  senseless  Titans  loom, 
Through  a  mist  of  common  doom 
Striving  which  shall  die  the  last : 
Till  a  gentle-breathing  mom 
Frees  the  stream  from  bank  to  bank 
So  the  Empire  built  of  scorn 
Agonized,  dissolved  and  sank. 
Of  the  Queen  no  more  was  told 
Than  of  leaf  on  Danube  rolled. 
Moke  the  bed  for  Attila ! 


dbyGoogle 


THE  LAST  CONTENTION  • 


YoDNO  captain  of  a  crazy  bark ! 
O  tameless  heart  in  battered  frame  I 
Thy  sailing  orders  have  a  mark. 
And  hers  is  not  the  name. 


dbyGoogle 


THE  LAST  CONTENTION 


For  action  alt  thine  iron  clanks 
In  cravings  for  a  splendid  prize; 
Again  to  race  or  bump  thy  planks 
With  any  flag  that  flies. 


Consult  them ;  they  are  eloquent 
For  senses  not  inebriate. 
They  trust  thee  on  the  star  intent. 
That  leads  to  land  their  freight. 


And  they  have  known  thee  high  peruse 
The  heavens,  and  deep  the  earth,  til!  thou 
Didst  into  the  flushed  circle  cruise 
Where  reason  quits  the  brow. 


Iliou  animatest  ancient  tales, 
To  prove  our  worid  of  linear  seed : 
Thy  very  virtue  now  assails, 
A  tempter  to  mislead. 


But  thou  host  answer :  I  am  I ; 
My  passion  hallows,  bids  command : 
And  she  is  gracious,  she  is  nigh : 
One  motion  of  the  hand ! 


It  will  suffice ;  a  whirly  tune 
These  winds  will  pipe,  and  thou  perform 
llie  nodded  part  of  pantaloon 
In  thy  created  storm. 


Admires  thee  Nature  with  much  pride; 
She  clasps  thee  for  a  pft  of  mom. 
Till  thou  art  set  against  the  tide. 
And  then  beware  her  scorn. 


dbyGoogle 


Men  til. 
Ami  h.  • 
And  il 
Men  . 
.linl  I 
rTli.1 


dbjGoOgle 


PERIANDER 


Bloom  of  the  generous  fires  of  his  fair  Spring 
Still  coloured  him  when  men  forbore  to  sting; 
Admiring  meekly  where  the  ordered  seeds 
Of  his  good  sovereignty  showed  gardens  trim ; 
And  owning  that  the  hoe  he  struck  at  weeds 
Was  author  of  the  flowers  raised  face  to  him. 


His  Connth,  to  each  mood  subservient 

In  homage,  made  he  as  an  instrument 

To  yield  him  music  with  scarce  touch  of  stops. 

He  breathed,  it  piped ;  he  moved,  it  rose  to  fly : 

At  whiles  a  bloodhorse  racing  till  it  drops; 

At  whiles  a  crouching  dog,  on  him  all  eye. 


His  wisdom  men  acknowledged ;  only  one. 
The  creature,  issue  of  him,  Lycophron, 
That  rebel  with  his  mother  in  his  brows. 
Contested :  such  an  infamous  would  foul 
Pirene  I '    Little  heed  where  he  might  house 
The  prince  gave,  hearing :  so  the  fox,  the  owl  1 


To  prove  the  Gods  benignant  to  his  rule. 
The  years,  which  fasten  rigid  whom  they  cool. 
Reviewing,  saw  him  hold  the  seat  of  power. 
A  grey  one  asked :  Who  next  ?  nor  answer  had : 
One  greyer  pointed  on  the  pallid,  hour 
To  come :  a  river  dried  of  waters  glad. 


For  which  of  his  male  issue  promised  grip 
To  stride  yon  people,  with  the  curb  and  whip? 
This  Lycophron  !  he  sole,  the  father  like. 
Fired  prospect  of  a  line  in  one  strong  tide. 
By  right  of  mastery ;  stern  will  to  strike ; 
Pride  to  support  the  stroke :  yea,  Godlike  pride ! 


dbyGoogle 


PERIANDER 


Himself  the  prince  beheld  a  failiDg  fount 
His  line  stretched  back  unto  its  holy  mount : 
The  thirsty  onward  waved  for  htm  no  sign. 
Then  stood  before  his  vision  that  hard  son. 
l^e  seizure  of  a  passion  for  his  tine 
Impelled  him  to  the  path  of  Lycophron. 


The  youth  was  tossing  pebbles  in  the  sea ; 

A  figure  shimned  along  the  busy  quay. 

Perforce  of  the  harsh  edict  for  who  dared 

Address  him  outcast.     Naming  it,  he  crossed 

His  father's  look  with  look  that  proved  them  paired 

For  stitfness,  and  another  pebble  tossed. 


An  enle  to  the  Island  ere  nightfall 

He  passed  from  sight,  from  ^e  hushed  mouths  cA  all. 

It  had  resemblance  to  a  death :  and  on. 

Against  a  coast  where  sapphire  shattered  white, 

The  seasons  rolled  like  troops  of  billows  blown 

To  spraymist.    The  prince  gazed  on  capping  night. 


Deaf  Age  spake  in  his  ear  with  shouts :  Thy  son  1 

Deep  from  his  heart  Life  raved  of  work  not  done. 

He  heard  historic  echoes  moan  his  name. 

As  of  the  prince  in  whom  the  race  had  pause ; 

Till  Tyranny  paternity  became. 

And  him  he  hated  loved  he  for  the  cause. 


Not  Lycophron  the  exile  now  appeared, 
But  young  Periander,  from  the  shadow  cleared, 
That  haunted  his  rebellious  brows.     The  prince 
Grew  bright  for  him ;  saw  youth,  if  seeming  loth. 
Return  :  and  of  pure  pardon  to  convince. 
Despatched  the  messenger  most  dear  with  both. 


dbyGoogle 


PERIANDER 


His  daughter,  from  the  exile's  laland  home. 
Wrote,  as  a  flight  of  halcyons  o'er  the  foam, 
Sweet  words :  her  brother  to  his  father  bowed ; 
Accepted  his  peace-offering,  and  rejoiced. 
To  bring  him  back  a  prince  the  father  vowed, 
CommaDded  man  the  oars,  the  white  sails  hoist. 


He  waved  the  fleet  to  strain  its  westward  way 

On  to  the  sea-hued  hills  that  crown  the  bay : 

Soil  of  those  hospitable  islanders 

Whom  now  his  heart,  for  honour  to  his  blood. 

Thanked.    They  should  learn  what  boons  a  prince  confers 

When  happiness  enjoins  him  gratitude  I 


Id  watch  upon  the  ofEng,  worn  with  haste 

To  see  his  youth  revived,  and,  close  embraced. 

Pardon  who  had  subdued  him,  who  had  gained 

Surely  the  stoutest  battle  between  two 

Since  Titan  pierced  by  young  Apollo  stained 

Earth's  breast,  the  prince  looked  forth,  himself  looked  through. 


Errors  aforetime  unperceived  were  bared. 

To  be  by  his  young  masterful  repaired : 

Renewed  hb  great  ideas  gone  to  smoke ; 

His  policy  confirmed  amia  the  surge 

Of  States  and  people  fretting  at  his  yoke. 

And  lo,  the  fleet  brown-flocked  on  the  sea-verge  I 


Oars  pulled :  they  streamed  in  harbour ;  without  cheer 

For  welcome  shadowed  round  the  heaving  bier. 

They,  whose  approach  in  such  rare  pomp  and  stress 

Of  numbers  the  free  islanders  dismayed 

At  Tyranny  come  masking  to  oppress, 

Found  Lycophron  this  breathless,  this  lone-laid. 


dbyGoogle 


}  PERIANDER 

xvni 

Who  smote  the  man  thrown  open  to  young  joyT 

The  image  of  the  mother  of  his  boy 

Came  forth  from  his  unwary  breast  in  wreaths, 

With  eyes.    And  shall  a  woman,  that  extinct, 

Smite  out  of  dust  the  Powerful  who  breathes? 

Her  loved  the  son ;  her  served ;  they  lay  close-linked ! 

XIX 

Dead  was  he,  and  demanding  earth.    Demand 
Sharper  for  vengeance  of  an  instant  hand. 
The  Tyrant  in  the  father  beard  him  cry, 
And  raged  a  plague ;  to  prove  on  free  Hellenes 
How  prompt  the  Tyrant  for  the  Persian  dye ; 
How  black  his  Gods  behind  their  marble  screens. 


The  Tyrant  passed,  and  friendlier  was  his  eye 

On  the  great  man  of  Athens,  whom  for  foe 

He  knew,  than  on  the  sycophantic  fry 

That  broke  as  waters  round  a  galley's  flow. 

Bubbles  at  prow  and  foam  along  the  wake. 

Solidity  the  Thunderer  could  not  shake, 

Beneath  an  adverse  wind  still  stripping  bare. 

His  kbsman,  of  the  light-in-cavem  look. 

From  thought  drew,  and  a  countenance  could  wear 

Not  less  at  peace  than  fields  in  Attic  air 

Shorn,  and  shown  fruitful  by  the  reaper's  hook. 


Most  enviable  so ;  yet  much  insane 

To  deem  of  minds  of  men  they  grow !  these  sheep, 

By  fits  wild  horses,  need  the  crook  and  rein ; 

Hot  bulls  by  fits,  pure  wisdom  bold  they  cheap, 

My  Lawgiver,  when  6ery  b  the  mood. 

For  ones  and  twos  and  threes  thy  words  are  good ; 

For  thine  own  government  are  pillars :  mine 


dbyGoogle 


SOLON  3< 

Stand  acta  to  fit  the  herd ;  which  has  quick  thirst. 
Rejecting  elegiacs,  though  they  shine 
On  polished  brass,  and,  worthy  of  the  Nine, 
In  showering  columns  from  their  fountain  burst. 


TTius  museful  rode  the  Tyrant,  princely  plumed. 
To  his  high  seat  upon  the  sacred  rock : 
And  Solon,  blank  beside  his  rule,  resumed 
The  meditation  which  that  passing  mock 
Had  buffeted  awhile  to  sallowness. 
He  little  loved  the  man,  his  office  less. 
Yet  owned  him  for  a  flower  of  his  kind. 
Therefore  the  heavier  curse  on  Athens  he  I 
The  people  grew  not  in  themselves,  but,  blind, 
Accepted  sight  from  him,  to  him  resigned 
Their  hopes  of  stature,  rootless  as  at  sea. 


As  under  sea  lay  Solon's  work,  or  s< 

By  turbid  shore-waves  beaten  day  by  day ; 

Defaced,  half  formless,  like  an  image  dreamed. 

Or  child  that  fashioned  in  another  clay 

Appears,  by  strangers'  bands  to  home  returned. 

But  shall  the  Present  tyrannize  us?  earned 

It  was  in  some  way,  justly  says  the  sage. 

One  sees  not  how,  while  husbanding  regrets ; 

While  tossing  scorn  abroad  from  righteous  rage, 

High  vision  is  obscured ;  for  this  is  age 

When  robbed — more  infant  than  the  babe  it  frets  I 


Yet  see  Athenians  treading  the  black  path 
Laid  by  a  prince's  shadow !  well  content 
To  wait  his  pleasure,  shivering  at  his  wrath : 
They  bow  to  their  accepted  Orient 
With  offer  of  the  all  that  renders  bright : 
Forgetful  of  the  growth  of  men  to  light. 
As  creatures  reared  on  Persian  milk  they  bow. 


Digitized  byGOOgle 


SOLON 

Unripe  I  unripe  I    The  times  are  overcast 
But  still  may  they  who  sowed  behind  the  plough 
True  seed  fix  in  ^e  mind  an  unborn  Now 
To  make  the  plagues  afflicting  us  things  past. 


BELLEROPHON  • 


Maimed,  beggared,  grey ;  seeking  an  alms ;  with  nod 
Of  palsy  doing  task  of  thanks  for  bread ; 

U[x>n  the  st&ture  of  a  God, 
He  whom  the  Gods  have  struck  bends  low  his  head. 


Weak  words  be  has,  that  slip  the  nerveless  tongue 
Deformed,  like  his  great  frame :  a  broken  arc : 

Once  radiant  as  the  javelin  flung 
Right  at  the  centre  breastplate  of  his  mark. 


^-eyed  inward  look, 
irrative  be  tells, 
!in  heat  the  brook 
t  in  the  upland  swells. 


him  fruit  and  crust 
1  hear  him  prate; 
K,  and  comes  the  dust, 
',  more  bent  of  late. 


for  a  meal 

Drid  to  say. 

jicient  wheel 

ad  the  livelong  day. 


dbyGoogle 


BELLEROPHON 


He  caoDot,  nor  do  they,  the  tale  connect ; 
For  never  singer  in  the  land  had  been 

Who  him  for  theme  did  not  reject : 
Spumed  of  the  hoof  that  sprang  the  Hippocrene.' 


Albat  a  theme  of  flame  to  bring  them  straight 
The  snorting  white-winged  brother  of  the  wave. 

They  hear  him  as  a  thing  by  fate 
Cuised  in  unholy  babble  to  his  grave. 


As  men  that  spied  the  wings,  that  heard  the  snort, 
Their  sires  have  told ;  and  of  a  martial  prince 

Bestriding  him ;  and  old  report 
Speaks  of  a  monster  slain  by  one  long  since. 

DC 

There  is  that  story  of  the  golden  bit 

By  Goddess  given  to  tame  the  lightning  steed : 

A  mortal  who  could  mount,  and  sit 
Flying,  and  up  Olympus  midway  speed. 


He  rose  like  the  loosed  fountain's  utmost  leap ; 
He  played  the  star  at  span  of  faeaVen  right  o'er 

Men's  heads :  they  saw  the  snowy  steep. 
Saw  the  winged  shoulders :  him  they  saw  not  more. 


He  fell :  and  says  the  shattered  man,  I  fell : 
And  sweeps  an  arm  the  height  an  eagle  wins ; 

And  in  his  breast  a  mouthless  well 
Heaves  the  worn  patches  of  his  coat  of  skins. 


Lo,  this  is  he  in  whom  the  surgent  springs 
Of  recollections  richer  than  our  skies 

To  feed  the  flow  of  tuneful  strings, 
Show  but  a  pool  of  sciun  for  shooting  flies. 


dbyGoogle 


ATTEUPTED  IN  THE   QALLIAMBIC  UEASITRE 

At  the  coming  up  of  Phoebus  the  all-luminoua  charioteer, 
Double-visaged  stand  the  mountains  in  Imperial  multitudes, 
And  with  shadows  dappled  men  sing  to  him,  Hail,  0  Beneficent! 
For  they  shudder  chill,  the  earth-vales,  at  his  clouding,  shudder 

to  black ; 
In  the  light  of  him  there  is  music  thro'  the  poplar  and  river- 
sedge. 
Renovation,  chirp  of  brooks,  hum  of  the  forest — an  ocean-song. 
Never  pearl  from  ocean-hollows  by  the  diver  exultiogly. 
In  his  breathlessness,  above  thrust,  is  as  earth  to  Helios. 
Who  usurps  his  place  there,  rashest  ?    Aphrodite's  loved  one 

it  is] 
To  his  son  the  flaming  Sun-God,   to  the  tender  youth, 

Phaethon, 
Rule  of  day  this  day  surrenders  as  a  thing  hereditary. 
Having  sworn  by  Styx  tremendous,  for  the  proof  of  his 

parentage. 
He  would  grant  his  son's  petition,  whatsoever  the  sign  thereof. 
Thea,  rejoiced,  the  stripling  answered :  '  Rule  of  day  give 

me ;  give  it  me, 
'Give  me  place  that  men  may  see  me  bow  I  blaze,  and 

traoscendingly 
'I,  divine,  proclaim  my  birthright.'    Darkened  Helios,  and 

his  utterance 
Choked  prophetic:  '0  half  mortal  I'  he  exclaimed  in  an 

agony, 
'  0  lost  son  of  mine !   lost  son  I    No !    put  a  prayer  for 

another  thing : 
'Not  for  this:  insane  to  wish  it,  and  to  crave  the  ^t 

impious  1 
'Cannot  other  gifts  my  godhead  shed  upon  thee?  miraculous 
'  Mighty  gifts  to  prove  a  blessing,  that  to  earth  thou  shalt  be 

a  joy? 
*  Gifts  of  healing,  wherewith  men  walk  as  the  Gods  beneficently ; 
'  As  a  God  to  sway  to  concord  hearts  of  men,  reconciling  them ; 
'Gifts  of  verse,  the  lyre,  the  laurel,  therewithal  that  thine 

origin 


dbyGoogle 


PHAETHON  313 

'Shall  be  known  even  as  when  /  strike  on  the  string'd  shell 

with  melody, 
'And  the  golden  notes,  like  medicine,  darting  straight  to  the 

cavities, 
'Fill  them  up,  till  hearts  of  men  bound  as  the  billows,  the 

ships  thereon.' 
Thus  intently  urged  the  Sun-God ;  but  the  force  of  his 

eloquence 
Was  the  pressing  on  of  sea-waves  scattered  broad  from  the 

rocks  away. 
What  shall   move  a  soul   from   madness?    Lost,  lost   in 

delirium. 
Rock-fast,  the  adolescent  to  his  father,  irrevereDt, 
'By  the  oath!  the  oath!  thine  oath!'  cried.    The  effidgent 

foreseer  then, 
Quivering  in   his   loins   parental,   on   the   boy's   beaming 

countenance 
Looked  and  moaned,  and  urged  him  for  love's  sake,  for  sweet 

life's  sake,  to  yield  the  claim, 
To  abandon  his  mad  hunger,  and  avert  the  calamity. 
But  he,  vehement,  passionate,  called  out:    'Let  me  show  I 

am  what  I  say, 
"Diat  the  taunts  I  hear  be  silenced :  I  am  stung  with  their 

whispering. 
'Only,  Thou,  my  Father,  Thou  tell  how  aloft  the  revolving 

wheels, 
'  How  aloft  the  cleaving  horse-crests  I  may  guide  peremptorily, 
"Hll  I  drink  the  shadows,  fire-hot,  like  a  flower  celestial, 
'And  my  fellows  see  me  curbing  the  fierce  steeds,  the  dear 

dew-drinkers : 
'  Yea,  for  this  I  gaze  on  life's  light ;  throw  for  this  any  sacrifice.' 

All  the  end  foreseeing,  Phoebus  to  his  oath  irrevocable 

Bowed  obedient,  deploring  the  insanity  pitiless. 

Then  the  fiame-outsnorting  horses  were  led  forth :  it  was  so 

decreed. 
They  were  yoked  before  the  glad  youth  by  his  sister- 

ancillaries. 
Swift  the  ripple  ripples  foilow'd,  as  of  aureate  Helicon, 
Down  their  flanks,  while  they  impatient  pawed  desire  of  the 

distances, 


dbyGoogle 


314  PHAETHON 

And  the  bit  with  fury  champed.  Ob  1  unimaginable  delight  t 
UnimagiDed  speed  and  splendour  in  the  circle  of  upper  air ! 
Glory  grander  than  the  armed  host  upon  earth  singing  victory ! 
Chafed  the  youth  with  their  spirit  sdrcharged,  as  when  blossom 

is  shaken  by  winds, 
Mark«l  that  labour  by  hb  sister  Phaethontiades  finished, 

quick 
On  the  slope  of  the  car  his  forefoot  set  assured:  and  the 

morning  rose : 
Seeing  whom,  and  what  a  day  dawned,  stood  the  God,  as  in 

harvest  fields. 
When  the  reaper  grasps  the  full  sheaf  and  the  sickle  that 

severs  it : 
Hugged  the  withered  head  with  one  hand,  with  the  other,  to 

indicate 
(If  this  woe  might  be  averted,  thb  immeasurable  evil). 
Laid  the  kindling  course  in  view,  told  how  the  reins  to 

manipulate : 
Named  the  horses  fondly,  fearful,  caution 'd  urgently  between- 

whiles: 
Their  diverging  tempers  dwelt  on,  and  their  wantonness, 

wickedness. 
That  the  voice  of  Gods  alone  held  in  restraint;   but  the 

voice  of  Gods ; 
None  but  Gods  can  curb.     He  spake:  vain  were  the  words: 

scarcely  listening. 
Mounted  Phaethon,  swingmg  reins  loose,  and,  'Behold  me, 

companions, 
'  It  is  1  here,  1 1'  he  shouted,  glancing  down  with  supremacy ; 
'  Not  to  any  of  you  was  this  gift  granted  ever  in  annals  of 

men; 
'  1  alone  what  only  Gods  can,  1  alone  am  governing  day  I ' 
Short  the  triumph,  brief  his  rapture:  see  a  hurricane  suddenly 
Beat  the  lifting  billow  crestless,  roll  it  broken  this  way  and 

that  ;— 
At  the  leap  on  yielding  ether,  in  despite  of  bis  reprimand. 
Swayed  tumultuous  the  Sre-steeds,  plunging  reckless  hither 

; Troubled  East:— 
the  charioteer, 
ed  in  his  arid  wits ; 


dbyGoogle 


PHAETHON  315 

The  mns  stiff  ahind  his  shoulder  madly  pulled  for  the  mastery. 
Till  a  thunder  off  the  tense  chords  thro'  his  ears  dinnld 

horrible. 
Panic  seized  him :  fled  his  vision  of  inviolability ; 
Fled  the  dream  that  be  of  mortab  rode  mischances  pre- 
dominant ; 
And  he  cried,  'Had  I  petitioned  for  a  cup  of  chill  aconite, 
'  My  descent  to  awful  Hades  bad  been  soft,  for  now  must  I  go 
'  With  the  curse  by  father  Zeus  cast  on  ambition  immoderate. 
'Oh,  my  sisters  I    TTiou,  my  Goddess,  in  whose  love  I  was 

enviable, 
'  From  whose  arms  I  rushed  befrenzied,  what  a  wreck  will  this 

body  be, 
'That  admired  of  thee  stood  rose-warm  in  the  courts  where 

thy  mysteries 
'  Celebration  had  from  me,  me  the  most  splendidly  privileged ! 
'  Never  more  shall  I  thy  temple  fill  with  incenses  bewildering ; 
'Not    again    hear    thy    half-murmurs — I    am    lost! — never, 

never  more. 
'I  am  wrecked  on  seas  of  air,  hurled  to  my  death  in  a  vessel 

of  flame  I 
'Hither,  sisters!    Father,  save  mel    Hither,  succour  me, 

Cyprial' 

Now  a  wail   of  men   to  Zeus   rang:    from  Olympus  the 

Thunderer 
Saw  the  rage  of  the  havoc  wide-mouthed,  the  bright  car 

superim  pending 
Over  Asia,  ^rica,  low  down ;  ruin  flaming  over  the  vales ; 
Light  disastrous  rising  savage  out  of  smoke  inveterately  ; 
Beast-black,  conflagration  like  a  menacing  shadow  move 
With  voracious  roaring  southward,  where  aslant,  insufferable, 
The  bright  steeds  careered  their  parched  way  down  an  arc  of 

the  firmament. 
For  the  day  grew  Uke  to  thick  night,  and  the  orb  was  its 

beacon-Sre, 
And  from  hill  to  hill  of  darkness  burst  the  day's  apparition 

forth. 
Lo,  a  wrestler,  not  a  God,  stood  in  the  chariot  ever  lowering : 
Lo,  the  shape  of  one  who  raced  there  to  outstrip  the  legitimate 

hours: 


dbyGoogle 


316  PHAETHON 

Lo,  the  rsvish'd  beams  of  Phoebus  dragged  in  shame  at  the 

ch&riot-wheels : 
Light  of  days  of  happy  pipings  by  the  mead-singing  rivulets ! 
Lo,  lo,  increasing  lustre,  torrid  breath  to  the  nostrils;  lo. 
Torrid  brilliancies  thro'  the  vapours  lighten  swifter,  penetrate 

them. 
Fasten  merciless,  ruminant,  hueless,  on  earth's  frame  craclding 

busily. 
He  aloft,  the  freimed  driver,  in  the  glow  of  the  universe. 
Like  the  paling  of  the  dawn-atar  wipers  visibly,  he  aloft : 
Bitter  fury  in  bis  aspect,  bitter  death  in  the  heart  of  him. 
Crouch  the  herds,  contract  the  reptiles,  crouch  the  lions  under 

their  paws. 
White  as  metal  in  the  furnace  are  the  faces  of  humankind : 
Inarticulate  creatures  of  earth  dumb  all  await  the  ultimate 

shock. 
To  the  bolt  he  launched,  'Strike  dead,  thou,'  uttered  Zeus, 

very  terrible ; 
'  Perish  folly,  else  'tis  man's  fate' ;  and  the  bolt  flew  unerringly. 
Then  the  kindler  stooped;  from  the  torch-car  down  the 

measureless  altitudes 
Leaned  his  rayless  head,  relinquished  rein  and  footing,  raised 

not  a  cry. 
Like  the  flower  on  the  river's  siuface  when  expanding  it 

vanishes. 
Gave  his  limbs  to  right  and  left,  quenched :  and  so  fell  he 

precipitate, 
Seen  of  man  as  a  glad  rain-fall,  sending  coolness  yet  ere  it 

comes: 
So  he  showered  above  them,  shadowed  o'er  the  blue  archi- 
pelagoes. 
O'er  the  silken-shining  pastiu-es  of  the  continents  and  the 

isles; 
So  descending  brought  revival  to  the  greenery  of  our  earth. 

Lither,  noisy  in  the  breezes  now  his  sisters  shivering  weep, 
By  the  river  flowing  smooth  out  to  the  vexed  sea  of  Adria, 
Where  he  fell,  and  where  they  suffered  sudden  change  to  the 

tremulous 
Ever-wailful  trees  bemoaning  htm,  a  bruised  purple  cyclamen. 


dbyGoogle 


A  HEADING  OF  EARTH 
SEED-TIME  • 
I 
Flowem  of  Uie  willow-herb  are  wool  ■ 
IWe^  of  the  briar  berries  red  •  ' 

Speeding  their  seed  as  the  breeze  may  rule 
Bower,  ot  the  thistle  loosea  the  th,^      ' 
Flower,  of  the  clematis  drip  i„  bird 
SWk  from  the  fir-tree  younglj  Srf  ■ 
£'•&'•■"'".'««  foliage  sired;        ' 
Heeled  upon  earth,  lie  cluster  rimrf. 

» 
Where  were  skia  ot  the  mantle  stoned 
a»ngeand,ejrlet,.coatoffrie», 
Travel,  from  North  till  day  ha,  waned, 
Tattered,  joaked  in  the  diteh's  dyes; 
rumble,  the  rook  under  grey  or  .lati ; 

amts  me  Life  as  a  wheezy  erone. 

rii 
JowMsems  none  but  the  spider  lord  ■ 
tar  m  circle  hi,  web  waits  prey 
ilvering  bush-mounds,  blue  brushing  sward  ■ 
low  runs  the  hour,  swift  flits  the  ray 
ow  to  this  thrcad-shroud  is  he  nigh 

e  who  frobcked  the  jewelled  fly  ■ 

]  is  adroop  on  the  down  and  the  weald. 

ists  more  lone  for  the  sheep-bell  enwrap 
ghts  that  tardily  let  slip  a  mom 
ler  than  moons,  and  on  noontide's  lap 
ime  die,  cold,  like  the  roM  late  bom. 


dbjGoogle 


SEED-TIME 

Rose  born  late,  bom  withered  in  bud  I — 
I,  even  I,  for  a  zenith  of  sun 
Cry,  to  fulfil  me,  nourish  my  blood : 
O  for  a  day  of  the  long  light,  one ! 


Master  the  blood,  nor  read  by  chills. 
Earth  admonishes :  Hast  thou  ploughed. 
Sown,  reaped,  harvested  grain  for  the  mills, 
Thou  hast  the  tight  over  shadow  of  cloud. 
Steadily  eyeing,  before  that  wail, 
Animal-infant,  thy  mind  began. 
Momently  nearer  me :  should  sight  fail, 
Plod  in  the  track  of  the  husbandman.' 

Verily  now  is  our  season  of  seed. 

Now  in  our  Autumn ;  and  Earth  discerns 

Them  that  have  served  her  in  them  that  can  read, 

Glassing,  where  under  the  surface  she  bums, 

Quick  at  her  wheel,  while  the  fuel,  decay. 

Brightens  the  fire  of  renewal :  and  we  ? 

Death  b  the  word  of  a  bovine  day, 

Know  you  the  breast  of  the  springing  To-be. 


HARD  WEATHER 

Bursts  from  a  rending  East  in  flaws 
The  young  green  leaflet's  harrier,  sworn 
To  strew  the  garden,  strip  the  shaws. 
And  show  our  Spring  with  banner  torn. 
Was  ever  such  virago  mom  ? 
The  wind  has  teeth,  the  wind  has  claws. 


Digitized  byGOOgIC 


HARD  WEATHER 

Is  the  land  ship  f  we  are  rolled,  we  drive 
Tritonly,  deaving  hiss  and  hum ; 
Whirl  with  the  dead,  or  mount  or  dive, 
Or  down  in  dre({s,  or  on  in  scum. 
And  drums  the  distant,  pipes  the  near. 
And  vale  and  hiil  are  grey  in  grey, 
As  when  the  surge  is  crumbling  sheer. 
And  sea-mewa  wing  the  haze  of  spray. 
Clouds — are  they  bony  witches? — swarms, 
vift  on  the  robber's  flight, 
infant  sky  in  arms : 
t  becks ;  'tis  day,  'tis  night, 
le  over  the  loop  of  blue 
le  is  closed,  like  shroud  on  corse, 
wift  the  Furies  flew, 
at  heel  at  a  cry  to  horse  I 

me  the  savage  whirr : 
!^ature  scourged,  or  she, 
ing's  executioner, 
land  to  barren  sea  ? 
re  meaning  in  a  day 
I  fierce  angel  of  the  air, 
throw,  and  haply  slay, 
hat  breath  of  life  we  bear 
wrestle  ?     Call  to  mind 
'  meanings  glistening  up 
ture,  to  her  nurslings  kind, 
;m  the  fruitage  and  the  cup ! 
we  rich  signiflcance 
where  than  with  those  tides 
K  on  the  sunned  expanse, 
w  deludes,  whose  ebb  derides  T 

le  face  of  men  who  fare 

thed,  a  match  in  lungs  and  thews 

erce  angel  of  the  air, 

vith  him  and  take  his  bruise. 

le  face  belov«l  of  old 

young  mother  of  her  brood : 

m  for  us  shows  the  mould 


dbyGoogle 


HARD  WEATHER 

When  muscle  is  in  mind  reDewed : 

Though  farther  from  her  nature  rude, 

Yet  nearer  to  her  spirit's  hold : 

And  though  of  gentler  mood  serene, 

Still  forceful  of  her  fountain-jet. 

So  shall  her  blows  be  shrewdly  met. 

Be  luminously  read  the  scene 

Where  Life  is  at  her  grindstone  set, 

That  she  m^  fivr  iii  rdgning  Ifrrn, 

String  i^jofbattle,  till  as  play 

The  cOffimon^trokes  of  fortune  shower. 

Such  meaning  in  a  dagger-day 

Our  wits  may  clasp  to  wax  in  power. 

Yea,  feel  us  warmer  at  her  breast, 

By  spin  of  blood  in  lusty  driU, 

uhan  when  her  honeyed  hands  caressed, 

knd  Pleasure,  sapping,  seemed  to  fill. 

Behold  the  life  at  ease ;  it  drifts. 
The  sharpened  life  commands'its  course. 
She  winnows,  winnows  roughly ;  sifts, 
To  dip  her  chosen  in  her  sZurce : 
V  Contention  is  the  vital  fo^e, 
Whence  pluck  they  brain',  her  prize  of  gifts, 
Sky  of  the  senses  I  on  which  height. 
Not  disconnected,  yet  released. 
They  see  how  spirit  comes  to  light, 
Through  conquest  of  the  inner  beast, 
Which  Measure  tames  to  movement  sane. 
In  harmony  with  what  is  fair. 
>  Never  is  Earth'misread  by  brain : 
1  Thtitirtte  wfeHtng^Ther,"  there 
Irhe  mirror :  with  one  step  beyond,  - 
/For  likewise  is  it  voice ;  and  more, 
/  Benignest  kinship  bids  respond, 
J     When  wail  the  weak,  and  them  restore 
/      Whom  days  as  fell  as  this  may  rive, 
(      While  Earth  sits  ebon  in  her  gloom, 
I     Us  atomies  of  life  alive 
/     Unheeding,  bent  on  lite  to  come. 
* —  Her  childi«a  of  the  labouring  brain. 


dbyGoogle 


THE  SOUTH-WESTER 

These  are  the  champions  of  the  race. 
True  parents,  and  the  sole  humane,       ^ 
With  rniderstanding  for  their  base.         ' 
Earth  yields  the  milk,  but  all  her  mind 
Is  vowed  to  thresh  for  stouter  stock. 
Her  paasion  for  old  giantkind, 
That  scaled  the  mount,  uphurled  the  rock. 
Devolves  oc  them  who  read  aright 
Her  meaning  and  devoutly  serve ; 
Nor  in  her  starlessness  of  night 
Peruse  her  with  the  craven  nerve : 
But  even  as  she  from  grass  to  com. 
To  eagle  high  from  grubbing  mole. 
Prove  in  strong  brain  her  noblest  bom, 
The  station  for  the  flight  of  soul. 


THE  SOUTH-WESTER  • 

Da.t  of  the  doud  in  fleets !    O  day 

Of  wedded  white  and  blue,  that  sail 

Immingled,  with  a  footing  ray 

In  shadow-sandals  down  our  vale ! — 

And  swift  to  ravish  golden  meads, 

Swift  up  the  run  of  tiurf  it  speeds. 

Thy  bright  of  head  and  dark  of  heel, 

To  where  the  hilltop  flings  on  sky, 

As  hawk  from  wrist  or  dust  from  wheel. 

The  tiptoe  scalers  tossed  to  fly : — 

Thee  tiie  last  thunder's  caverned  peal 

Delivered  from  a  wailful  night : 

All  dusky  round  thy  cradled  light, 

Those  brine-bom  issues,  now  in  bloom 

Transfigured,  wreathed  as  raven's  plume 

And  briony-leaf  to  watch  thee  lie : 

Dark  eyebrows  o'er  a  dreamful  eye 

Nigh  opening :  till  in  the  braid 

Of  purpled  vapours  thou  wert  rosed : 

Till  that  new  babe  a  Goddess  maid 

Appeared  and  vividly  disclosed 

Her  beat  of  life :  then  crimson  played 


dbyGoogle 


THE  SOUTH-WESTER 

On  edges  of  the  plume  and  leaf : 

Shape  had  they  and  fair  feature  brief, 

The  wings,  the  smiles :  they  flew  the  breast* 

Earth's  milk.    But  what  imperial  march 

Their  standards  led  for  earth,  none  guessed 

Ere,  upward  of  a  coloured  arch. 

An  arrow  straining  eager  head 

Lightened,  and  high  for  zenith  sped. 

Fierier  followed ;  followed  Fire. 

Name  the  young  lord  of  Earth's  desire. 

Whose  look  her  wine  is,  and  whose  mouth 

Her  music  I    Beauteous  was  she  seen 

Beneath  her  midway  West  of  South ; 

And  sister  was  her  quivered  green 

To  sapphire  of  the  Nereid  eyes 

On  sea  when  sun  is  breeze ;  she  winked 

As  they,  and  waved,  heaved  waterwise 

Her  flood  of  leaves  and  grasses  linked : 

A  myriad  lustrous  butterflies 

A  moment  in  the  fluttering  sheen ;, 

Becapped  with  the  slate  air  that  throws 

The  reindeer's  antlers  black  between 

Low-frowning  and  wide-fallen  snows, 

A  minute  after ;  hooded,  stoled 

To  suit  a  graveside  Season's  dirge. 

Lo,  but  the  breaking  of  a  surge, 

And  she  b  in  her  lover's  fold. 

Illumined  o'er  a  boundless  range 

Anew :  and  through  quick  morning  hours 

The  Tropic-Arctic  counterchange 

Did  seem  to  pant  in  beams  and  showers. 

But  noon  beheld  a  larger  heaven ; 
Beheld  on  our  reflecting  field 
The  Sower  to  the  Bearer  given. 
And  both  their  inner  sweetest  yield. 
Fresh  as  when  dews  were  grey  or  first 
Received  the  flush  of  hues  athirst. 
Heard  we  the  woodland,  eyeing  sun, 
As  harp  and  harper  were  they  one. 
A  murky  cloud  a  fair  pursued, 


dbyGoogle 


THE  SOUTH-WESTER  ; 

Assailed,  and  felt  the  limbs  elude : 

He  sat  him  down  to  pipe  his  woe. 

And  some  strange  b^t  of  sky  became : 

A  giant's  club  withheld  the  blow ; 

A  milky  cloud  went  all  to  flame. 

And  there  were  groups  where  silvery  springs 

The  ethereal  forest  showed  begirt 

By  companies  in  choric  rings, 

Whom  but  to  see  made  ear  alert. 

For  music  did  each  movement  rouse, 

And  motion  was  a  minstrel's  rage 

To  have  our  spirits  out  of  house, 

And  bathe  them  on  the  open  page. 

This  was  a  day  that  knew  not  age. 

Since  flew  the  vapoury  twos  and  threes 

From  western  pile  to  eastern  rack ; 

As  on  from  peaks  of  Pyrenees 

To  Groans ;  youngness  ruled  the  track. 

When  songful  beams  were  shut  in  eaves, 

And  rainy  drapery  swept  across  ; 

When  the  ranked  clouds  were  downy  waves, 

Breast  of  swan,  eagle,  albatross. 

In  ordered  lines  to  screen  the  blue. 

Youngest  of  light  was  nigh,  we  knew. 

The  silver  finger  of  it  laughed 

Along  the  narrow  rift :  it  shot. 

Slew  the  huge  gloom  with  golden  shaft, 

Then  haled  on  high  the  volumed  blot, 

To  build  the  hurling  palace,  cleave 

The  dazzling  chasm ;  the  flying  nests. 

The  many  glory-garlands  weave. 

Whose  presence  not  our  sight  attests 

Till  wonder  with  the  splendour  blent, 

And  passion  for  the  beauty  flown. 

Make  evanescence  permanent, 

The  thing  at  heart  our  endless  own. 

Only  at  gathered  eve  knew  we 
The  marvels  of  the  day  :  for  then 
Mount  upon  mountain  out  of  sea 
Arose,  and  to  our  spacious  ken 


dbyGoogle 


DioilizedbjGOOgle 


NIGHT  OF  FROST  IN  MAY 

The  black  twig  dropped  without  a  twirl ; 
The  bud  in  jewelled  grasp  was  nipped ; 
The  brown  leaf  cracked  a  scorching  curl ; 
A  crystal  off  the  green  leaf  slipped. 
Across  the  tracks  of  rimy  tan. 
Some  busy  thread  at  whiles  would  shoot; 
A  limping  minnow-rillet  ran. 
To  hang  upon  an  icy  foot. 

In  this  shrill  hush  of  quietude. 
The  ear  conceived  a  severing  cry.' 
Almost  it  let  the  sound  elude. 
When  chuckles  three,  a  warble  shy. 
From  hazels  of  the  garden  came. 
Near  by  the  cnmson-windowed  farm. 
They  laid  the  trance  on  breath  and  frame, 
A  prelude  of  the  passion-charm. 

Then  soon  was  heard,  not  sooner  heard 
Than  answered,  doubled,  trebled,  more. 
Voice  of  an  Eden  in  the  bird 
Renewing  with  his  pipe  of  four 
The  sob :  a  troubled  Eden,  rich 
In  throb  of  heart :  unnumbered  throats 
Flung  upward  at  a  fountain's  pitch 
The  fervour  of  the  four  long  notes, 
That  on  the  fountain's  pool  subside. 
Exult  and  ruffle  and  upspring : 
Endless  the  crossing  multiplied 
Of  silver  and  of  golden  string. 
There  chimed  a  bubbled  underbrew 
.  With  witch-wild  spray  of  vocal  dew. 

It  seemed  a  single  harper  swept 
Our  wild  wood's  inner  chords  and  waked 
A  spirit  that  for  yearning  ached 
Ere  men  desired  and  joyed  or  wept. 
Or  now  a  legion  ravishing 
Musician  rivals  did  unite 
In  love  of  sweetness  high  to  sing 
~  The  subtle  song  that  rivals  light ; 


edbyGOOgle 


NIGHT  OP  FROST  IN  MAY 

From  breast  of  earth  to  breast  of  sky : 
And  they  were  secret,  they  were  nigh : 
A  hand  the  magic  might  dbperse ; 
The  magic  swung  my  universe. 

Yet  sharpened  breath  forbade  to  dream, 

Where  all  was  visionary  gleam ; 

Where  Seasons,  as  with  cymbals,  clashed ; 

And  feelings,  passing  joy  and  woe, 

Chm^ed,  gurgled,  spouted,  interflashed. 

Nor  either  was  the  one  we  know : 

Nor  pregnant  of  the  heart  contained 

In  us  were  they,  that  griefless  plained, 

That  plaining  soared ;  and  through  the  heart 

Struck  to  one  note  the  wide  apart  i — 

A  passion  surgent  from  despair; 

A  paining  bliss  in  fervid  cold ; 

Off  the  last  vital  edge  of  air. 

Leap  heavenward  of  the  lofty-souled, 

For  rapture  of  a  wine  of  tears ; 

As  had  a  star  among  the  spheres 

Caught  up  our  earth  to  some  mid-height 

Of  double  life  to  ear  and  sight. 

She  giving  voice  to  thought  that  shines 

Keen-brilliant  of  her  deepest  mines ; 

While  steely  drijjs  the  rillet  clinked, 

And  hoar  with  crust  the  cowslip  swelled. 

Then  was  the  lyre  of  earth  beheld. 
Then  heard  by  me :  it  holds  me  linked ; 
Across  the  years  to  dead-ebb  shores 
I  stand  on,  my  blood-thrill  restores. 
But  would  I  conjure  into  me 
Those  issue  notes,  I  must  review 
What  serious  breath  the  woodland  drew ; 
The  low  throb  of  expectancy ; 
How  the  white  mother-muteness  pressed 
On  leaf  and  meadow-herb ;  how  shook. 
Nigh  speech  of  mouth,  the  sparkle-crest 
Seen  spinning  on  the  bracken-crook. 


dbyGoogle 


THE  THRUSH  IN  FEBRUARY  • 

I  SNOW  him,  February's  thrush, 

And  loud  &t  eve  he  v&lentines 

On  sprays  that  paw  the  naked  bush 

Where  soon  will  sprout  the  thorns  and  binea. 

Now  ere  the  foreign  singer  thrilb 
Our  vale  his  plain-song  pipe  he  pours, 
A  herald  of  the  million  bills ; 
And  heed  him  not,  the  loss  is  yours. 

My  study,  flanked  with  ivied  fir 

And  budded  beech  with  dry  leaves  curled. 

Perched  over  yew  and  juniper, 

He  neighbours,  piping  to  his  world : — 

The  wooded  pathways  dank  on  brown. 
The  branches  on  grey  cloud  a  web. 
The  long  green  roller  of  the  down. 
An  image  of  the  deluge-ebb  : — 

And  farther,  they  may  hear  along 
The  stream  beneath  the  poplar  row. 
By  fits,  like  welling  rocka,  Uie  song 
Spouts  of  a  blushful  Spring  in  flow. 

But  most  he  loves  to  front  the  vale 
When  waves  of  warm  South-western  raina 
Have  left  our  heavens  clear  in  pale. 
With  faintest  beck  of  moist  red  veins : 

Vermilion  wings,  by  distance  held 
To  pause  aflight  white  fleeting  swift : 
And  high  aloft  the  pearl  inshelied  ' 
Her  lucid  glow  in  glow  will  lift ; 

A  little  south  of  coloured  sky ; 
Directing,  gravely  amorous. 
The  human  of  a  tender  eye 
Through  pure  celestial  on  us : 


dbyGoogle 


THE  THRUSH  IN  FEBRUARY 

R«iDote,  not  alien ;  still,  not  cold ; 
Unraying  yet,  more  pearl  than  star ; 
She  seems  a  while  the  vale  to  hold 
In  trance,  and  homelier  makes  the  far. 

Then  Earth  her  sweet  unscented  breathes ; 
An  orb  of  lustre  quits  the  height ; 
And  like  broad  iris-flags,  in  wreaths 
The  sky  takes  darkness,  long  ere  quite. 

Hb '  Island  voice  then  shall  you  hear, 
Nor  ever  after  separate 
From  such  a  twilight  of  the  year 
Advancing  to  the  vernal  gate. 

He  sings  me,  out  of  Winter's  throat. 
The  young  time  with  the  life  ahead ; 
And  my  young  time  his  leaping  note 
Recalls  to  spirit-mirth  from  dead. 

Imbedded  in  a  land  of  greed, 
Of  mammon-quakings  dire  as  Earth's, 
My  care  was  but  to  soothe  my  need  ; 
At  peace  among  the  tittle  worths. 

To  light  and  song  my  yearning  aimed ; 
To  that  deep  breast  of  song  and  light  * 
Which  men  have  barrenest  proclaimed ; 
As  'tis  to  senses  pricked  with  fright. 

So  mine  are  these  new  fruitings  rich 
The  simple  to  the  common  brings ; 
I  keep  the  youth  of  souls  who  pitch 
Ti,-;-  .•„.. ;»  *u:„  „i  j  i—art  of  things : 

oung  as  aye, 
Txiund  we  plough ; 
die; 
needling  Now. 

though  he, 
:ing  too, 


dbyGoogle 


THE  THRUSH  IN  FEBRUARY 

With  that  I  bear  my  senses  fraught 
Till  what  I  am  fast  shoreward  drives. 
They  are  the  vessel  of  the  Thought. 
The  vessel  splits,  the  Thought  survives. 

Nought  else  are  we  when  sailing  hrave. 
Save  husks  to  raise  and  bid  it  bum. 
Glimpse  of  its  Uvingness  will  wave 
A  light  the  senses  can  discern 

Across  the  river  of  the  death. 
Their  close.    Meanwhile,  O  twilight  bird 
Of  promise !  bird  of  happy  breath  I 
I  hear,  I  would  the  City  heard. 

The  City  of  the  smoky  fray ; 
A  prodded  ox,  it  drags  and  moans: 
Its  Morrow  no  man's  child ;  its  Day 
A  vulture's  morsel  beaked  to  bones. 

It  strives  without  a  mark  for  strife ; 
It  feasts  beside  a  famished  bost : 
The  loose  restraint  of  wanton  life. 
That  threatened  penance  in  the  ghost ! 

Yet  there  our  battle  urges ;  there 
_  Spring  heroes  many :  issuing  thence, 
Names  that  should  leave  no  vacant  air 
For  fresh  delight  in  confidence. 

Ijfe  was  to  them  the  hag  of  grain. 
And  Death  the  weedy  harrow's  tooth. 
Those  warriors  of  the  sighting  brain 
Give  worn  Humanity  new  youth. 

Our  song  and  star  are  they  to  lead 
The  tidal  multitude  and  blind 
From  bestial  to  the  higher  breed 
By  lighting  souls  of  love  divined. 

They  scorned  the  ventral  dream  of  peace. 
Unknown  in  nature.     This  they  knew  : 
That  life  begets  with  fair  increase 
Beyond  the  flesh,  if  life  be  true. 


dbyGoogle 


THE  THRUSH  IN  FEBRUARY 

Just  reason  based  on  valiant  blood 
The  instinct  bred  afield  would  match 
To  pipe  thereof  a  swelling  flood, 
Were  men  of  Earth  made  wise  in  watch.* 

Though  now  the  numbers  count  as  drops 
An  um  might  bear,  they  father  Time.' 
She  shapes  anew  her  dusty  crops ; 
Her  quick  in  their  own  likeness  climb. 

pf  their  own  force  do  they  create; 
They  climb  to  light,  in  her  their  root. 
Your  brutish  cry  at  muffled  fate 
She  smites  with  pangs  of  worse  than  brute. 

She,  judged  of  shrinking  nerves,  appears 
A  Mother  whom  no  cry  can  melt ; 
But  read  her  past  desires  and  fears, 
The  letters  on  her  breast  are  spelt. 

A  slayer,  yea,  as  when  she  pressed 
Her  savage  to  the  slaughter-heaps. 
To  sacrifice  she  prompts  her  best : 
She  reaps  them  as  the  sower  reaps. 

But  read  her  thought  to  speed  the  race. 
And  stars  rush  forth  of  blackest  night : 
You  chill  not  at  a  cold  embrace 
.  To  come,  nor  dread  a  dubious  might. 

Her  double  visage,  double  voice. 
In  oneness  rise  to  quench  the  doubt. 
This  breath,  her  gift,  has  only  choice 
Of  service,  breathe  we  in  or  out. 

Since  Pain  and  Pleasure  on  each  hand 
Led  our  wild  steps  from  slimy  rock 
To  yonder  sweeps  of  gardenland, 
We  breathe  but  to  be  sword  or  block,* 

The  sighting  brun  her  good  decree 
Accepts ;  obeys  those  guides,  in  faith, 
By  reason  hourly  fed,  that  she. 
To  some  the  clod,  to  some  the  wraith. 


Digitized  byGOOgle 


THE  THRUSH  IN  FEBRUARY 

Is  more,  do  mask;  a  flame,  a  stream. 
Flame,  stream,  are  we,  in  mid  career 
From  torrent  source,  delirious  dream,  i 
To  heaven-reflecting  currents  clear. 

And  why  the  sods  of  Strength  have  been 
Her  cherished  offspring  ever ;  how 
The  Spirit  served  by  her  is  seen 
Through  Law ;  perusing  love  wilt  show. 

Love  bom  of  knowledge,  love  that  gains 
Vitality  as  Earth  it  mates. 
The  meaning  of  the  Pleasures,  Fains, 
The  Life,  the  Death,  illuminates. 

For  love  we  Earth,  then  serve  we  all ; 
Her  mystic  secret  then  is  ours : 
We  fall,  or  view  our  treasures  fall, 
Unclouded,  as  beholds  her  flowers 

Earth,  from  a  night  of  frosty  wreck. 
Enrobed  in  morning's  mounted  fire. 
When  lowly,  with  a  broken  neck, 
V-  The  crocus  lays  her  cheek  to  mire. 


THE  APPEASEMENT  OF  DEMETER  • 


Demetes  devastated  our  good  land. 
In  blackness  for  her  daughter  snatched  below. 
Smoke-pillar  or  loose  hillock  was  the  sand. 
Where  soil  had  been  to  clasp  warm  seed  and  throw 
'  The  wheat,  vine,  olive,  ripe  to  Summer's  ray. 
Now  whether  night  advancing,  whether  day. 
Scarce  did  the  baklness  show : 
The  hand  of  man  was  a  defeated  hand. 


dbyGoogle 


THE  APPEASEMENT  OF  DEMETER 


Necessity,  the  primal  goad  to  growth. 
Stood  shrunken ;  Youth  and  Age  appeared  as  one; 
Like  Winter  Summer ;  good  as  labour  sloth ; 
Nor  was  there  answer  wherefore  beamed  the  sun. 
Or  why  men  drew  the  breath  to  carry  pain. 
High  reared  the  ploughshare,  broken  lay  the  wain. 

Idly  the  flox-wheel  spun 
Unridered :  starving  lords  were  wasp  and  moth. 


Lean  grassblades  losing  green  on  their  bent  flags. 

Sang  chilly  to  themselves;  lone  honey-bees 

Pursued  the  flowers  that  were  not  with  dry  bags ; 

Sole  sound  aloud  the  snap  of  sapless  trees. 

More  sharp  than  slingstones  on  hard  breastplates  hurled. 

Back  to  first  chaos  tumbled  the  stopped  world. 

Careless  to  lure  or  please. 
A  nature  of  gaunt  ribs,  an  Earth  of  crags. 


No  smile  Demeter  cast :  the  gloom  she  saw 
Well  draped  her  direful  musing;  for  in  gloom, 
In  thicker  gloom,  deep  down  the  cavem-maw. 
Her  sweet  had  vanished ;  liker  unto  whom, 
And  whose  pale  place  of  habitation  mute, 
She  and  all  seemed  where  seasons,  pledged  for  fruit 

Anciently,  gaped  for  bloom : 
Where  hand  of  man  was  as  a  plucked  fowl's  claw. 


ided  on  a  vale, 
for  richness  heaved. 

y  tale, 

}d-cheeked,  green-leaved. 

lad  withdrawn, 
her  jests  were  gone. 

r  her  who  grieved, 

me  have  piped  the  wail. 


dbyGoogle 


THE  APPEASEMENT  OF  DEMETER 


lambe,  her  dear  mountaiD-rivulet 

To  waken  laughter  from  cold  stones,  beheld 

A  riven  wheatfield  cracking  for  the  wet. 

And  seed  like  infant's  teeth,  that  never  swelled, 

Apeep  up  flinty  ridges,  milkless  round. 

Teeth  of  the  giants  marked  she  where  thin  ground 

Rocky  in  spikes  rebelled 
Against  the  hand  here  slack  as  rotted  net. 


The  valley  people  up  the  ashen  scoop 

She  beckoned,  aiming  hopelessly  to  win 

Her  Mistress  in  compassion  of  yon  group 

So  pinched  and  wizened ;  with  their  aged  grin. 

For  lack  of  warmth  to  smile,  on  mouths  of  woe. 

White  as  in  chalk  outhning  little  O 

Dumb,  from  a  falling  chin ; 
Young,  old,  alike  half-bent  to  make  the  hoop. 


Their  tongues  of  birds  they  wagged,  weak-voiced  as  when 

Dark  underwaters  the  recesses  choke ; 

With  cluck  and  upper  quiver  of  a  hen 

In  grasp,  past  pecking ;  cry  before  the  croak. 

Relentlessly  their  gold-haired  Heaven,  their  fount 

Bountiful  of  old  days,  heard  them  recount 

This  and  that  cruel  stroke : 
Nor  eye  nor  ear  had  she  for  piteous  men. 


A  figure  of  black  rock  by  sunbeams  crowned 

Through  stormclouds,  where  the  volumed  shades  enfold 

An  earth  in  awe  before  the  claps  resound 

And  woods  and  dwellings  are  as  billows  rolled, 

The  barren  Nourisher  unmelted  shed 

Death  from  the  looks  that  wandered  with  the  dead 

Out  of  the  realms  of  gold, 
In  famine  for  her  lost,  her  lost  unfound. 


dbyGoogle 


She  laughed :  since  our  first  harvesting  heard  none 
Like  thunder  of  the  song  of  heart :  her  face. 
The  dreadful  darkness,  shook  to  mounted  sun. 
And  peal  on  peal  across  the  hills  held  chase. 
She  laughed  herself  to  water ;  laughed  to  fire ; 
laughed  the  torrential  laugh  of  dam  and  sire 

Full  of  the  marrowy  race. 
Her  laughter,  Gods !  was  flesh  on  skeleton. 


dbyGoogle 


THE  APPEASEMENT  OF  DEMETER 


The  valley  people  huddled,  broke,  afrwd. 

Assured,  and  taking  lightning  in  the  veins 

They  puffed,  they  leaped,  linked  hands,  together  swayed. 

Unwitting  happiness  till  golden  rains 

Of  tears  in  laughter,  laughter  weeping,  smote 

Knowledge  of  milky  mercy  from  that  throat 

Pouring  to  heal  their  pains : 
And  one  bold  youth  set  mouth  at  a  shy  maid. 


lambe  clapped  to  see  the  kindly  lusts 
Inspire  the  valley  people,  still  on  seas, 
Like  poplar-tops  relieved  from  stress  of  gusts, 
With  rapture  in  their  wonderment ;  but  these, 
Low  homage  being  rendered,  ran  to  plough, 
Fed  by  the  laugh,  as  by  the  mother  cow 

Calves  at  the  teats  they  tease : 
Soon  drove  they  through  the  yielding  furrow-crusts. 


Uprose  the  blade  in  green,  the  leaf  in  red, 

The  tree  of  water  and  the  tree  of  wood  : 

And  soon  among  the  branches  overhead 

Gave  beauty  juicy  issue  sweet  for  food. 

O  Laughter  I  beauty  plumped  and  love  had  birth. 

Laughter  1  O  thou  reviver  of  sick  Earth  I 

Good  for  the  spirit,  good 
For  body,  thou !  to  both  art  wine  and  bread  I 


EARTH  AND  A  WEDDED  WOMAN  • 


The  shepherd,  with  his  eye  on  hazy  South, 
Has  told  of  rain  upon  the  fall  of  day. 
But  promise  is  there  none  for  Susan's  drouth. 
That  he  will  come,  who  keeps  m  dry  delay. 


dbyGoogle 


EARTH  AND  A  WEDDED  WOMAN 

The  freshest  of  the  village  three  years  gone, 

She  hangs  as  the  white  field-rose  hangs  short-lived ; 

And  she  and  Earth  are  one 

In  withering  unrevived. 
Rain !    O  the  glad  refresher  of  the  grain  I 
And  welcome  waterspouts,  had  we  sweet  rain  1 


Ah,  what  is  Marriage,  sajs  each  pouting  maid. 
When  she  who  wedded  with  the  soldier  hides 
At  home  as  good  as  widowed  in  the  shade, 
A  lighthouse  to  the  girls  that  would  be  brides : 
Nor  dares  to  give  a.  lad  an  ogle,  nor 
To  dream  of  dancing,  but  must  hang  and  moan. 

Her  husband  in  the  war. 

And  she  to  lie  alone. 
Rain !    O  the  glad  refresher  of  the  grain ! 
And  welcome  waterspouts,  had  we  sweet  rain ! 

in 
They  have  not  known ;  they  are  not  in  the  stream ; 
Light  as  the  flying  seed-ball  is  their  play, 
The  silly  maids !  and  happy  souls  they  seem ; 
Yet  Grief  would  not  change  fates  with  such  as  they. 
They  have  not  struck  the  roots  which  meet  the  fires 
Beneath,  and  bind  us  fast  with  Earth,  to  know 

The  strength  of  her  desires, 

The  sternness  of  her  woe. 
Rain !    0  the  glad  refresher  of  the  grain  I 
And  welcome  waterspouts,  had  we  sweet  rain! 

IV 

Now,  shepherd,  see  thy  word,  where  without  shower 
A  borderless  low  blotting  Westward  spreads. 
The  hall-clock  holds  the  valley  on  the  hour ; 
Across  an  inner  chamber  thunder  treads : 
The  dead  leaf  trips,  the  tree-top  swings,  the  floor 
Of  dust  whirls,  dropping  lumped :  near  thunder  speaks. 
And  drives  the  dames  to  door. 
Their  kerchiefs  flapped  at  cheeks. 
Rain !    O  the  glad  refresher  of  the  grain ! 
And  welcome  waterspouts  of  blessed  rain  I 


dbyGoogle 


EARTH  AND  A  WEDDED  WOMAN 


Through  night,  with  bedroom  window  wide  for  air. 
Lay  Susan  tranced  to  hear  all  heaven  deticend : 
And  gurgling  voices  came  of  Earth,  and  rare, 
Past  8owerful,  breathings,  deeper  than  life's  end. 
From  her  heaved  breast  of  sacred  common  mould ; 
Whereby  this  lone-laid  wife  was  moved  to  feel 

Unworded  things  and  old 

To  her  pained  heart  appeal. 
Rain  I     0  the  glad  refresher  of  the  grain  I 
And  down  in  deluges  of  blessed  rain  I 

VI 

At  mom  she  stood  to  live  for  ear  and  sight, 

Love  sky  or  cloud,  or  rose  or  grasses  drenched. 

A  lureful  devil,  that  in  glow>worm  light 

Set  languor  writhing  all  its  folds,  she  quenched. 

But  she  would  muse  when  neighbours  praised  her  face. 

Her  services,  and  staunchness  to  her  mate : 

Knowing  by  some  dim  trace. 

The  change  might  bear  a  date. 
Rain !    O  the  glad  refresher  of  the  grain ! 
Thrice  beauteous  b  our  sunshine  after  rain  I 


MOTHER  TO  BABE  * 


Fleck  of  sky  you  are. 
Dropped  through  branches  dark, 

O  my  little  one,  mine ! 
Promise  of  the  star, 
Outpour  of  the  lark ; 

Beam  and  song  divine. 
u 
See  this  precious  gift. 
Steeping  in  new  birth 

All  my  being,  for  sign 
Earth  to  heaven  can  lift. 
Heaven  descend  on  earth. 

Both  in  one  be  mine  I 


dbyGoogle 


WOODLAND  PEACE 


Life  ID  light  you  glass* 
When  you  peep  and  coo. 

You,  my  little  one,  mine ! 
Brooklet  chirps  to  grass, 
Daisy  looks  in  dew 

Up  to  dear  sunshine. 

WOODLAND  PEACE 

Sweet  as  Eden  is  the  air, 

And  Eden-sweet  the  ray. 
No  Paradise  is  lost  for  them 
Who  foot  by  branching  root  and  stem. 
And  lightly  with  the  woodland  share 
The  change  of  night  and  day. 

Here  all  say. 
We  serve  her,  even  as  I : 
We  brood,  we  strive  to  sky,t 
We  gaze  upon  decay. 
We  wot  of  life  through  death. 
How  each  feeds  each  we  spy ; 
And  is  a  tangle  round. 
Are  patient ;  what  is  dumb 
We  question  not,  nor  ask 
The  silent  to  give  sound. 
The  hidden  to  unmask, 
The  distant  to  draw  near. 
And  this  the  woodland  saith : 
I  know  not  hope  or  fear ; 
I  take  whate'er  may  come ; 
I  raise  my  head  to  aspects  fair, 
From  foul  I  turn  away. 

Sweet  as  Eden  is  the  air, 
And  Eden-sweet  the  ray. 

a  the  orlgtnal  venlini  these  three  line*  ran  thus: — 
Here  all  thlngB  say 
'  Wa  know  Dot,'  even  aa  I. 
'  We  brocxl,  wo  Mflve  U)  «hy.'  etc 


dbjGoogle 


THE  QUESTION  WHITHER  • 


When  we  have  thrown  off  this  old  suit. 

So  much  in  need  of  mending, 
To  «nk  among  the  naked  mute, 

la  that,  think  you,  our  ending  ? 
We  follow  many,  more  we  lead, 

And  you  who  sadly  turf  us, 
Believe  not  that  all  living  seed 

Must  flower  above  the  surface. 


Sensation  is  a  gracious  gift, 

But  were  it  cramped  to  station, 
The  prayer  to  have  it  cast  adrift 

Would  spout  from  all  sensation.' 
Enough  if  we  have  winked  to  sun. 

Have  sped  the  plough  a  season; 
There  is  a  soul  for  labour  done, 

Endureth  fixed  as  reason. 


Then  let  our  trust  be  firm  in  Good, 

Though  we  be  of  the  fasting ; 
Our  questions  are  a  mortal  brood. 

Our  work  ia  everlasting. 
We  children  of  Beneficence 

Are  in  its  being  sharers ; 
And  Whhher  vainer  sounds  than  Whence, 

For  word  with  such  wayfarers. 


OUTER  AND  INNER 


From  twig  to  twig  the  spider  weaves 
At  noon  his  webbing  fine. 

So  near  to  mute  the  lephyrs  flute 
That  only  leaflets  dance. 


dbyGoogle 


OUTER  AND  INNER 

The  sun  draws  out  of  hazel  leaves 
A  smell  of  woodland  wine. 

I  wake  a  swarm  to  sudden  stonn 
At  any  step's  advance. 


Along  my  path  is  bugloss  blue, 

The  star  with  fruit  in  moss ; 
The  foxgloves  drop  from  throat  to  top 

A  daily  lesser  bell. 
The  blackest  shadow,  nurse  of  dew. 

Has  orange  skeins  across ; 
And  keenly  red  is  one  thin  thread 

That  flashing  seems  to  swell. 


My  world  I  note  ere  fancy  comes. 

Minutest  hushed  observe : 
What  busy  bits  of  motioned  wits 

Through  antlered  mosswork  strive. 
But  now  so  low  the  stillness  hums, 

My  springs  of  seeing  swerve. 
For  half  a  wink  to  thrill  and  think 

The  woods  with  nymphs  alive. 


I  neighbour  the  invisible 

So  close  that  my  consent 
Is  only  asked  for  spirits  masked 

To  leap  from  trees  and  flowers. 
And  this  because  with  them  I  dwell 

In  thought,  while  calmly  bent 
To  read  the  lines  dear  Earth  designs 

Shall  speak  her  life  on  ours. 


Accept,  she  says ;  it  is  not  hard 
In  woods :  but  she  in  towns 

Repeats,  accept ;  and  have  we  wept. 
And  have  we  quailed  with  fears. 


dbyGoogle 


NATURE  AND  LIFE 

Or  shrunk  with  horrors,  sure  reward 
We  have  whom  knowledge  crowns ; 

Who  see  in  mould  the  rose  unfold, 
The  soul  through  blood  and  tears. 


NATURE  AND  LIFE  • 


Leave  the  uproar:  at  a  leap 
Thou  shalt  strike  &  woodland  path. 
Enter  silence,  not  of  sleep. 
Under  shadows,  not  of  wrath ; 
Breath  which  is  the  spirit's  bath 
In  the  old  Beginnings  find. 
And  endow  them  with  a  mind. 
Seed  for  seedling,  swathe  for  swathe. 
That  gives  Nature  to  us,  this 
Give  we  her,  and  so  we  kiss. 

It 

Fruitful  is  it  so :  but  hear 
How  within  the  shell  thou  art. 
Music  sounds ;  nor  other  near 
Can  to  such  a  tremor  start. 
Of  the  waves  our  life  is  part ; 
They  our  running  harvests  bear: 
Back  to  them  for  manful  air. 
Laden  with  the  woodland's  heart  I 
That  gives  Battle  to  us,  this     - 
Give  we  it,  and  good  the  kiss. 


DIRGE  IN  WOODS 

A  WIND  sways  the  pines, 

And  below 
Not  a  breath  of  wild  air; 
Still  as  the  mosses  that  glow 
On  the  flooring  and  over  the  lines 
Of  the  roots  here  and  there. 


dbyGoogle 


I  have  made  my  choice  to  proceed 
By  the  light  I  have  within ; 
And  the  issue  rests  with  me. 
Who  might  sleep  in  a  chrysalis. 
In  the  fold  of  a  simple  prayer. 
Between  the  two  twilights. 


dbyGoogle 


IN  THE  Woods 

Flying  safe  from  even  to  mora : 
Not  stumbling  abroad  in  air 
That  shudders  to  touch  and  to  kiaa. 
And  is  luifratemal  and  thin : 
Self-hunted  in  it,  forlorn. 
Unloved,  unresting,  bare. 

Between  the  two  twilights : 
Having  nought  but  the  light  in  me, 
Which  I  take  for  my  soul  in  arms. 
Resolved  to  go  unto  the  wells 
For  water,  rejecting  spells, 
And  mouthings  of  magic  for  charms, 
And  the  cup  that  does  not  flow. 
I  am  in  deep  woods 

Between  the  two  twilights : 
Over  valley  and  hill 
I  bear  the  woodland  wave, 
Like  the  voice  of  T^me,  as  slow. 
The  voice  of  Life,  aa  grave. 
The  voice  of  Death,  as  still. 


Take  up  thy  aong  from  woods  and  fields 
Whilst  thou  hast  heart,  and  living  yields 

Delight :  let  that  expire — 
Let  thy  delight  in  living  die. 
Take  Utou  thy  song  from  star  and  sky. 

And  join  the  silent  quire. 

IV 

With  the  butterfly  roaming  abroad 

On  the  sunny  March  day. 
The  pine-cones  opened  and  blew 
Winged  seeds,  and  aloft  they  flew 
Butterfly-like  in  the  ray. 

And  hung  to  the  breeze : 
Spinning  they  fell  to  the  sod. 

Ask  you  my  rhyme 

Which  shall  be  trees? 

They  have  had  their  time. 


dbyGoogle 


IN  THE  WOODS 


I  know  that  since  the  hour  of  birth. 
Rooted  in  earth, 
I  have  looked  above. 
In  joy  and  in  grief. 
With  eyes  of  belief. 

For  love, 
A  mother  trains  us  so. 
But  the  love  I  saw  was  a  fitful  thing; 
I  looked  on  the  sun 
That  clouds  or  is  blinding  aglow : 
And  the  love  around  had  more  of  wing 
Than  substance,  and  of  spirit  none. 
Then  looked  I  on  the  green  earth  we  are  rooted  ii 
Whereof  we  grow, 
And  nothing  of  love  it  said, 
But  gave  me  warnings  of  sin. 
And  lessons  of  patience  let  fall. 
And  told  how  pain  was  bred. 
And  wherefore  I  was  weak, 
And  of  good  and  evil  at  strife. 
And  the  struggle  upward  of  all, 
And  my  choice  of  the  glory  of  life : 
Was  love  farther  to  seek? 

VI 

The  lover  of  life  holds  life  in  his  band, 

Like  a  ring  for  the  bride. 
The  lover  of  life  is  free  of  dread : 
The  lover  of  life  holds  life  in  his  hand. 

As  the  bilb  hold  the  day. 
But  lust  after  life  waves  life  like  a  brand. 

For  an  ensign  of  pride. 
The  lust  after  life  is  life  half-dead : 
Yea,  lust  after  life  hugs  life  like  a  brand. 
Dreading  air  and  the  ray. 
For  the  sake  of  life. 
For  that  life  is  dear, 
The  lust  after  life 
Clings  to  it  fast. 


dbyGoogle 


A  FAITH  ON  TRIAL 

For  the  sake  of  life. 
For  that  life  is  fair, 
The  lover  of  life 
Flings  it  broadcast. 

The  lover  of  life  knows  his  labour  divine, 


That  the  Ufe  si 

The  lust  after  life  in  the  chilb  of  its  lust 
Claims  a  passport  of  death. 

The  lover  of  life  sees  the  fiame  in  our  duat 
And  a  gift  in  our  breath. 


A  FAITH  ON  TRIAL  • 

On  the  morning  of  May, 

Ere  the  children  had  entered  my  gate 

Viiih  their  wreaths  and  mechanical  lay, 

A  metal  ding-dong  of  the  date  1 

I  mounted  our  hill,  bearing  heart 

That  had  little  of  life  save  its  weight : 

The  crowned  Shadow  poising  dart 

Hung  over  her :  she,  my  own, 

My  good  companion,  mate, 

FtJse  of  me :  she  who  had  shown 

Fortitude  quiet  as  Earth's 

At  the  shedding  of  leaves.    And  around 

The  sky  was  in  garlands  of  cloud. 

Winning  scents  from  unnumbered  new  births, 

Pointed  buds,  where  the  woods  were  browned 

By  a  mouldered  beechen  shroud ; 

(i  over  our  meads  of  the  vale. 

Such  an  answer  to  sun  as  he. 

Brave  in  his  gold ;  to  a  sound, 

None  sweeter,  of  woods  flapping  sail. 

With  the  first  full  flood  of  our  year, 

For  their  voyage  on  lustreful  sea  : 

Unto  what  curtained  haven  in  chief. 


dbyGoogle 


A  FAITH  ON  TRIAL 

Will  be  writ  in  the  book  of  the  sere. 

But  surely  the  crew  are  we, 

Eager  or  stamped  or  bowed ; 

Counted  thinner  at  fall  of  the  leaf. 

Grief  heard  them,  and  passed  like  a  bier.* 

Due  Summerward,  lo,  they  were  set. 

In  volumes  of  foliage  proud. 

On  the  heave  of  their  favouring  tides. 

And  their  song  broadened  out  to  the  cheer 

When  a  neck  of  the  ramping  surf 

Rattles  thunder  a  boat  overrides. 

All  smiles  ran  the  highways  wet ; 

The  worm  drew  Its  links  from  the  turf ; 

The  bird  of  felicity  loud 

Spun  high,  and  a  South  wind  blew. 

Weak  out  of  sheath  downy  leaves 

Of  the  beech  quivered  ludd  as  dew. 

Their  radiance  asking,  who  grieves ; 

For  nought  of  a  sorrow  they  knew : 

No  space  to  the  dread  wrestle  vowed. 

No  diamber  in  shadow  of  night. 

At  times  as  the  steadier  breeze 

Flutter-huddled  their  twigs  to  a  crowd. 

The  beam  of  them  wafted  my  sight 

To  league-long  sun  upon  seas : 

The  golden  path  we  had  crossed 

Many  years,  till  her  birthtand  swung 

Recovered  to  viaon  from  lost, 

A  light  in  her  filial  glance. 

And  sweet  was  her  voice  with  the  tongue. 

The  speechful  tongue  of  her  France, 

Soon  at  ripple  about  us,  like  rills 

Ever  busy  with  little  :  away 

Through  her  Normandy,  down  where  the  mills 

Dot  at  lengths  a  rivercourse,  grey 

As  its  bordering  poplars  bent 

To  gusts  off  the  plains  above. 

Old  stone  cb&teau  and  farms, 

Home  of  her  birth  and  her  love ! 

On  the  thread  of  the  pasture  you  trace. 

By  the  river,  their  miJk,  for  miles. 


d  by  Google 


A  FAITH  ON  TRIAL 

Spotted  once  with  the  English  tent. 
In  dsys  of  the  tocsin's  alarms, 
To  tower  of  the  tallest  of  piles, 
The  country's  surveyor  breast-high. 
Home  of  her  birth  and  her  love  I 
Home  of  a  diligent  race ; 
Thrifty,  deft-handed  to  ply 
Shuttle  or  needle,  and  woo 
Sun  to  the  roots  of  the  pear 
Frogging  each  mud-walled  cot. 
The  elders  had  known  her  in  arms. 
There  plucked  we  the  bluet,  her  hue 
Of  the  deeper  forget-me-not ; 
Well  wedding  her  ripe-wheat  hair. 

I  saw,  unsighting :  her  heart 

I  saw,  and  the  home  of  her  love 

There  printed,  mournfully  rent : 

Her  ebbing  adieu,  her  adieu. 

And  the  stride  of  the  Shadow  athwart. 

For  one  of  our  Autumns  there  I  .  .  . 

Straight  as  the  flight  of  a  dove 

We  went,  swift  winging  we  went. 

We  trod  solid  ground,  we  breathed  air. 

The  heavens  were  unbroken.     Break  Uiey, 

The  word  of  the  world  is  adieu : 

Her  word :  and  the  torrents  are  round. 

The  jawed  wolf -waters  of  prey. 

We  stand  upon  isles,  who  stand : 

A  Shadow  before  us,  and  back, 

A  phantom  the  habited  land. 

We  may  cry  to  the  Sunderer,  spare 

That  dearest  1  he  loosens  his  pack. 

Arrows  we  breathe,  not  air. 

The  memories  tenderly  bound 

To  us  are  a  drifting  crew. 

Amid  grey-gapped  waters  for  ground. 

Alone  do  we  stand,  each  one, 

1^11  rootless  as  they  we  strew 

Those  deeps  of  the  corse-like  stare 

At  a  foreign  and  stony  sun. 


dbyGoogle 


A  FAITH  ON  TRIAL 

Eyes  had  I  but  for  the  scene 

Of  my  cirele,  what  neighbourly  grew. 

If  haply  no  finger  lay  out 

To  the  figures  of  days  that  had  been, 

I  gathered  my  herb,  and  endured; 

My  old  cloak  wrapped  me  about. 

Unfooted  was  ground-ivy  blue, 

Whose  rustic  shrewd  odour  allured 

In  Spring's  fresh  of  morning :  unseen 

Her  favourite  wood-sorrel  bell 

As  yet,  though  the  leaves'  green  floor 

Awaited  their  flower,  that  would  tell 

Of  a  red-veined  moist  yestreen, 

With  its  droop  and  the  hues  it  wore. 

When  we  two  stood  overnight 

One,  in  the  dark  van-gtow 

On  our  hill-top,  seeing  beneath 

Our  household's  twinkle  of  light 

Through  spruce*boughs,  gem  of  a  wreath. 

Budding,  the  service-tree,  white 
Almost  as  whitebeam,  threw. 
From  the  under  of  leaf  upright. 
Flecks  like  a  showering  snow 
On  the  flame-shaped  junipers  green. 
On  the  sombre  mounds  of  the  yew- 
Like  silvery  tapers  bright 
By  a  solemn  cathedral  screen. 
They  glbtened  to  closer  view. 
Turf  for  a  rooks'  revel  striped 
Pleased  those  devourers  astute. 
Chorister  blackbird  and  thrush 
Together  or  alternate  piped  ; 
A  free-hearted  harmony  large. 
With  meaning  for  man,  for  brute. 
When  the  primitive  forces  are  brimmed. 
Like  featherings  hither  and  yon 
Of  aery  tree-twigs  over  marge. 
To  the  comb  of  the  winds,  untrimmed. 
Their  measure  is  found  in  the  vast.' 
Grief  heard  them,  and  stepped  her  way  on. 


dbyGoogle 


A  FAITH  ON  TRIAL 

She  has  but  a  narrow  embrace. 
Distrustful  of  hearing  she  passed. 
They  piped  her  young  Earth's  Bacchic  rout; 
The  race,  and  the  prize  of  the  race ; 
Earth's  lustihead  pressing  to  sprout. 

But  sight  holds  a  soberer  space. 

Colourless  dogwood  low 

Curled  up  a  twisted  root, 

Nigh  yellow-green  mosses,  to  flush 

Redder  than  sun  upon  rocks. 

When  the  creeper  clematis-shoot 

Shall  climb,  cap  his  branches,  and  show. 

Beside  veteran  green  of  the  box. 

At  close  of  the  year's  maple  blush, 

A  bleeding  greybeard  is  he, 

Now  hale  in  the  leafage  lush. 

Our  parasites  paint  us.    Hard  by, 

A  wet  yew-trunk  flashed  the  peel 

Of  our  naked  forefathers  in  fight ; 

With  stains  of  the  fray  sweating  free ; 

And  him  came  no  parasite  nigh : 

Firm  on  the  hard  knotted  knee, 

He  stood  in  the  crown  of  his  dun ; 

Earth's  toughest  to  stay  her  wheel : 

Under  whom  the  full  day  is  night ; 

Whom  the  century-tempests  call  son. 

Having  striven  to  rend  him  in  vain. 

T  walked  to  observe,  not  to  feel. 
Not  to  fancy,  if  »mple  of  eye 
One  may  be  among  images  reaped 
For  a  shift  of  the  glance,  as  grain : 
Profitless  froth  you  espy 
Ashore  after  billows  have  leaped. 
I  fled  nothing,  nothing  pursued : 
The  changeful  visible  face 
Of  our  Mother  I  sought  for  ray  food ;  • 
Crumbs  by  the  way  to  sustain. 
Her  sentence  I  knew  past  grace. 
Myself  I  bad  lost  of  us  twain. 


dbyGoogle 


A  FAITH  ON  TRIAL 

Once  bound  in  mirroring  thought. 

She  had  flung  me  to  dust  in  her  wake ; 

And  I,  as  your  convict  drags 

His  chain,  by  the  scourge  untaught. 

Bore  life  for  a  goad,  without  aim. 

I  champed  the  sensations  that  make 

Of  a  ruffled  philosophy  rags. 

For  them  was  no  meaning  too  blunt, 

Nor  aspect  too  cutting  of  steel. 

This  Earth  of  the  beautiful  breasts. 

Shining  up  in  ^1  colours  aflame. 

To  them  had  visage  of  hags :  * 

A  Mother  of  aches  and  jests : 

Soulless,  heading  a  hunt 

Aimless  except  for  the  meal. 

Hope,  with  the  star  on  her  front ; 

Fear,  with  an  eye  in  the  heel ; 

Our  links  to  a  Mother  of  grace ; 

They  were  dead  on  the  nerve,  and  dead 

For  the  nature  divided  in  three ; 

Gone  out  of  heart,  out  of  brain. 

Out  of  soul :  I  had  in  their  place 

The  calm  of  an  empty  room. 

We  were  joined  but  by  that  thin  thread, 

My  disciplined  habit  to  see. 

And  those  conjure  images,  those, 

The  puppets  of  loss  or  gmn ; 

Not  he  who  is  bare  to  his  doom ; 

For  whom  never  semblance  plays 

To  bewitch,  overcloud,  illume. 

The  dusty  mote-images  rose; 

Sheer  film  of  the  surface  awag : 

They  sank  as  they  rose ;  their  pain 

Declaring  them  mine  of  old  days. 

Now  gazed  I  where,  sole  upon  gloom. 
As  flower-bush  in  sun-specked  crag. 
Up  the  spine  of  the  double  combe 
With  yew-boughs  heavily  cloaked, 
A  young  apparition  shone : 
Known,  yet  wonderful,  white 


dbyGoogle 


A  FAITH  ON  TRIAL 

Surpassingly ;  doubtfully  known. 

For  it  struck  as  the  birth  of  Light : 

Even  Day  from  the  dark  unyoked. 

It  waved  like  a  pilgrim  flag 

O'er  processional  penitents  flown 

When  of  old  they  broke  rounding  yon  spine: 

0  the  pure  wild-cherry  in  bloom ! ' 

For  their  Eastward  march  to  the  shrine 

Of  the  footsore  far-eyed  Faith, 

Was  banner  so  brave,  so  fair, 

So  quick  with  celestial  sign 

Of  victorious  rays  over  death  ? 

For  a  conquest  of  coward  despair ; — 

Di\-ision  of  soid  from  wits. 

And  these  made  rulers ; — full  sure,' 

More  etarlike  never  did  shine 

To  illumine  the  sinister  Geld 

Where  our  life's  old  night-bird  flits. 

1  knew  it :  with  her,  my  own, 
Had  hailed  it  pure  of  the  pure ; 
Our  beacon  yearly :  but  strange 
When  it  strikes  to  within  is  the  known; 
Richer  than  newness  revealed. 

There  was  needed  darkness  like  mine. 

Its  beauty  to  vividness  blown 

Drew  the  life  in  me  forward,  chased, 

From  aloft  on  a  pinnacle's  range. 

That  hindward  spidery  line, 

The  length  of  the  ways  I  had  paced, 

A  footfarer  out  of  the  dawn. 

To  Youth's  wild  forest,  where  sprang, 

For  the  morning  of  May  long  gone, 

The  forest's  white  virgin  ;  she 

Seen  yonder;  and  sheltered  me,  sang; 

She  in  me,  I  in  her ;  what  songs 

The  fawn-eared  wood-hoDows  revive 

To  pour  forth  their  tune-footed  throngs; 

Inspire  to  the  dreaming  of  good 

Illimitable  to  come : 

Sbe,  the  white  wild  cherry,  a  tree. 


dbyGoogle 


A  FAITH  ON  TRIAL 

Earth-rooted,  taogibly  wood. 

Yet  a  presence  throbbing  alive ; 

Nor  she  in  our  language  dumb : 

A  spirit  bom  of  a  tree ; 

Because  earth-rooted  alive : 

Huntress  of  things  worth  pursuit 

Of  souls ;  in  our  naming,  dreams. 

And  each  unto  other  was  lute. 

By  fits  quick  as  breezy  gleams. 

My  quiver  of  aims  and  desires 

Had  colour  that  she  would  have  owned ; 

And  if  by  humaner  fires 

Hued  later,  these  held  her  enthroned: 

My  crescent  of  Earth ;  my  blood 

At  the  silvery  early  stir ; 

Hour  of  the  thrill  of  the  bud 

About  to  burst,  and  by  her 

Directed,  attuned,  englobed : 

My  Goddess,  the  chaste,  not  chill ; 

Choir  over  choir  white-robed ; 

White-bosomed  fold  within  fold : 

For  so  could  I  dream,  breast-bare, 

In  my  time  of  blooming ;  dream  still 

Through  the  maze,  the  mesh,  and  the  wreck, 

Despite,  since  manhood  was  bold. 

The  yoke  of  the  flesh  on  my  neck. 

She  beckoned,  I  gazed,  unaware 

How  a  shaft  of  the  blossoming  tree 

Was  shot  from  the  yew-wood's  core. 

I  stood  to  the  touch  of  a  key 

Turned  in  a  fast-shut  door. 

They  rounded  my  garden,  content. 
The  small  fry,  clutching  their  fee. 
Their  fruit  of  the  wreath  and  the  pole ; 
And,  chatter,  bop,  skip,  they  were  sent, 
In  a  buzz  of  young  company  glee. 
Their  natural  music,  swift  shoal 
To  the  next  easy  sheddera  of  pence.' 
Why  not  ?  for  they  had  me  in  tune 
With  the  hungers  of  my  kind. 


dbyGoogle 


A  FAITH  ON  TRIAL 

Do  readings  of  earth  draw  thence, 

Then  a  concord  deeper  than  cries 

Of  the  Whither  whose  echo  is  Whence, 

To  jar  unanswered,  shall  rise 

As  a  fountain-jet  in  the  mind 

Bowed  dark  o'er  the  falling  and  strewn. 

Unwitting  where  it  might  lead, 
How  it  came,  for  the  anguish  to  cease, 
And  the  Questions  that  sow  not  nor  spin, 
This  wisdom,  rough-written,  and  hlack. 
As  of  veins  that  from  venom  bleed, 
I  had  with  the  peace  within ; 
Or  patience,  mortal  of  peace. 
Compressing  the  surgent  strife 
In  a  heart  laid  open,  not  mailed. 
To  the  last  blank  hour  of  the  rack, 
When  struck  the  dividing  knife : 
When  the  hand  that  never  had  failed 
In  its  pressure  to  mine  hung  slack. 

But  this  in  myself  did  I  know. 
Not  needing  a  studious  brow, 
Or  trust  in  a  governing  star. 
While  my  ears  held  the  jangled  shout 
The  children  were  lifting  afar : 
That  natures  at  interflow 
With  all  of  their  past  and  the  now, 
Are  chords  to  the  Nature  without. 
Orbs  to  the  greater  whole : 
First  then,  nor  utterly  then 
Till  our  lord  of  sensations  at  war. 
The  rebel,  the  heart,  yields  place 
To  brain,  each  prompting  the  soul. 
Thus  our  dear  Earth  we  embrace 
For  the  milk,  her  strength  to  men. 
And  crave  we  her  medical  herb. 
We  have  but  to  see  and  hear. 
Though  pierced  by  the  cruel  acerb. 
The  troops  of  the  memories  armed 
Hostile  to  strike  at  the  nest 


dbyGoogle 


A  FAITH  ON  TRIAL 

That  nourished  and  Hew  them  warmed. 

Not  she  gives  the  tear  for  the  tear. 

Weep,  bleed,  rave,  writhe,  be  distraught. 

She  b  moveless.    Not  of  her  breast 

Are  the  symbols  we  conjure  when  Fear 

Takes  leaven  of  Hope.     I  caught. 

With  Death  in  me  shrinking  from  Death, 

As  cold  from  cold,  for  a  sign 

Of  the  life  beyond  ashes :  I  cast, 

Believing  the  vision  divine. 

Wings  of  that  dream  of  my  Youth 

To  the  spirit  beloved :  'twas  unglassed 

On  her  breast,  in  her  depths  austere:' 

A  flash  through  the  mist,  mere  breath. 

Breath  on  a  buckler  of  steel. 

For  the  flesh  in  revolt  at  her  laws, 

Neither  song  nor  smile  in  rutb. 

Nor  promise  of  things  to  reveal, 

Has  she,  nor  a  word  she  saith : 

We  are  asking  her  wheels  to  pause. 

Well  knows  she  the  cry  of  unfaith. 

If  we  strain  to  the  farther  shore, 

We  are  catching  at  comfort  near. 

Assurances,  symbols,  saws. 

Revelations  in  legends,  light 

To  eyes  rolling  darkness,  these 

Desired  of  the  flesh  in  affright. 

For  the  which  it  will  swear  to  adore. 

She  yields  not  for  prayers  at  her  knees ; 

The  woolly  beast  bleating  will  shear. 

These  are  our  sensual  dreams ; 

Of  the  yearning  to  touch,  to  fed 

The  dark  Impalpable  sure. 

And  have  the  Unveiled  appear ; 

Whereon  ever  black  she  beams, 

Doth  of  her  terrible  deal, 

She  who  dotes  over  ripeness  at  play, 

Rosiness  fondles  and  feeds. 

Guides  it  with  shepherding  crook. 

To  her  sports  and  her  pastures  alway. 

Not  she  gives  the  tear  for  the  tear : 


dbyGoogle 


A  FAITH  ON  TRIAL 

Harsh  wisdom  gives  E^arth,  no  more ; 
In  one  the  spur  and  the  curb : 
An  answer  to  thoughts  or  deeds; 
To  the  Legends  an  alien  look ; 
To  the  Questions  a  figure  of  clay. 
Yet  we  have  but  to  see  and  hear. 
Crave  we  her  medical  herb. 
For  the  road  to  her  soul  is  the  Real : 
The  root  of  the  growth  of  man : 
And  the  senses  must  traverse  it  fresh 
With  a  love  that  no  scourge  shall  abate. 
To  reach  the  lone  heights  where  we  scan 
In  the  mind's  rarer  vision  this  flesh ; 
In  the  charge  of  the  Mother  our  fate ; 
Her  law  as  the  one  common  weal. 

We,  whom  the  view  benumbs, 
We,  quivering  upward,  each  hour 
Know  battle  in  ait  and  in  ground 
For  the  breath  that  goes  as  it  comes. 
For  the  choice  between  sweet  and  sour. 
For  the  smallest  grain  of  our  worth : 
And  he  who  the  reckoning  sums 
Finds  nought  in  his  hand  save  Earth. 
Of  Earth  are  we  stripped  or  crowned. 
The  fleeting  Present  we  crave, 
Barter  our  best  to  wed. 
In  hope  of  a  cushioned  bower. 
What  is  it  but  Future  and  Past 
Uke  wind  and  tide  at  a  wave  I 
Idea  of  the  senses,  bred 
For  the  senses  to  snap  and  devour : 
Thin  as  the  shell  of  a  sound 
In  delivery,  withered  in  light 
Cry  we  for  permanence  fast, 
Permanence  hangs  by  the  grave ; 
Sits  on  the  grave  green-grassed. 
On  the  roll  of  the  heaved  grave-mound. 
By  Death,  as  by  Life,  are  we  fed : ' 
The  two  are  one  spring ;  our  bond 
With  the  numbers ;  with  whom  to  unite 


dbyGoogle 


A  FAITH  ON  TRIAL 

Here  feathers  wings  for  beyond : 

Only  they  can  waft  ua  in  flight. 

For  they  are  Reality's  Sower. 

Of  them,  and  the  contact  with  them. 

Issues  Garth's  dearest  daughter,  the  firm 

In  footing,  the  stately  of  stem ; 

Unshaken  though  elements  lour ; 

A  warrior  heart  unquelled ; 

Mirror  of  Earth,  and  guide 

To  the  Holies  from  sense  withheld : 

Reason,  man's  germinant  fruit. 

She  wrestles  with  our  old  worm 

Self  in  the  narrow  and  wide : 

Relentless  quencher  of  lies, 

With  laughter  she  pierces  the  brute; 

And  hear  we  her  laughter  peal, 

lis  Light  in  us  dancing  to  scour 

The  loathed  recess  of  bis  dens; 

Scatter  his  monstrous  bed. 

And  hound  him  to  harrow  and  plough. 

She  is  the  world's  one  prize ; 

Our  champion,  rightfully  head  ; 

The  vessel  whose  piloted  prow. 

Though  Folly  froth  round,  hiss  and  boot, 

Leaves  legible  print  at  the  keel. 

Nor  least  b  the  service  she  does, 

That  service  to  her  may  cleanse 

The  well  of  the  Sorrows  in  us ; 

For  a  common  delight  will  drain 

The  rank  individual  fens 

Of  a  wound  refusing  to  heal 

While  the  old  worm  slavers  its  root. 

I  bowed  as  a  leaf  in  rain ; 

As  a  tree  when  the  leaf  is  shed 

To  winds  in  the  season  at  wane : 

And  when  from  my  soul  I  said. 

May  the  worm  be  trampled :  smite. 

Sacred  Reality !  power 

Filled  me  to  front  it  aright. 

I  bad  come  of  my  faith's  ordeal. 


dbyGoogle 


A  FAITH  ON  TRIAL 

It  is  not  to  stand  on  a  tower 

And  3ee  the  flat  universe  reel ; 

Our  mortal  sublimities  drop 

Like  raiment  by  glisterlings  worn. 

At  a  sweep  of  the  scythe  for  the  crop. 

Wisdom  is  won  of  its  fight, 

The  combat  incessant ;  and  dries 

To  mummywrap  perching  a  height.* 

It  chews  the  contemplative  cud 

In  peril  of  isolate  scorn, 

Unfed  of  the  onward  flood. 

Nor  view  we  a  different  mora 

If  we  gaze  with  the  deeper  sight, 

With  the  deeper  thought  forewise : 

The  world  is  the  same,  seen  throu^ ; 

The  features  of  men  are  the  same. 

But  let  their  historian  new 

In  the  language  of  nakedness  write. 

Rejoice  we  to  know  not  shame. 

Not  a  dread,  not  a  doubt:  to  have  done 

With  the  tortures  of  thought  in  the  throes, 

Our  animal  tangle,  and  grasp 

Very  sap  of  the  vital  in  this : 

That  from  flesh  unto  spirit  man  grows 

Even  here  on  the  sod  under  sun : 

That  she  of  the  wanton's  kiss. 

Broken  through  with  the  bite  of  an  aap. 

Is  Mother  of  simple  truth. 

Relentless  quencher  of  lies ; 

Eternal  in  thought ;  discerned 

In  thought  mid-ferry  between 

The  Life  and  the  Death,  which  are  one, 

As  our  breath  in  and  out,  joy  or  teen. 

She  gives  the  rich  vision  to  youth. 

If  we  will,  of  her  prompting  wise; 

Or  men  by  the  lash  made  lean, 

Who  in  harness  the  mind  subserve. 

Their  title  to  read  her  have  earned ; 

Having  mastered  sensation — insane 

At  a  stroke  of  the  terrified  nerve; 

And  out  of  the  sensual  hive 


dbyGoogle 


A  FAITH  ON  TRIAL 

Grown  to  the  flower  of  brain ; 

To  know  her  a  thing  alive, 

Whose  aspects  mutfiibly  swerve. 

Whose  laws  immutably  reign. 

Our  sentencer,  clother  in  mist, 

Her  morn  bends  breast  to  her  noon. 

Noon  to  the  hour  dark-eyed. 

If  we  will,  of  her  promptings  wise : 

Her  light  is  our  own  if  we  list. 

The  legends  that  sweep  her  aside, 

Crying  loud  for  an  opiate  boon. 

To  comfort  the  human  want. 

From  the  bosom  of  magical  skies, 

She  smiles  on,  marking  their  source: 

They  read  her  with  infant  eyes. 

Good  ships  of  morality  they, 

For  our  crude  developing  force ; 

Granite  the  thought  to  stay. 

That  she  is  a  thing  alive 

To  the  living,  the  falling  and  strewn. 

But  the  Questions,  the  broods  that  haunt 

Sensation  insurgent,  may  drive, 

The  way  of  the  channelling  mole. 

Head  in  a  ground-vault  gaunt 

As  your  telescope's  skeleton  moon." 

Barren  comfort  to  these  will  she  dole ; 


dbyGoogle 


A  FAITH  ON  TRIAL 

'  Spirit  mves,  not  for  a  goal. 

'  Shapes  ia  man's  likeness  hewn 

'  Desires  not ;  neither  desires 

'  The  sleep  or  the  glory :  it  trusts ; 

'  Uses  my  gifts,  yet  aspires ; 

'  Dreams  of  a  higher  than  it. 

'  The  dream  is  an  atmosphere ; 

'  A  scale  still  ascending  to  knit 

'  The  clear  to  the  loftier  Clear. 

'  "Ks  Reason  herself,  tiptoe 

'  At  the  ultimate  bound  of  her  wit, 

'  On  the  verges  of  Night  and  Day. 

'  But  is  it  a  dream  of  the  lusts, 

'  To  my  dustiest  'tb  decreed  ; 

'  And  them  that  so  shuffle  astray 

'  I  touch  with  no  key  of  gold 

'  For  the  wealth  of  the  secret  nook ; 

'  Though  I  dote  over  ripeness  at  play, 

'  Rosiness  fondle  and  teed, 

'  Guide  it  with  shepherding  crook 

'  To  my  sports  and  my  pastures  alway. 

'  The  key  will  shriek  in  the  lock, 

'  The  door  will  rustiiy  hinge, 

'  Will  open  on  features  of  mould, 

'  To  vanish  corrupt  at  a  glimpse, 

'  And  mock  as  the  wild  echoes  mock, 

'  Soulless  in  mimic,  doth  Greed 

'  Or  the  passion  for  fruitage  tiiige 

'  That  dream,  for  your  parricide  imps 

'  To  nnng  through  the  body  of  Time, 

'  Yourselves  in  slaying  him  slay. 

'  Much  are  you  shots  of  your  prime, 

'  You  men  of  the  act  and  the  dream : 

'  And  please  you  to  fatten  a  weed 

'  That  perishes,  pledged  to  decay, 

'  Tis  dearth  in  your  season  of  need, 

'  Down  the  slopes  of  the  shoreward  way  ;- 

'  Nigh  on  the  misty  stream, 

'  Where  Ferryman  under  his  hood, 

'  With  a  call  to  be  ready  to  pay 

'  The  small  coin,  whitens  red  blood. 


dbyGoogle 


A  FAITH  ON  TRIAL 

'  But  the  young  ethereal  seed 

'  Shall  bring  you  the  bread  no  buyer 

'  Can  have  for  his  craving  supreme ; 

'  To  my  quenchless  quick  shall  speed 

'  The  soul  at  her  wrestle  rude 

'  With  de^il,  with  angel  more  dire ; 

'  With  the  flesh,  with  the  Fates,  enringed. 

'  The  dream  of  the  blossom  of  Good 

'  Is  your  banner  of  battle  unrolled 

'  In  ita  waver  and  current  and  curve 

'  {Choir  over  choir  whit«-winged, 

'  Wliite-bosomed  fold  within  fold) : 

'  Hopeful  of  victory  most 

'  When  hard  13  the  task  to  sustain 

'  Assaults  of  the  fearful  sense 

'  At  a  mind  in  desolate  mood 

'  With  the  Whither,  whose  echo  is  Whence; 

'  And  humanity's  clamour,  lost,  lost; 

'  And  ita  clasp  of  the  staves  that  snap; 

'  And  evil  abroad,  as  a  main 

'  I'proarious,  bursting  its  dyke, 

'  For  back  do  you  look,  and  lo, 

'  Forward  the  harvest  of  grain ! — 

'  Numbers  in  council,  awake 

'  To  love  more  than  things  of  my  lap, 

'  Love  me;  and  to  let  the  types  break, 

'  Men  be  grass,  rocks  rivers,  all  flow ; 

'  All  save  the  dream  sink  alike 

'  To  the  source  of  my  vital  in  sap : 

'  Their  battle,  their  loss,  their  ache, 

'  For  my  pledge  of  vitality  know. 

'  The  dream  is  the  thought  in  the  ghost; 

'  The  thought  sent  flying  for  food ; 

'  Eyeless,  but  sprung  of  an  aim 

'  Supernal  of  Reason,  to  find 

'  The  great  Over-Reason  we  name 

'  Beneficence :  mind  seeking  Mind. 

'  Dream  of  the  blossom  of  Good, 

'  In  its  waver  and  current  and  curve, 

'  With  the  hopes  of  my  offspring  enacrolled  I 

'  Soon  to  be  seen  of  a  host 


dbyGoogle 


CHANGE  IN  RECURRENCE 

'  The  flag  of  the  Master  I  serve  I 
'  And  life  in  them  doubled  on  Life, 
'  As  flame  upon  flame,  to  behold, 
'  High  over  Time-tumbled  sea, 
'  The  bliss  of  his  headship  of  strife, 
'  Him  through  handmaiden  me.'  '* 


CHANGE  IN  RECURRENCE* 


I  STOOD  at  the  gate  of  the  cot 
Where  my  darling,  with  side-glance  demure. 
Would  spy,  on  her  trim  garden-plot. 
The  busy  wild  things  chase  and  lure. 
For  these  with  their  ways  were  her  feast; 
They  bad  surety  no  enemy  lurked. 
Their  deftest  of  tricks  to  their  least 
She  gathered  in  watch  as  she  worked. 


When  berries  were  red  on  her  ash, 

The  blackbird  would  rifle  them  rough. 

Till  the  ground  underneath  looked  a  gash, 

And  her  rogue  grew  the  round  of  a  chough. 

The  squirrel  cocked  ear  o'er  his  hoop. 

Up  the  spruce,  quick  as  eye,  trailing  brush. 

She  knew  any  tit  of  the  troop 

All  as  well  as  the  snail-tappiag  thrush. 


I  gazed :  'twas  the  scene  of  the  frame. 
With  the  face,  the  dear  life  for  me,  fled. 
No  window  a  tute  to  my  name, 
No  watcher  there  plying  the  thread. 
But  the  blackiiird  hung  pecking  at  will ; 
The  squirrel  from  cone  hoppeil  to  cone ; 
The  thrush  had  a  snail  in  his  bill. 
And  tap-tapped  the  shell  hard  on  a  stone. 


dbyGoogle 


HYMN  TO  COLOUR' 


With  Life  and  Death  I  walked  when  Love  appeared. 
And  made  them  on  each  side  a  shadow  seem. 
Through  wooded  vales  the  land  of  dawn  we  neared, 
Where  down  smooth  rapids  whirls  the  helmless  dream 
To  fall  on  daylight ;  and  night  puts  away 
Her  darker  veil  for  grey. 


In  that  grey  veil  green  grassblades  brushed  we  by ; 
We  came  where  woods  breathed  sharp,  and  overhead 
Rocks  raised  clear  homa  on  a  transforming  sky : 
Around,  save  for  those  shapes,  with  him  who  led 
And  linked  them,  desert  varied  by  no  sign 
Of  other  life  than  mine. 


By  this  the  dark-winged  planet,  raying  wide. 
From  the  mild  pearl-glow  to  the  rose  upborne. 
Drew  in  his  fires,  less  faint  than  far  descried. 
Pure-fronted  on  a  stronger  wave  of  mom  : 
And  those  two  shapes  the  splendour  interweaved 
Hung  web-like,  sank  and  heaved. 


Love  took  my  hand  when  hidden  stood  the  sud 
To  fling  his  robe  on  shoulder-heights  of  snow. 
Then  said  :  There  lie  they.  Life  and  Death  io  oni 

_    . .  Whichever  is,  the  other  is  :  but  know,  J 

•^^i^  *^    It  is  thy  craving  self  that  thou  dost  see,  / 

v«^*~1[*^_  Not  in  them  seeing  me.  ••  —^ 

Shall  man  into  the  mystery  of  breath 


dbyGoogle 


HYMN  TO  COLOUR 


iTnow  where  Colour,  the  soul's  bridegroom,  makes 

e  house  of  heaven  splendid  for  the  bride. 

^o  him  as  leaps  a  fountain  she  awakes^>^  v  '^■tw.*--^ 
In'Rnolting  ai'tflS,  yel  IJUuiidlMsTmm  beside,      ^ 
"  e  holds  the  flower  to  heaven,  and  by  his  power 
Brings  heaven  to  the  flower. 


He  gives  her  homeliness  in  desert  air. 
And  sovereignty  in  spaciousness ;  he  leads 
Through  widening  chambers  of  surprise  to  where 
Throbs  rapture  near  an  end  that  aye  recedes, 
Because  his  touch  is  infinite  and  lends 
A  yonder  to  all  ends. 


Death  begs  of  I^fe  his  blush ;  Life  Death  persuades 
To  keep  long  day  with  his  caresses  graced, 
is  the  heart  of  light,  the  wing  of  shades, 
rhe  crown  of  beauty  ;  never  soul  embraced 
!)f  him  can  harbour  unfaith ;  soul  of  him 
Possessed  walks  never  dim. 


Love  eyed  his  rosy  memories  :  he  sang : 
O  bloom  of  dawn,  breathed  up  from  the  gold  sheaf 
Held  springing  beneath  Orient !  that  dost  hang 
The  space  of  dewdrops  running  over  leaf ; 
Thy  fleetingness  is  bigger  in  the  ghost 
Than  Time  with  all  his  host ! 


'  behold,  has  said  adieu : 
!mbers  how  the  sky  was  green, 
grS^es  glimmered  lightest  blue ; 
e  grey  took  fervour :  how  the  screen 
■  violet ;  how  thy  moment  came 
feen  a  blush  and  dame.      ~* 


dbyGoogle 


HYMN  TO  COLOUR 


Love  saw  the  emissary  eglantine 

Break  wave  round  thy  white  feet  above  the  gloc 

l*y  finger  on  thy  star ;  thy  raiment  Une 


dbyGoogle 


MEDITATION  UNDER  STARS  * 

What  links  are  ours  with  orba  that  are 

So  resolutely  far : 
The  solitary  asks,  and  they 
Give  radiance  as  from  a  shield : 

Still  at  the  death  of  day. 

The  seen,  the  unrevealed. 

Implacable  they  shine 
To  us  who  would  of  lAte  ohtain 
An  answer  for  the  life  we  strain 

To  nourish  with  one  sign. 
Nor  can  imagination  throw 
The  penetrative  shaft :  we  pass 
TTie  breath  of  thought,  who  would  divine 

If  haply  they  may  grow 
As  Earth ;  have  our  desire  to  know ; 
If  life  comes  there  to  grain  from  grass. 
And  flowers  like  ours  of  toil  and  pain ; 

Has  passion  to  beat  bar, 

Win  space  from  cleaving  brain ; 

The  mystic  link  attain, 

Whereby  star  holds  on  star. 

Those  visible  immortals  beam 

Allurement  to  the  dream : 

Ireful  at  human  hungers  brook 

No  question  in  the  look. 
For  ever  virgin  to  our  sense, 
Remote  they  wane  to  gaze  intense : 
Prolong  it,  and  in  ruthlessness  they  smite 
The  beating  heart  behind  the  ball  of  sight : 
"nil  we  conceive  their  heavens  hoar, 

;hey  raise  but  sparkles  frore, 
blood-warm  Earth,  a  shuddering  prey 
f  of  brainless  ray. 

;iven  for  breath  of  thought 
lounds  when  musing :  more 
musing  love  is  brought, 
iked  of  love's  wherefore.' 


dbyGoogle 


5  MEDITATION  UNDER  STAHS 

'Tis  Earth's,  her  gift ;  else  have  we  nought : 

Her  gift,  her  secret,  here  our  tie. 

And  not  with  her  and  yonder  sky? 

Bethink  you  :  were  it  Earth  alone 

Breeds  love,  would  not  her  region  be 
The  sole  dehght  and  throne 
Of  generous  Deity  ? 

To  deeper  than  this  bait  of  sight 
Appeal  the  lustrous  people  of  the  night. 
Fronting  yon  shoreless,  sown  with  fiery  saib, 

It  is  our  ravenous  that  quails, 
Flesh  by  its  craven  thirsts  and  fears  distraught. 
The  spirit  leaps  alight, 
Doubts  not  in  them  is  he. 
The  binder  of  his  sheaves,  the  sane,  the  right :  * 
Of  magnitude  to  magnitude  is  wrought, 
To  feel  it  large  of  the  great  life  they  hold : 
In  them  to  come,  or  vaster  intervolved. 
The  issues  known  in  us,  our  unsolved  solved : 
That  there  with  toil  Life  climbs  the  self-same  Tree, 
Whose  roots  enrichment  have  from  ripeness  dropped.* 
So  may  we  read  and  little  find  them  cold : 
Let  it  but  be  the  lord  of  Mind  to  guide 
Our  eyes ;  no  branch  of  Reason's  growing  lopped ; 
Nor  dreaming  on  a  dream ;  but  fortified 
By  day  to  penetrate  black  midnight ;  see. 
Hear,  feel,  outside  the  senses  ;  even  that  we, 
The  specks  of  dust  upon  a  mound  of  mould, 
We  who  reflect  those  rays,  though  low  our  placet 
To  them  are  lastingly  allied. 

So  may  we  read,  and  little  find  them  cold : 

Not  frosty  lamps  illumining  dead  space, 

Not  distant  aliens,  not  senseless  Powers. 

The  fire  is  in  them  whereof  we  are  bom ; 

The  music  of  their  motion  may  be  ours. 

Spirit  shall  deem  them  beckoning  Earth  and  voiced 

Sisterly  to  her,  in  her  beams  rejoiced. 

Of  love,  the  grand  impulsion,  we  behold 

The  love  that  lends  her  grace 

Among  the  starry  fold. 


dbyGoogle 


WOODMAN  AND  ECHO  367 

Then  at  new  flood  of  customary  mom. 

Look  at  her  through  her  showers, 

Her  mists,  her  streaming  gold, 
A  wonder  edges  the  familiar  face : 
She  wears  no  more  that  robe  of  printed  hours ; 
Half  strange  seema  Earth,  and  sweeter  than  her  flowers. 


WOODftUN  AND  ECHO 

Close  Echo  hears  the  woodman's  axe. 
To  double  on  it,  as  in  glee. 
With  clap  of  hands,  and  little  lacks 
Of  meaning  in  her  repartee. 

For  all  shall  fall. 

As  one  has  done, 

The  tree  of  me. 

Of  thee  the  tree ; 

And  unto  all 

The  fate  we  wait 

Reveals  the  wheels 

Whereon  we  run : 

We  tower  to  flower. 

We  spread  the  shade. 

We  drop  for  crop, 

At  length  are  laid ; 

Are  rolled  in  mould, 

From  chop  and  lop : 
And  are  we  thick  in  woodland  tracks, 
Or  tempting  of  our  stature  we. 
The  end  is  one,  we  do  but  wax 
For  service  over  land  and  sea. 

So,  strike !  the  like 

Shall  thus  of  us, 
My  brawny  woodman,  claim  the  tax. 

Nor  foe  thy  blow. 

Though  wood  he  good. 
And  shriekingly  the  timber  cracks : 

The  ground  we  crowned 

Shall  speed  the  seed 
Of  younger  into  swelhng  sacks. 


dbyGoogle 


THE  WISDOM  OF  ELD 

For  use  he  hews. 

To  make  awake 
The  spirit  of  what  stuff  we  be : 

Our  earth  of  mirth 

And  tears  he  clears 
For  hraver,  let  our  minda  agree ; 

And  then  will  men 

Within  them  win 
An  Echo  clapping  harmony. 


THE  WISDOM  OF  ELD  • 

We  tpend  our  livea  in  learning  pihlage, 

And  grow  good  steersmen  when  the  cessel  'a  crank  ! 

Gap-toothed  he  spake,  and  with  a  tottering  shank 

Sidled  to  gain  the  sunny  bench  of  Age. 

It  is  the  sentence  which  completes  that  stage ; 

A  testament  of  wisdom  reading  blank. 

The  seniors  of  the  race,  on  their  last  plank, 

Pass  mumbling  it  as  nature's  final  page. 

These,  bent  by  such  experience,  are  the  band 

Who  captain  young  enthusiasts  to  maint^n 

What  things  we  view,  and  Earth's  decree  withstand, 

Lest  dreaded  Change,  long  dammed  by  dull  decay. 

Should  bring  the  world  a  vessel  steered  by  brain, 

And  ancients  musical  at  close  of  day. 


EARTH'S  PREFEREN'CE  * 

Earth  loves  her  young :  a  preference  manifest  r 

She  prompts  them  to  her  fruits  and  flower-beds; 

Their  beauty  with  her  choicest  interthreads, 

And  makes  her  revel  of  their  merry  zest; 

As  in  our  East  much  were  it  in  our  West, 

If  men  had  risen  to  do  the  work  of  heads. 

Her  gabbling  grey  she  eyes  askant,  nor  treads 

The  ways  they  walk ;  by  what  they  speak  oppressed. 


dbyGoogle 


SOCIETY  31 

How  wTougiit  they  in  their  zenith  T    Tb  not  writ ; 
Not  all ;  yet  she  by  one  sure  sign  can  read : 
Have  they  but  held  her  laws  and  nature  dear. 
They  mouth  no  sentence  of  inverted  wit.' 
More  prizes  she  her  beasts  than  this  high  breed 
Wry  in  the  shape  she  wastes  her  milk  to  rear. 


SOCIETY* 

Historic  be  the  survey  of  our  kind. 
And  how  their  brave  Society  took  ^lape. 
lion,  wolf,  vulture,  fox,  jackal  and  ape, 
llie  strong  of  limb,  the  keen  of  nose,  we  find. 
Who,  with  some  jars  in  harmony,  combined, 
Their  primal  instincts  taming,  to  escape 
The  brawl  indecent,  and  hot  passions  drape. 
Convenience  pricked  conscience,  that  the  mind.' 
Thus  entered  they  the  field  of  milder  beasts. 
Which  in  some  sort  of  civil  order  graze. 
And  do  half-homage  to  the  God  of  Laws. 
But  are  they  still  for  their  old  ravenous  feasts. 
Earth  gives  the  edifice  they  build  no  base  : 
They  spring  another  flood  of  fangs  and  claws. 


WINTER  HEAVENS 

Sharp  b  the  night,  but  stars  with  frost  ahve 

Leap  oS  the  rim  of  earth  across  the  dome. 

It  is  a  night  to  make  the  heavens  our  home 

More  than  the  nest  whereto  apace  we  strive. 

Lengths  down  our  road  each  fir-tree  seems  a  hive. 

In  swarms  outrushing  from  the  golden  comb. 

They  waken  waves  of  thoughts  that  burst  to  foam : 

The  living  throb  in  me,  the  dead  revive. 

Yon  mantle  clothes  us :  there,  past  mortal  breath. 

Life  glbtens  on  the  river  of  the  death. 

It  folds  us,  fiesh  and  dust ;  and  have  we  knelt, 

Or  never  knelt,  or  eyed  as  kine  the  springs 

Of  radiance,  the  radiance  enrings : 

And  tbb  b  the  soul's  haven  to  have  felt. 


dbyGoogle 


A  STAVE  OF  ROVING  TIM 

(addressed  to   certain   nUENDLT   TRAUFs) 

The  wind  is  Eaat,  the  wind  is  West, 

Blows  in  and  out  of  haven  ; 
The  wind  that  blows  is  the  wind  that 's  best. 

And  croak,  my  jolly  raven ! 
If  here  awhile  we  jigged  and  laughed, 

The  like  we  will  do  yonder ; 
For  he  '3  the  man  who  masters  a  craft, 
And  light  as  a  lord  can  wander. 

So,  toot  the  measure.  Roving  Tim, 

And  croak,  my  jolly  raven  I 
The  wind  according  to  its  whim 
Is  in  and  out  of  haven. 
11 
You  live  in  rows  of  snug  abodes. 

With  gold,  maybe,  for  counting ; 
And  mine 's  the  beck  of  the  rainy  roads 

Against  the  sun  a-mounting. 
I  take  the  day  aa  it  behaves, 

Nor  shiver  when  'tis  airy ; 
But  comes  a  breeze,  all  you  are  on  waves. 
Sick  chickens  o'  Mother  Carey  1 

So,  now  for  next,  cries  Roving  Tim, 

And  croak,  my  jolly  raven ! 
The  wind  according  to  its  whim 
Is  in  and  out  of  haven. 
Ill 
Sweet  lass,  you  screw  a  lovely  leer. 

To  make  a  man  consider 
If  you  were  up  with  the  auctioneer, 

I  'd  be  a  handsome  bidder. 
But  wedlock  clips  the  rover's  wing; 

She  tricks  him  fly  to  spider ; 
And  when  we  get  to  fights  in  the  Ring, 
It 's  trumps  when  you  play  outsider. 

So,  wrench  and  split,  cries  Roving  Tim, 

And  croak,  my  jolly  raven  I 
The  wind  according  to  its  whim 
Is  in  and  out  of  haven. 


Digitized  byGOOglt^ 


A  STAVE  OF  ROVING  TIM 


Along  my  winding  way  I  know 

A  shady  dell  that 's  winking ; 
The  very  comer  for  Self  and  Co 
To  do  a  world  of  thinking. 
And  shall  I  this?  and  shall  1  that? 

Till  Nature  answers,  ne'tber  I 
Strike  match  and  light  your  pipe  in  your  hat. 
Rejoicing  in  sound  shoe-leather  I 

So  lead  along,  cries  Roving  Tim, 
And  croak,  my  jolly  raven  I 
The  wind  according  to  its  whim 
Is  in  and  out  of  haven. 


A  cunning  hand  11  hand  you  bread. 

With  freedom  for  your  capers. 

I  'm  not  so  sure  of  a  cunning  head ; 

It  steers  to  pits  or  vapours. 
But  as  for  Life,  we  'II  bear  in  sight 

The  lesson  Nature  teaches ; 
Regard  it  in  a  sailoring  light. 

And  treat  it  like  thirsty  leeches. 

So,  fly  your  jib,  cries  Roving  Tim, 

And  top  your  boom,  old  raven  I 
The  wind  according  to  its  whim 
Is  in  and  out  of  haven. 


She  'II  take,  to  please  her  dame  and  dad. 

The  shopman  nicely  shaven, 
^e  'U  learn  to  think  o'  the  marching  lad 
When  perchers  show  they  're  craven. 
You  say  the  shopman  piles  a  heap. 

While  I  perhaps  am  fasting ; 
And  bless  your  wits,  it  haunts  him  in  sleep, 
His  tin-kettle  chance  of  lasting ! 

So  bail  the  road,  cries  Roving  Tim, 

And  hail  the  rain,  old  raven  I 
The  wind  according  to  its  whim 
Is  in  and  out  of  haven. 


dbyGoogle 


A  STAVE  OF  ROVING  TIM 


He 's  half  a  wife,  yon  pecker  bill ; 

A  book  and  likewise  preacher. 

With  any  soul,  in  a  game  of  skill, 

He  '11  prove  your  over-reacher. 
The  reason  is,  his  brains  are  bent 
On  doing  things  right  single. 
You  'd  wish  for  tbem  when  pitching  your  tent 
At  night  in  a  whirly  dingle ! 

So,  off  we  go,  cries  Roving  Tim, 

And  on  we  go,  old  raven  I 
The  wind  according  to  its  whim 
Is  in  and  out  of  haven. 


Lord,  no,  man's  lot  is  not  for  bliss; 

To  call  it  woe  is  blindness : 
It 's  here  a  kick,  and  it 's  there  a  kiss, 

And  here  and  there  a  kindness. 
He  starts  a  hare  and  calls  her  joy ; 
He  runs  her  down  to  sorrow : 
The  dogs  within  him  bother  the  boy, 
But  'tis  a  new  day  to-morrow. 

So,  I  at  helm,  cries  Roving  Tim, 
And  you  at  bow,  old  raven  I 
The  wind  according  to  its  whim 
Is  in  and  out  of  haven. 


JUMP-TO-GLORY  JANE  • 


A  REVELATION  Came  on  Jane, 
The  widow  of  a  labouring  swaiu : 
And  first  her  body  trembled  sharp, 
Then  all  the  woman  was  a  harp 
With  winds  along  the  strings ;  she  heard, 
Though  there  was  neither  tone  nor  word. 


Digitized  byGOOgle 


JUMP-TO-GLORY  JANE 


For  past  our  hearing  was  the  air. 
Beyond  our  speaking  what  it  bare, 
And  she  within  herself  had  sight 
Of  heaven  at  work  to  cleanse  outright. 
To  make  of  her  a  mansion  fit 
For  angel  hosts  inside  to  sit 


They  entered,  and  forthwith  entranced. 
Her  body  braced,  her  members  danced ; 
Surprisingly  the  woman  leapt ; 
And  countenance  composed  she  kept : 
Aa  gossip  neighbours  in  the  lane 
Declared,  who  saw  and  pitied  Jane. 


These  knew  she  had  been  reading  books. 

The  which  was  witnessed  by  her  looks 

Of  late :  she  had  a  mania 

For  mad  folk  in  America, 

And  said  for  sure  they  led  the  way. 

But  meat  and  beer  were  meant  to  stay. 


That  she  had  visited  a  fair, 
Had  seen  a  gauzy  lady  there, 
Alive  with  tricks  on  legs  alone. 
As  good  as  wings,  was  also  known : 
And  longwhiles  in  a  sullen  mood, 
Before  her  jumping,  Jane  would  brood. 


A  good  knee's  height,  they  say,  she  sprang ; 

Her  arms  and  feet  like  those  who  hang : 

As  if  afire  the  body  sped, 

And  neither  pair  contributed. 

She  jumped  in  silence :  she  was  thought 

A  corpse  to  resurrection  caught. 


Digitized  byGOOgle 


JUMP-TO-GLORY  JANE 


The  villagers  were  mostly  dazed ; 

They  je«red,  they  wondered,  aad  they  praised. 

'Twas  guessed  by  some  she  was  mspired. 

And  some  would  have  it  she  had  hired 

An  engine  in  her  [>etticoats. 

To  turn  their  wits  and  win  their  votes. 


Her  first  was  Winny  Earnes,  a  kind 
Of  woman  not  to  dance  inclined ; 
But  she  went  up,  entirely  won, 
Ere  Jump-to-glory  Jane  had  done ; 
Aod  once  a  vixen  wild  for  speech. 
She  found  the  better  way  to  preach. 


No  long  time  after,  Jane  was  seen 
Directing  jumps  at  Daddy  Green ; 
Aod  that  old  man,  to  watch  her  fly. 
Had  eyebrows  made  of  arches  high ; 
Till  homeward  he  likewise  did  hop, 
Oft  calling  on  himself  to  stop ! 


It  was  a  scene  when  man  and  maid. 
Abandoning  all  other  trade, 
And  careless  of  the  call  to  meals. 
Went  jumping  at  the  woman's  heels. 
By  dozens  they  were  counted  soon. 
Without  a  sound  to  tell  their  tune. 


Along  the  roads  they  came,  and  crossed 
The  Gelds,  and  o'er  the  hills  were  lost. 
And  in  the  evening  reappeared ; 
Then  short  like  hobbled  horses  reared. 
And  down  upon  the  grass  they  plumped : 
Alone  their  Jane  to  glory  jumped. 


dbyGoogle 


jump-t(w;lory  jane 


At  room  they  rose,  to  see  her  spring 
All  going  as  an  engine  thing ; 
And  lighter  than  the  gossamer 
She  led  the  bobbers  following  her, 
Past  old  acquaintances,  and  where 
They  made  the  stranger  stupid  stare. 


When  turnips  were  a  filling  crop, 
In  scorn  they  jumped  a  butcher's  shop : 
Or,  spite  of  threats  to  flog  and  souse, 
Hiey  jumped  for  shame  a  public-house: 
And  much  their  legs  were  seized  with  rage 
If  passing  by  the  vicarage. 


The  tightness  of  a  hempen  rope 
Their  bodies  got ;  but  laundry  soap 
Not  handsomer  can  rub  the  skin 
For  token  of  the  washed  within. 
Occasionally  coughers  cast 
A  leg  aloft  and  coughed  their  last. 


The  weaker  maids  and  some  old  men, 
Requiring  rafters  for  the  pen  ' 
On  rainy  nights,  were  those  who  fell. 
The  rest  were  quite  a  miracle, 
Refreshed  as  you  may  search  all  round 
On  Club-feast  days  and  cry.  Not  found  1 


For  these  poor  innocents,  that  slept 

Against  the  sky,  soft  women  wept : 

For  never  did  they  any  theft ; 

Twas  known  when  they  their  camping  left. 

And  jumped  the  cold  out  of  their  rags ; 

In  spirit  rich  as  money-bags. 


dbyGoogle 


JUMP-TO-GLORY  JANE 


They  jumped  the  question,  jumped  reply ; 
And  whether  to  insist,  deny, 
Reprove,  persuade,  they  jumped  in  ranks 
Or  sin^y,  straight  the  arms  to  flanks. 
And  straight  the  legs,  with  just  a  knee 
For  bending  in  a  mild  degree. 


^e  villagers  might  call  them  mad ; 

An  endless  holiday  they  had, 

Of  pleasure  in  a  serious  work : 

They  taught  by  leaps  where  perils  lurk. 

And  with  the  lambkins  practised  sports 

For  'scaping  Satan's  pounds  and  quarts.' 


It  really  seemed  on  certain  days, 

^Mien  they  bobbed  up  their  Lord  to  praise. 

And  bobbing  up  they  caught  the  glance 

Of  light,  our  secret  is  to  dance. 

And  hold  the  tongue  from  hindering  peace; 

To  dance  out  preacher  and  police. 


Tlioae  flies  of  boys  disturbed  them  sore 
On  Sundays  and  when  daylight  wore : 
With  withies  cut  from  hedge  or  copse, 
They  treated  them  as  whipping-tops, 
And  flung  big  stones  with  cruel  aim ; 
Yet  all  the  flock  jumped  on  the  same. 


For  what  could  persecution  do 
To  worry  such  a  blessed  crew. 
On  whom  it  was  as  wind  to  Are, 
Which  set  them  always  jumping  higher? 
The  parson  and  the  lawyer  tried. 
By  meek  persistency  defied. 


dbyGoogle 


JUMP-TO-GLORY  JANE 


But  if  they  bore,  they  could  pursue 
Aa  well,  and  this  the  Bishop  too ; 
When  inner  warnings  proved  him  plain 
The  chase  for  Jump-to-glory  Jane. 
She  knew  it  by  his  being  sent 
To  bless  the  feasting  in  the  tent. 


Not  less  than  fifty  years  on  end. 
The  Squire  had  been  the  Bishop's  friend : 
And  hb  poor  tenants,  harmless  ones, 
With  souls  to  save !  fed  not  on  buns. 
But  angry  meats :  she  took  her  place 
Outside  to  show  the  way  to  grace. 


In  apron  suit  the  Bishop  stood ; 
The  crowding  people  kindly  viewed. 
A  gaunt  grey  woman  he  s&w  rise 
On  air,  with  most  beseeching  eyes : 
And  evident  as  light  in  dark 
It  was,  she  set  to  him  for  mark. 


Her  highest  leap  had  come :  with  ease 
She  jumped  to  reach  the  Bishop's  knees : 
Compressing  tight  her  arms  and  lips. 
She  sought  to  jump  the  Bishop's  lups : 
Her  aim  flew  at  his  apron-band. 
That  he  might  see  and  understand. 


The  mild  inquiry  of  his  gaze 

Was  altered  to  a  peaked  amaze. 

At  sight  of  thirty  in  ascent. 

To  gain  his  notice  clearly  bent : 

And  greatly  Jane  at  heart  was  vexed 

By  his  ploughed  look  of  mind  perplexed. 


dbyGoogle 


JUMP-TCMJLORY  JANE 


Id  jumps  that  sud.  Beware  the  pit ! 
More  eloquent  than  speaking  it — 
That  said,  Avoid  the  boiled,  the  roast ; 
The  heated  nose  on  face  of  gbost. 
Which  comes  of  drinking :  up  and  o'er 
The  flesh  with  me  1  did  Jane  implore. 


She  jumped  him  high  as  huntsmen  go 
Acrosa  the  gate ;  she  jumped  him  low, 
To  coax  him  to  begin  and  feel 
His  infant  steps  returning,  peel 
His  mortal  pride,  exposing  fruit. 
And  off  with  hat  and  sprao  suit 


We  need  much  patience,  well  she  knew. 
And  out  and  out,  and  through  and  through, 
When  we  would  gentlefolk  address. 
However  we  may  seek  to  bless  ; 
At  times  they  hide  them  like  the  beasts 
From  sacred  beams ;  and  mostly  priests. 


He  gave  no  sign  of  making  bare. 
Nor  she  of  faintness  or  despair. 
Inflamed  with  hope  that  she  might  win. 
If  she  but  coaxed  him  to  begin. 
She  used  all  arts  for  making  fain ; 
The  mother  with  her  babe  was  Jane. 


Now  stamped  the  Squire,  and  knowing  not 

Her  business,  waved  her  from  the  spot. 

Encircled  by  the  men  of  might. 

The  head  of  Jane,  like  flickering  light. 

As  in  a  charger,  they  beheld 

Ere  she  was  from  the  park  expelled. 


dbyGoogle 


JUMP-TO-GLORY  JANE 


Her  grief,  in  jumps  of  earthly  weight, 
Did  Jane  around  communicate : 
For  that  the  moment  when  began 
The  holy  but  mistaken  man. 
In  view  of  light,  to  take  his  lift. 
They  cut  him  from  her  charm  adrift  I 


And  he  was  lost :  a  banished  face 
For  ever  from  the  ways  of  grace, 
Unless  pinched  hard  by  dreams  in  fright. 
They  saw  the  Bishop's  wavering  sprite 
Within  her  look,  at  come  and  go. 
Long  after  he  had  caused  her  woe. 


Her  greying  eyes  (until  she  sank 
At  Fredsham  on  the  wayside  bank. 
Like  cinder  heaps  that  whitened  he 
From  coals  that  shot  the  flame  to  sky) 
Had  glassy  vacancies,  which  yearned 
For  one  in  memory  discerned. 


May  those  who  ply  the  tongue  that  cheats, 
And  those  who  rush  to  beer  and  meats, 
And  those  whose  mean  ambition  aims 
At  palaces  and  titled  names. 
Depart  in  such  a  cheerful  strain 
As  did  our  Jump-to-glory  Jane  I 


Her  end  was  beautiful :  one  sigh. 

She  jumped  a  foot  when  it  was  nigh. 

A  lily  in  a  linen  clout 

She  looked  when  they  had  laid  her  out 

It  b  a  lily-light  she  bears 

For  England  up  the  ladder-stairs. 


dbyGoogle 


THE  RIDDLE  FOR  MEN  • 


This  Kiddle  rede  or  die. 
Says  History  since  our  Flood, 
To  warn  her  sons  of  power . — 
It  can  be  truth,  it  can  be  lie ; 
Be  parasite  to  twist  awry ; 
The  drouthy  vampire  for  your  blood ; 
The  fountun  of  the  silver  flower ; 
A  brand,  a  lure,  a  web,  a  crest ; 
Supple  of  wax  or  tempered  steel ; 
The  spur  to  honour,  snake  in  nest : 
"Tis  as  you  will  with  it  to  deal ; 
To  wear  upon  the  breast, 
Or  trample  under  heel. 

n 
And  rede  you  not  aright. 
Says  Nature,  still  in  red 
Shall  History's  tale  be  writ ! 
For  solely  thus  you  lead  to  light 
The  trailing  chapters  she  must  write. 
And  pass  my  fiery  test  of  dead 
Or  living  through  the  fumace-pit : 
Dislinked  from  who  the  softer  hold 
In  grip  of  brute,  and  brute  remain : 
Of  whom  the  woeful  tale  is  told, 
How  for  one  short  Sultanic  reign, 
T^eir  bodies  lapse  to'  mould, 
Th^  souls  behowl  the  plain. 


THE  SAGE  ENAMOURED  AND  THE 
HONEST  LADY  * 


One  fairest  of  the  ripe  unwed ded  left 

Her  shadow  on  the  Sage's  path ;  he  found. 

By  common  signs,  that  she  had  done  a  theft. 

He  could  have  made  the  sovereign  heights  resound 


dbyGoogle 


THE  SAGE  ENAMOURED  381 

With  questions  of  the  wherefore  of  her  state : 

He  on  far  other  but  an  hour  before 

Intent.    And  waa  it  man,  or  waa  it  mate, 

That  she  dbdained  f  or  was  there  haply  more  J 

About  her  mouth  a  ptaeid  humour  slipped 

The  dimple,  as  you  see  smooth  lakes  at  eve 

Spread  melting  rings  where  late  a  swallow  dipped. 

The  surface  was  attentive  to  receive, 

The  secret  underneath  enfolded  fast. 

She  had  the  step  of  the  unconquered,  brave, 

Not  arrogant ;  and  if  the  vessel's  mast 

Waved  liberty,  no  challenge  did  it  wave. 

Her  eyes  were  the  sweet  world  desired  of  souls. 

With  something  of  a  wavering  line  unspelt. 

They  held  the  look  whose  tenderness  condoles 

For  what  the  sister  in  the  look  has  dealt  ' 

Of  fatal  beyond  healing ;  and  her  tones 

A  woman's  honeyed  amorous  outvied. 

As  when  in  a  dropped  viol  the  wood-throb  moans 

Among  the  sobbing  strings,  that  plain  and  chide 

Like  infants  for  themselves,  leas  deep  to  thrill 

Than  those  rich  mother-notes  for  them  breathed  round.* 

Those  voices  are  not  magic  of  the  will 

To  strike  love's  wound,  but  of  love's  wound  give  sound, 

Conveying  it;  the  yearnings,  pains  and  dreams. 

They  waft  to  the  moist  tropics  after  storm. 

When  out  of  passion  spent  thick  incense  steams, 

And  jewel-belted  clouds  the  wreck  transform. 

Was  never  hand  on  brush  or  lyre  to  paint 

Her  gracious  manners,  where  the  nuptial  ring 

Of  melody  clasped  motion  in  restraint : 

The  reed-blade  with  the  breeze  thereof  may  sing. 

With  such  endowments  armed  was  she  and  decked 

To  make  her  spoken  thoughts  eclipse  her  kind ; 

Surpassing  many  a  giant  intellect. 

The  marvel  of  that  cradled  infant  mind. 

It  clenched  the  tiny  fist,  it  curled  the  toe ; 

Cherubic  laughed,  enticed,  dispensed,  absorbed ; 

And  promised  in  fair  feminine  to  grow 

A  Sage's  match  and  mate,  more  heavenly  orbed. 


dbjGoogle 


THE  SAGE  ENAMOURED 


Across  his  path  the  spouseless  Lady  cast 

Her  shadow,  and  the  man  that  thing  became. 

His  youth  uprising  called  his  age  the  Past. 

This  was  the  strong  grey  head  of  laurelled  name, 

And  in  his  bosom  an  inverted  Sage 

Mistook  for  light  of  morn  the  light  which  sank. 

But  who  while  veins  run  blood  shall  know  the  page 

Succeeding  ere  we  turn  upon  our  blank? 

Comes  Deauty  with  her  tale  of  moon  and  cloud. 

Her  silvered  rims  of  mystery  pointing  in 

To  hollows  of  the  half-veiled  unavowcd. 

Where  beats  her  secret  life,  grey  heads  will  spin 

Quick  as  the  young,  and  spell  those  hieroglyphs 

Of  phosphorescent  dusk,  devoutly  bent ; 

They  drink  a  cup  to  whirl  on  dizzier  cliffs 

For  their  shamed  fall,  which  asks,  why  was  she  sent  I 

Why,  and  of  whom,  and  whence ;  and  tell  they  truth; 

The  legends  of  her  mission  to  beguile? 

Hard  likeness  to  the  toilful  apes  of  youth 

He  bore  at  times,  and  tempted  the  sly  smile ; 

And  not  on  her  soft  lips  was  it  descried. 

She  stepped  her  way  benevolently  grave  : 

Nor  sign  that  Beauty  fed  her  worm  of  pride. 

By  tossing  victim  to  the  courtier  knave. 

Let  peep,  nor  of  the  naughty  pride  gave  sign. 

Rather  'twas  humbleness  in  being  pursued. 

As  pilgrim  to  the  temple  of  a  shrine. 

Had  he  not  wits  to  pierce  the  mask  be  wooed  T 

All  wisdom's  armoury  this  man  could  wield ; 

And  if  the  cynic  in  the  Sage  it  pleased 

Traverse  her  woman's  curtain  and  poor  shield, 

For  new  example  of  a  world  diseased ; 

Showing  her  shrineless,  not  a  temple,  bare; 

A  curtain  ripped  to  tatters  by  the  blast ; 

Yet  she  most  surely  to  this  man  stood  fair : 

He  worshipped  like  the  young  enthusiast. 

Named  simpleton  or  poet.     Did  he  read 

Right  through,  and  with  the  voice  she  held  reserved 

Amid  her  vacant  ruins  jointly  plead  ? 


dbyGoogle 


THE  SAGE  ENAMOURED  38 

CompasmoQ  for  the  man  thus  noble  nerved 

The  pity  for  herself  she  felt  in  him. 

To  wreak  a  deed  of  gacrifice,  and  save ; 

At  least,  be  worthy.    That  our  soul  may  swim, 

We  sink  our  heart  down  bubbling  under  wave. 

It  bubbles  till  it  drops  among  the  wrecks. 

But,  ah  I  confession  of  a  woman's  breast : 

She  eminent,  she  honoured  of  her  sex ! 

Truth  speaks,  and  takes  the  spots  of  the  confessed. 

To  veil  them.    None  of  women,  save  their  vile, 

Plays  traitor  to  an  army  in  the  field. 

The  cries  most  vindicating  most  defile. 

How  shall  a  cause  to  Nature  be  appealed, 

When,  under  pressure  of  their  common  foe, 

Her  sisters  shun  the  Mother  and  disown. 

On  pain  of  his  intolerable  crow 

Above  the  fiction,  built  for  him,  o'erthrownT 

Irrational  he  is,  irrational 

Must  they  be,  though  not  Reason's  light  shall  wane 

In  them  with  ever  Nature  at  close  call. 

Behind  the  fiction  torturing  to  sustain ; 

Who  hear  her  in  the  milk,  and  sometimes  make 

A  tongueless  answer,  shivered  on  a  sigh : 

Whereat  men  dread  their  lofty  structure's  quake 

Once  more,  and  in  their  hosts  for  tocsin  ply 

The  crazy  roar  of  peril,  leonine 

For  injured  majesty.     That  sigh  of  dames 

Is  rare  and  soon  suppressed.     Not  they  combine 

To  shake  the  structure  sheltering  them,  which  tames 

Their  lustier  if  not  wilder :  fixed  are  they. 

In  elegancy  scarce  denoting  ease ; 

And  do  they  breathe,  it  is  not  to  betray 

The  martyr  in  the  caryatides. 

Yet  here  and  there  along  the  graceful  row 

Is  one  who  fetches  breath  from  deeps,  who  deema. 

Moved  by  a  desperate  craving,  their  old  foe 

May  yield  a  trustier  friend  than  woman  seems. 

And  aid  to  bear  the  sculptured  floral  weight 

Massed  upon  heads  not  utterly  of  stone : 

May  stamp  endurance  by  expounding  fate. 

She  turned  to  him,  and.  This  you  seek  is  gone ; 


dbyGoogle 


I  THE  SAGE  ENAMOURED 

Look  in,  she  said,  as  pants  the  furnace,  brief. 

Frost-white.    She  gave  his  hearing  sight  to  view 

The  silent  chamber  of  a  brown  cuHed  leaf : 

Thing  that  had  throhbed  ere  shot  black  lightning  through. 

No  further  sign  of  heart  could  he  discern : 

The  picture  of  her  speech  was  winter  sky ; 

A  headless  figure  folding  a  cleft  urn. 

Where  tears  once  at  the  overflow  were  dry. 


So  spoke  she  her  first  utterance  on  the  rack. 
It  softened  torment,  in  the  funeral  hues 
Round  wan  Romance  at  ebb,  but  drove  her  back 
To  listen  to  herself,  herself  accuse 
Harshly  as  Love's  imperial  cause  allowed. 
She  meant  to  grovel,  and  her  lover  praised 
So  high  o'er  the  condemnatory  crowd. 
That  she  perforce  a  fellow  phoenix  blazed. 

The  picture  was  of  hand  fast  joined  to  hand. 

Both  pushed  from  angry  skies,  their  grasp  more  pledged 

Under  the  threatened  flash  of  a  bright  brand 

At  arm's  length  up,  for  severing  action  edged. 

Why,  then  Love's  Court  of  Honour  contemplate ; 

And  two  drowned  shorecasts,  who,  for  the  Ufe  esteemed 

Above  their  lost,  invoke  an  advocate 

In  passion's  purity,  thereby  redeemed. 

Redeemed,  uplifted,  glimmering  on  a  throne. 
The  woman  stricken  by  an  arrow  falls. 
His  advocate  she  can  be,  not  her  own, 
If,  Traitress  to  thy  sex !  one  sister  calls. 
Have  we  such  scenes  of  drapery's  moumfulness 
On  Beauty's  revelations,  witched  we  plant, 
Over  the  fair  shape  humbled  to  confess. 
An  angel's  buckler,  with  loud  choiric  chant. 


No  knightly  sword  to  serve,  nor  harp  of  hard. 
The  lady's  hand  in  her  physician's  knew. 
She  had  not  hoped  for  them  as  her  award. 
When  zig-zag  on  the  tongue  electric  flew 


dbyGoogle 


THE  SAGE  ENAMOURED  3& 

Her  cbarge  of  counter-motives,  none  impure : 

But  muteness  whipped  her  akin-    She  could  have  said, 

Her  free  confession  was  to  work  his  cure, 

Shows  proofs  for  why  she  could  not  love  or  wed. 

Were  they  not  shown  ?    His  muteness  shook  in  thrall 

Her  body  on  the  verge  of  that  black  pit 

Sheer  from  the  treacherous  confessional. 

Demanding  further,  while  perusing  it. 

Slave  is  the  open  mouth  beneath  the  closed. 

She  sank ;  she  snatched  at  colours ;  they  were  peel 

Of  fruit  past  savour,  in  derision  rosed. 

For  the  dork  downward  then  her  soul  did  reel. 

A  press  of  hideous  impulse  urged  to  speak : 

A  novel  dread  of  man  enchained  her  dumb. 

She  felt  the  silence  thicken,  heard  it  shriek, 

Heard  Life  subsiding  on  the  eternal  hum : 

Welcome  to  women,  when,  between  man's  laws 

And  Nature's  thirsts,  they,  soul  from  body  torn. 

Give  suck  at  breast  to  a  celestial  cause. 

Named  by  the  mouth  infernal,  and  forsworn. 

Nathless  her  forehead  twitched  a  sad  content, 

To  think  the  cure  so  manifest,  so  frail 

Her  charm  remaining.     Was  the  curtain's  rent 

Too  wide?  he  but  a  man  of  that  herd  male? 

She  saw  him  as  that  herd  of  the  forked  head 

Butting  the  woman  harrowed  on  her  knees. 

Clothed  only  in  life's  last  devouring  red. 

Confession  at  her  fearful  instant  sees 

Judicial  Silence  write  the  devil  fact 

In  letters  of  the  skeleton :  at  once, 

Swayed  on  the  supplication  of  her  act. 

The  rabble  reading,  roaring  to  denounce. 

She  joins.     No  longer  colouring,  with  skips 

At  tangles,  picture  that  for  eyes  in  tears 

Might  swim  the  sequence,  she  addressed  her  lips 

To  do  the  scaffold's  office  at  his  ears. 

Into  the  bitter  judgement  of  that  herd 

On  women,  she,  deeming  it  present,  fell. 

Her  frenzy  of  abasement  hugged  the  word 

They  stone  with,  and  so  pile  their  ci^del 


dbyGoogle 


}  THE  SAGE  ENAMOURED 

To  launch  &t  outcasts  the  foul  levin  bolt. 

As  had  he  flung  it,  in  her  breast  it  burned. 

Face  and  reflect  it  did  her  hot  revolt 

From  hardness,  to  the  writhing  rebel  turned ; 

Because  the  golden  buckler  was  withheld, 

She  to  herself  applies  the  powder-spark. 

For  joy  of  one  wild  demon  burst  ere  quelled. 

Perishing  to  astound  the  tyrant  Dark. 

She  had  the  Scriptural  word  so  scored  on  brain. 

It  rang  through  air  to  sky,  and  rocked  a  world 

That  danced  down  shades  the  scarlet  dance  profane ; 

Most  women  I  see !  by  the  man's  view  dustward  hurled. 

Impenitent,  submissive,  torn  in  two. 

They  sink  upon  their  nature,  the  unnamed. 

And  sops  of  nourishment  may  get  some  few. 

In  place  of  understanding,  scourged  and  shamed. 

Barely  have  seasoned  women  understood 

The  great  Irrational,  who  thunders  power. 

Drives  Natm«  to  her  primitive  wild  wood. 

And  courts  her  in  the  covert's  dewy  hour; 

R«tuming  to  his  fortress  nigh  night's  end. 

With  execration  of  her  daughters'  lures. 

They  help  him  the  proud  fortress  to  defend. 

Nor  see  what  front  it  wears,  what  life  immiues. 

The  murder  it  commits ;  nor  that  its  base 

Is  shifty  as  a  huckster's  opening  deal 

For  bargain  under  smoothest  market  face. 

While  Gentleness  bids  frigid  Justice  feel. 

Justice  protests  that  Reason  is  her  seat ; 

Elect  Convenience,  as  Reason  masked. 

Hears  calmly  cramped  Humanity  entreat ; 

Until  a  sentient  world  is  overtasked, 

And  rouses  Reason's  fountain-self :  she  calls 

On  Nature ;  Nature  answers  :  Share  your  guilt 

In  common  when  contention  cracks  the  walls 

Of  the  big  house  which  not  on  me  is  built. 

The  Lady  said  as  much  as  breath  will  bear; 

To  happier  sisters  inconceivable : 

Contemptible  to  veterans  of  the  fair. 

Who  show  for  a  convolving  pearly  shell. 


dbyGoogle 


THE  SAGE  ENAMOURED  38 

A  treasure  of  the  shore,  their  written  book. 
As  much  as  woman's  breath  will  bear  and  live 
Shaped  she  to  words  beneath  a  knotted  look, 
That  held  as  if  for  grain  the  summing  sieve. 

Her  judge  now  brightened  without  pause,  as  wakes 
Our  homely  daylight  after  dread  of  spells. 
Lips  sugared  to  let  loose  the  little  snakes 
Of  slimy  lustres  ringing  elfin  bells 
About  a  story  of  the  naked  flesh, 
Intending  but  to  put  some  garment  on. 
Should  learn,  that  in  the  subject  they  enmesh, 
A  trMtor  lurks  and  will  be  known  anon. 
Delusion  heating  pricks  the  torpid  doubt. 
Stationed  for  index  down  an  ancient  track : 
And  ware  of  it  was  he  while  she  poured  out 
A  broken  moon  on  forest-waters  black. 

Though  past  the  stage  where  midway  men  are  skilled 
To  scan  their  senses  wriggling  under  plough, 
^Vhen  yet  to  the  charmed  seed  of  speech  distilled. 
Their  hearts  are  fallow,  he,  and  witless  how. 
Loathing,  had  yielded,  like  bruised  limb  to  leech. 
Not  handsomely ;  but  now  beholding  bleed 
Soul  of  the  woman  in  her  prostrate  speech. 
The  valour  of  that  rawness  he  could  read. 
Thence  flashed  it,  as  the  crimson  currents  ran 
From  senses  up  to  thoughts,  how  she  had  read 
Maternally  the  warm  remainder  man 
Beneath  his  crust,  and  Nature's  pity  shed. 
In  shedding  dearer  than  heart's  blood  to  light 
His  vision  of  the  path  mild  Wisdom  walks. 
Therewith  he  could  espy  Confession's  fright ; 
Her  need  of  him :  these  flowers  grow  on  stalks ; 
They  suck  from  soil,  and  have  their  urgencies 
Beside  and  with  the  lovely  face  mid  leaves. 
Veins  of  divergencies,  convergencies. 
Our  botanist  in  womankind  perceives ; 
And  if  he  hugs  no  wound,  the  roan  can  prize 
That  splendid  consummation  and  sure  proof 
Of  more  than  heart  in  her,  who  might  despise. 
Who  drowns  herself,  for  pity  up  aloof 


dbyGoogle 


i  THE  SAGE  ENAMOURED 

To  soar  and  be  like  Nature'spity :  she 

Instinctive  of  what  virtue  in  young  days 

Had  served  him  for  his  pilot-star  on  sea, 

To  trouble  him  in  haven.     Thus  his  gaze 

Came  out  of  rust,  and  more  than  the  schooled  tongue 

Was  gifted  to  encourage  and  assure. 

He  gave  her  of  the  deep  well  she  had  sprung; 

And  name  it  gratitude,  the  word  b  poor. 

But  name  it  gratitude,  is  aught  as  rare 

From  sex  to  sex  T    And  let  it  have  siu'vived 

Their  conflict,  comes  the  peace  between  the  pwr, 

Unknown  to  thousands  husbanded  and  wived : 

Unknown  to  Passion,  generous  for  prey : 

Unknown  to  Love,  too  blissful  in  a  truce. 

Their  teoderest  of  self  did  each  one  slay ; 

Hb  cloak  of  dignity,  her  fleur  de  luce ; 

Her  lily  flower,  and  his  abolla  cloak, 

Things  living,  slew  they,  and  no  artery  bled. 

A  moment  of  some  sacrificial  smoke 

They  passed,  and  were  the  dearer  for  their  dead. 

He  ieamt  how  much  we  gain  who  make  no  churns. 

A  nightcap  on  hb  flicker  of  grey  fire 

Was  thought  of  her  sharp  shudder  in  the  flames, 

Confessing ;  and  its  conjured  image  dire, 

Of  love,  the  torrent  on  the  valley  dashed ; 

The  whirlwind  swathing  tremulous  peaks;  young  forcei 

Visioned  to  hold  corrected  and  abadied 

Our  senile  emulous ;  which  roUs  its  course 

Proud  to  the  shattering  end  ;  with  these  few  last 

Hot  quintessential  drops  of  bryony  juice. 

Squeezed  out  in  anguish :  all  of  that  once  vast  I 

And  still,  though  having  skin  for  man's  abuse. 

Though  no  more  glorying  in  the  beauteous  wreath 

Shot  skyward  from  a  blood  at  passionate  jet, 

Repenting  but  in  words,  that  stand  as  teeth 

Between  the  vivid  lips ;  a  vassal  set ; 

And  numb,  of  formal  value.     Are  we  true 

In  nature,  never  natural  thing  repents ; 

Albeit  receiving  punishment  for  due. 

Among  the  group  of  thb  world's  penitents ; 


dbyGoogle 


THE  SAGE  ENAMOURED  S 

Albeit  remorsefully  r^retting,  oft 

Craveoly,  while  the  scourge  no  shudder  spares. 

Our  world  believes  it  stabler  if  the  soft 
Are  whipped  to  show  the  face  repentance  wears. 
Then  hear  it,  in  a  moan  of  atheist  gloom, 
Deplore  the  weedy  growth  of  hypocrites ; 
Count  Nature  devilish,  and  accept  for  doom 
The  chasm  between  our  paasioos  and  our  wits  1 

Affecting  lunar  whiteness,  p>atent  snows. 
It  trembles  at  betrayal  of  a  sore. 
Hers  is  the  glacier-conscience,  to  expose 
Impurities  for  clearness  at  the  core. 

She  to  her  hungered  thundering  in  breast. 
Ye  shaU  not  alane,  not  feebly  designates 
The  world  repressing  as  a  life  repressed. 
Judged  by  the  wasted  martyrs  it  creates. 
How  Sin,  amid  the  shades  Cimmerian, 
Repents,  she  points  for  sight :  and  she  avers. 
The  hoofed  half-angel  in  the  Puritan 
Nigh  reads  her  when  no  brutish  wrath  deters. 

Sin  against  immaturity,  the  sin 
Of  ravenous  excess,  what  deed  divides 
Man  from  vitality ;  these  bleed  within ; 
Bleed  in  the  crippled  relic  that  abides. 
Perpetually  they  bleed ;  a  limb  is  lost, 
A  piece  of  life,  the  very  spirit  maimed. 
But  culprit  who  the  law  of  man  has  crossed 
With  Nature's  dubiously  within  is  blamed ; 
Despite  our  cry  at  cutting  of  the  whip. 
Our  shiver  in  the  night  when  numbers  frown, 
We  but  bewail  a  broken  fellowship, 
A  sting,  an  isolation,  a  fall'n  crown. 

Abject  of  sinners  is  that  sensitive. 

The  flesh,  amenable  to  stripes,  miscalled 

Incorrigible ;  such  title  do  we  give 

To  the  poor  shrinking  stuff  wherewith  we  are  walled ; 

And,  taking  it  for  Nature,  place  in  ban 

Our  Mother,  as  a  Power  wanton-willed. 


dbyGoogle 


3.  THE  SAGE  ENAMOURED 

The  ahame  and  baffler  of  the  soul  of  man, 
The  recreant,  reptilious.     Do  thou  build 
Thy  mind  on  her  foundations  in  earth's  bed ; 
Behold  man's  mind  the  child  of  her  keen  rod. 
For  teaching  how  the  wits  and  passions  wed 
To  rear  that  temple  of  the  credible  God ; 
Sacred  the  letters  of  her  laws,  and  plain. 
Will  shine,  to  guide  thy  feet  and  hold  thee  firm  i 
Then,  as  a  pathway  through  a  field  of  grain, 
Man's  laws  appear  the  blind  progressive  worm. 
That  moves  by  touch,  and  thrust  of  linking  rings 
The  which  to  endow  with  vision,  lift  from  mud 
To  level  of  their  natiu'e's  aims  and  springs. 
Must  those,  the  twain  beside  our  vital  flood. 
Now  on  opposing  banks,  the  twain  at  strife 
(Whom  the  so  rosy  ferryman  invites 
'To  junction,  and  mid-channel  over  Life, 
Unmasked  to  the  ghostly,  much  asunder  smites) 
Instruct  in  deeper  than  Convenience, 
In  higher  than  the  harvest  of  a  year. 
Only  the  rooted  knowledge  to  high  sense 
Of  heavenly  can  mount,  and  feel  the  spur 
For  fniitfullcst  advancement,  eye  a  mark 
Beyond  the  path  with  grain  on  either  hand. 
Help  to  the  steering  of  our  social  Ark 
Over  the  barbarous  waters  unto  land. 

For  us  the  double  conscience  and  its  war. 
The  serving  of  two  masters,  false  to  both. 
Until  those  twain,  who  spring  the  root  and  are 
The  knowledge  in  division,  plight  a  troth 
Of  equal  hands :  nor  longer  circulate 
A  pious  token  for  their  current  coin, 
To  growl  at  the  exchange ;  they,  mate  and  mate. 
Fair  feminine  and  masculine  shall  join 
Upon  an  upper  plane,  still  common  mould. 
Where  stamped  religion  and  reflective  pace 
A  statelier  measure,  and  the  hoop  of  gold 
Rounds  to  horizon  for  their  soul's  embrace. 
Then  shall  those  noblest  of  the  earth  and  sun 
Inmix  unlike  to  waves  on  savage  sea. 


dbyGoogle 


THE  SAGE  ENAMOURED 

But  not  till  Nature's  laws  and  inan's  are  one. 
Can  mania^  of  the  man  and  woman  be. 


He  passed  her  through  the  sermon's  dull  defile. 

Down  under  billowy  vapour-gorges  heaved 

The  city  and  the  vale  and  mountain-pile. 

She  felt  strange  push  of  shuttle-threads  that  weaved. 

A  new  land  in  an  old  beneath  her  lay ; 

And  forth  to  meet  it  did  her  spirit  rush, 

As  bride  wbo  without  shame  has  come  to  say. 

Husband,  in  his  dear  face  that  caused  her  blush. 

A  natural  woman's  heart,  not  more  than  clad 

By  station  and  bright  raiment,  gathers  heat 

From  nakedness  in  trusted  hands :  she  had 

The  joy  of  those  who  feel  the  worid's  heart  beat, 

After  long  doubt  of  it  as  fire  or  ice ; 

Because  one  man  had  helped  her  to  breathe  free ; 

Surprised  to  faith  in  something  of  a  price 

Past  the  old  charity  in  chivalry : — 

Our  first  wild  step  to  right  the  loaded  scales 

Displaying  women  shamefully  outweighed. 

The  wisdom  of  humaneness  best  avails 

For  serving  justice  till  that  fraud  is  brayed. 

Her  buried  body  fed  the  life  she  drank. 

And  not  another  stripping  of  her  wound ! 

The  startled  thought  on  black  delirium  sank, 

While  with  her  gentle  surgeon  she  communed. 

And  woman's  prospect  of  the  yoke  repelled. 

Her  buried  body  gave  her  flowers  and  food ; 

The  peace,  the  homely  skies,  the  springs  that  welled ; 

Love,  the  large  love  that  folds  the  multitude. 

Soul's  chastity  in  honesty,  and  this 
With  beauty,  made  the  dower  to  men  refused. 
And  little  do  they  know  the  prize  they  miss ; 
Which  is  their  happy  fortune  I    Thus  he  mused. 

For  him,  the  cynic  in  the  Sage  had  play 
A  hazy  moment,  by  a  breath  dispelled ; 


dbyGoogte 


FRAGMENTS 

To  think,  of  all  alive  most  wedded  they, 

Whom  time  disjoined  1    He  needed  her  quick  thirat 

For  renovated  earth  t  on  earth  she  gazed. 

With  humhle  aim  to  foot  beside  the  wise. 

Lo,  where  the  eyelashes  of  night  are  raised 

Yet  lowly  over  morning's  pure  grey  eyes. 

FRAGMENTS 

Love  is  winged  for  two, 

In  the  worst  he  weathers, 

When  their  hearts  are  tied ; 

But  if  they  divide, 

0  too  true! 
Cracks  a  globe,  and  feathers,  feathers. 
Feathers  all  the  ground  bestrew. 

I  was  breast  of  morning  sea. 
Rosy  plume  on  forest  dun, 
I  the  laugh  in  rainy  fleeces, 

While  with  me 

She  made  one. 
Now  must  we  pick  up  our  pieces, 
For  that  then  so  winged  were  we, 

Abk,  is  Love  divine. 
Voices  all  are,  ay. 
Question  for  the  sign. 
There  's  a  common  sigh. 
Would  we,  through  our  years, 
Love  forego, 
Quit  of  scars  and  tears  ? 
Ah,  but  no,  no,  no  I 

Jot  b  fleet, 
Sorrow  slow. 
Love,  so  sweet. 
Sorrow  will  sow. 
Love,  that  has  flown 
Ere  day's  decline. 
Love  to  have  known. 
Sorrow,  be  mine  I 


dbyGoogle 


THE  LESSON  OF  GRIEF  • 

Not  ere  the  bitter  herb  we  taste. 
Which  ages  thought  of  happy  times,' 
To  plant  us  in  a  weeping  waste. 
Rings  with  our  fellows  this  one  heart 
Accordant  chimes. 

When  I  had  shed  ray  glad  year's  leaf, 
I  did  believe  I  stood  alone. 
Till  that  great  company  of  Grief 
Taught  me  to  know  this  craving  heart 
For  not  roy  own. 


WIND  ON  THE  LYRE  • 

That  was  the  chirp  of  Ariel 
You  heard,  as  overhead  it  flew. 
The  farther  going  more  to  dwell, 
And  wing  our  green  to  wed  our  blue ; 
But  whether  note  of  joy  or  knell, 
Not  his  own  Father-singer  knew ; 
Nor  yet  can  any  mortal  tell, 
Save  only  how  it  shivers  through ; 
The  breast  of  us  a  sounded  ^ell. 
The  blood  of  us  a  lighted  dew. 


THE  YOUTHFUL  QUEST 

Hia  Lady  queen  of  woods  to  meet. 
He  wanders  day  and  night : 

The  leaves  have  whisperings  discreet, 
The  mossy  ways  invite. 

Across  a  lustrous  ring  of  space, 
By  covert  hoods  and  caves. 

Is  promise  of  her  secret  face 
Id  film  that  onward  waves. 


dbyGoogle 


THE  YOUTHFUL  QUEST 

For  darkness  is  the  light  astrain, 
Astraio  for  light  the  dark. 

A  grey  moth  down  a  larches'  lane 
Unwinds  a  ghostly  spark. 

Her  lamp  be  sees,  and  young  de^re 
Is  fed  while  cloaked  she  flies. 

She  quivers  shot  of  violet  fire 
To  ash  at  look  of  eyes. 


ODE  TO  THE  COMIC  SPIRIT* 

Sword  of  Common  Sense ! — 

Our  surest  gift :  the  sacred  chain 

Of  man  to  man :  firm  earth  for  trust 

In  structures  vowed  to  permanence : — 

Thou  guardian  issue  of  the  harvest  brain  I 

Implacable  perforce  of  just ; 

With  that  good  treasure  in  defence. 

Which  is  our  gold  crushed  out  of  joy  and  pain 

Since  first  men  planted  foot  and  hand  was  king : 

Bright,  nimble  of  the  marrow-nerve 

To  wield  thy  double  edge,  retort 

Or  hold  the  deadlier  reserve, 

And  through  thy  victim's  weapon  sting ; 

Thine  is  the  service,  thine  the  sport 

This  shifty  heart  of  ours  to  hunt 

Across  its  webs  and  round  the  many  a  ring 

Where  fox  it  is,  or  snake,  or  mingled  seeds 

Occasion  heats  to  shape,  or  the  poor  smoke 

Struck  from  a  puff-baJl,  or  the  troughster's  grunt  ,- 

Once  lion  of  our  desert's  trodden  weeds ; 

And  but  for  thy  straight  finger  at  the  yoke. 

Again  to  be  the  lordly  paw. 

Naming  his  appetites  his  needs, 

Behind  a  decorative  cloak : 

Thou,  of  the  highest,  the  unwritten  Law 

We  read  upon  that  building's  architrave 

In  the  mind's  firmament,  by  men  upraised 

With  sweat  of  blood  when  they  had  quitted  cave 


dbyGoogle 


THE  COMIC  SPIRIT 

For  fellowship,  and  rearward  looked  amazed, 

Where  the  prime  motive  gapes  a  lurid  jaw. 

Thou,  soul  of  wakened  heads,  art  armed  to  warn. 

Restrain,  lest  we  hackslide  on  whence  we  sprang. 

Scarce  better  than  our  dwarf  beginning  shoot. 

Of  every  gathered  peart  and  blossom  shorn ; 

Through  thee,  in  novel  wiles  to  win  disguise, 

Seen  are  the  pits  of  the  disruptor,  seen 

Hia  rebel  agitation  at  our  root : 

Thou  hast  him  out  of  hawking  eyes ; 

Nor  ever  rooming  of  the  clang 

Young  EJcho  sped  on  hill  from  horn 

In  forest  blown  when  scent  was  keen 

Off  earthly  dews  besprinkling  blades 

Of  covert  grass  more  merrily  rang 

The  yelp  of  chase  down  alleys  green, 

Forth  of  the  headlong-pouring  glades, 

Over  the  dappled  fallows  wild  away. 

Than  thy  fine  unaccented  scorn 

At  sight  of  man's  old  secret  brute. 

Devout  for  pasture  on  his  prey. 

Advancing,  yawning  to  devour; 

With  step  of  deer,  with  voice  of  flute. 

Haply  with  visage  of  the  lily  flower. 

Let  the  cock  crow  and  ruddy  mom 

His  handmaiden  appear !    Youth  claims  his  hour. 

The  generously  ludicrous 

Espouses  it.     But  see  we  sons  of  day, 

On  whom  Life  leans  for  guidance  in  our  fight. 

Accept  the  throb '  for  lord  of  us ; 

For  lord,  for  the  main  central  light 

That  gives  direction,  not  the  eclipse ; 

Or  dost  thou  look  where  niggard  Age, 

Demanding  reverence  for  wrinkles,  whips 

A  tumbled  top  to  grind  a  wolf's  worn  tooth ; — 

Hoar  despot  on  our  flnal  stage. 

In  dotage  of  a  stunted  Youth ; — 

Or  it  may  be  some  venerable  sage, 

Not  having  thee  awake  in  him,  compact 

Of  wisdom  else,  the  breast's  old  tempter  trips ; 


dbyGoogle 


i  THE  COMIC  SPIRIT 

Or  see  we  ceremonial  state, 

Robing  the  gilded  beast,  exact 

Abjection,  while  the  crackskuU  name  of  Fate 

Is  used  to  stamp  aQd  hallow  printed  fact; 

A  cruel  corner  lengthens  up  tiiy  lips ; 

These  are  thy  game  wherever  men  engage : 

These  and,  majestic  in  a  borrowed  shape. 

The  major  and  the  minor  potentate, 

Creative  of  their  various  ape ; — 

The  tiptoe  mortals  triumphing  to  write 

Upon  a  perishable  page 

An  inch  above  then-  feQows'  height ; — 

The  criers  of  foregone  wisdom,  who  impose 

Its  slough  on  live  conditions,  much  for  the  greed 

Of  our  first  hungry  figure  wide  agape ; — 

Call  up  thy  hounds  of  laughter  to  their  run. 

These,  that  would  have  men  still  of  men  be  foes. 

Eternal  fox  to  prowl  and  pike  to  feed ; 

Would  keep  our  life  the  whirly  pool 

Of  turbid  stuff  dishonouring  History; 

The  herd  the  drover's  herd,  the  fool  the  fool, 

Ourself  our  slavish  self's  infernal  sun : 

These  are  the  children  of  the  heart  untaught 

By  thy  quick  founts  to  beat  abroad,  by  thee 

Untamed  to  tone  its  passions  under  thought. 

The  rich  humaneness  reading  in  thy  fun. 

Of  them  a  world  of  coltish  heels  for  school 

We  have;  a  world  with  driving  wrecks  bestrewn. 

'Tis  written  of  the  Gods  of  human  mould, 

Those  Nectar  Gods,  of  glorious  stature  hewn 

To  quicken  hymns,  that  they  did  hear,  incensed. 

Satiric  comments  overbold, 

From  one  whose  part  was  by  decree 

The  jester's ;  but  they  boiled  to  feel  him  bite. 

Better  for  them  had  they  with  Reason  fenced 

Or  smiled  corrected !    'They  in  the  great  Gods'  might 

Their  prober  crushed,  aa  fingers  flea. 

Crumbled  Olympus  when  the  sovereign  sire 

His  fatal  kick  to  Momus  gave,  albeit 

Men  could  behold  the  sacred  Mount  aspire. 


dbjGoogle 


THE  COMIC  SPIRIT  3i 

The  Satirist  pass  by  on  limping  feet.* 

Those  Gods  who  saw  the  ejected  laugh  alight 

Below  had  then  their  last  of  airy  glee ; 

They  in  the  cup  sought  Laughter's  drownM  sprite, 

Fed  to  dire  fatness  off  uncurbed  conceit. 

Eyes  under  saw  them  waddle  on  their  Mount, 

And  drew  them  down ;  to  flattest  earth  they  rolled. 

This  know  we  veritable.    O  Sage  of  Mirth  1 

Can  it  be  true,  the  story  men  recount 

Of  the  fall'n  plight  of  the  great  Gods  on  earth? 

How  they  being  deathless,  though  of  human  mould. 

With  human  cravings,  undecaying  frames, 

Must  labour  for  subsistence ;  are  a  band 

Whom  a  loose-cheeked,  wide-hpped  gay  cripple  leads 

At  haunts  of  holiday  on  summer  sand : ' 

And  lightly  he  will  hint  to  one  that  heeds 

Names  in  pained  designation  of  them,  names 

Ensphered  on  blue  skies  and  on  black,  which  twiri 

Our  hearing  madly  from  our  seeing  dazed. 

Add  Bacchus  unto  both ;  *  and  he  entreats 

(His  baby  dimples  in  maternal  chaps 

Running  wild  labyrinths  of  line  and  curi) 

Compassion  for  his  masterful  Trombone, 

Whose  thunder  is  the  brass  of  how  he  blazed 

Of  old :  for  him  of  the  mountain-muscle  feats. 

Who  guts  a  drum  to  fetch  a  snappish  groan : 

For  his  6eroe  bugler  homing  onset,  whom 

A  truncheon-battered  helmet  caps.  .  .  . 

The  creature  is  of  earnest  mien 

To  plead  a  sorrow  darker  than  the  tomb. 

His  Harp  and  Triangle,  in  tone  subdued, 

He  names ;  they  are  a  rayless  red  and  white ; ' 

The  dawn-hued  libertine,  the  gibbous  prude. 

And,  if  we  recognize  his  Tambourine, 

He  asks ;  exhausted  names  her :  she  has  become 

A  globe  in  cupolas ;  the  blowziest  queen 

Of  overflowing  dome  on  dome ; 

Redundancy  contending  with  the  tight. 

Leaping  the  dam  1    He  fondly  calls,  his  girl. 

The  buxom  tripper  with  the  goblet-smile, 

Refreshful.'    O  but  now  his  brows  are  duo. 


dbyGoogle 


i  THE  COMIC  SPIRIT 

Bunched  are  his  lips,  as  when  distilling  guile, 

To  drop  his  venomous :  the  Dame  of  dames. 

Flower  of  the  world,  that  honey  one, 

She  of  the  earthly  rose  in  the  sea-pearl, 

To  whom  the  world  ran  ocean  for  her  kiss ; 

He  names  her,  as  a  worshipper  he  names. 

And  indicates  with  a  contemptuous  thumb. 

The  lady  meanwhile  lures  the  mob,  alike 

Ogles  the  bursters  of  the  horn  and  drum. 

Curtain  her  close !  her  open  arms 

Have  suckers  for  beholders :  she  to  this? 

For  that  she  could  not,  save  in  fury,  hear 

A  sharp  corrective  utterance  flick 

Her  idle  manners,  for  the  laugh  to  strike 

Beauty  so  breeding  beauty,  without  peer 

Above  the  snows,  among  the  flowers?     She  reaps 

This  mouldy  gamer  of  the  fatal  kick? 

Gross  with  the  sacrifice  of  Circe-swarms, 

Astarte  of  vile  sweets  that  slay,  malign. 

From  Greek  resplendent  to  Phoenician  foul. 

The  trader  in  attractions  sinks,'  all  brine 

To  thoughts  of  taste ;  is  *t  love  ? — bark,  dog !  hoot,  owl  I 

And  she  is  blushless :  ancient  worship  weeps. 

Suicide  Graces  dangle  down  the  channs 

Sprawling  like  gourds  on  outer  garden-heaps. 

She  stands  in  her  unholy  oily  leer 

A  statue  losing  feature,  weather-sick 

Mid  draggled  creepers  of  twined  ivy  sere. 

The  curtain  cried  for  magnifies  to  see ! — 

We  cannot  quench  our  one  corrupting  glance: 

The  vision  of  the  rumour  will  not  flee. 

Doth  the  Boy  own  such  Mother? ' — shoot  his  dart 

To  bring  her,  countless  as  the  crested  deeps,. 

Her  subjects  of  the  uncorrected  heart? 

False  is  that  vision,  shrieks  the  devotee ; 

Incredible,  we  echo ;  and  anew 

Like  a  far  growling  lightning-cloud  it  leaps. 

Low  humourist  this  leader  seems ;  *  perchance 

Pitched  from  his  University  career, 

Adept  at  classic  fooling.    Yet  of  mould 

Human  those  Gods  were :  deathless  too : 


dbyGoogle 


THE  COMIC  SPIRIT 

On  high  they  not  aa  meditatives  paced : 

Prodigiously  they  did  the  deeds  of  flesh : 

Descending,  they  would  touch  the  lowest  here: 

And  she,  that  lighted  form  of  blue  and  gold. 

Whom  the  seas  gave,  all  earth,  all  earth  embraced; 

GxulUng  in  the  great  hauls  of  her  mesh ; 

Desired  and  hated,  desperately  dear ; 

Most  human  of  them  was.     No  more  pursue  I 

Enough  that  the  black  story  can  be  told. 

It  preaches  to  the  eminently  placed : 

For  whom  disastrous  wreckage  is  nigh  due. 

Paints  omen.    Truly  they  our  throbber  had ;  * 

The  passions  plumping,  passions  playing  leech. 

Cunning  to  trick  us  for  the  day's  good  cheer. 

Our  uncorrected  human  heart  will  swell 

To  notions  monstrous,  doings  mad 

As  billows  on  a  foam-lashed  beach ; 

Borne  on  the  tides  of  alternating  heats. 

Will  drug  the  brain,  will  doom  the  soul  as  well ; 

Call  the  closed  mouth  of  that  harsh  final  Power 

To  speak  in  judgement :  Nemesis,  the  fell : 

Of  those  bright  Gods  assembled,  offspring  sour; 

The  last  surviving  on  the  upper  seats ; 

As  with  men  Reason  when  their  hearts  rebel. 

Ah,  what  a  fruitless  breeder  is  this  heart. 

Full  of  the  mingled  seeds,  each  eating  each. 

Not  wiser  of  our  mark  than  at  the  start. 

It  surges  like  the  wrath-faced  father  Sea 

To  countering  winds ;  a  force  blind-eyed, 

On  endless  rounds  of  aimless  reach ; 

Emotion  for  the  source  of  pride, 

The  grounds  of  faith  in  fixity 

Above  our  flesh  ;  its  cravings  urging  Speech, 

Inspiring  prayer ;  by  turns  a  lump 

Swung  on  a  time-piece,  and  by  turns 

A  quivering  energy  to  jump 

For  seats  angelical ;  it  shrinks,  it  yearns, 

Loves,  loathes ;  is  flame  or  cinders ;  lasdy  cloud 

Capping  a  sullen  crater :  and  mankind 

We  see  cloud-capped,  an  army  of  the  dark, 


dbyGoogle 


THE  COMIC  SPIRIT 

Because  of  thy  straight  leadership  declined ; 

At  heeb  of  this  or  that  delusive  spark : 

Now  when  the  multitudinous  races  press 

Elbow  to  elbow  hourly  more, 

A  thickened  host ;  when  now  we  hear  aloud 

Life  for  the  very  life  implore 

A  signal  of  a  visioned  mark ; 

Light  of  the  mind,  the  mind's  discourse, 

The  rational  in  graciousness. 

Thee  by  acknowledgement  enthroned, 

To  tame  and  lead  that  blind-eyed  force 

In  harmony  of  harness  with  the  crowd. 

For  payment  of  their  dues ;  as  yet  disowned. 

Save  where  some  dutiful  lone  creature,  vowed 

To  holy  work,  deems  it  the  heart's  intent ; 

Or  where  a  silken  circle  views  it  cowled. 

The  seeming  figure  of  concordance,  bent 

On  satiating  tyrant  lust 

Or  barren  6ts  of  sentiment. 

Thou  wilt  not  have  our  paths  befouled 

By  simulation ;  are  we  vile  to  view, 

The  heavens  shall  see  us  clean  of  our  own  dust, 

Beneath  thy  breezy  Bitting  wing : 

They  make  their  mirror  upon  faces  true ; 

And  where  they  win  reflection,  lucid  heave 

The  under  tides  of  this  hot  heart  seen  through. 

Beneficently  wilt  thou  clip 

All  oversteppings  of  the  plumed. 

The  puffed,  and  bid  the  masker  strip. 

And  into  the  crowned  windbag  thrust, 

Tearing  the  mortal  from  the  vital  thing, 

A  lightning  o'er  the  half-illumed. 

Who  to  base  brute-dominion  cleave, 

Yet  mark  effects,  and  shun  the  flash, 

Till  their  drowsed  wits  a  beam  conceive, 

To  spy  a  wound  without  a  gash, 

The  magic  in  a  turn  of  wrist. 

And  how  are  wedded  heart  and  head  regaled 

When  Wit  o'er  Folly  blows  the  mort. 

And  their  high  note  of  union  spreads 


dbyGoogle 


THE  COMIC  SPIRIT 

Wide  from  the  timely  word  with  conquest  charged ; 

Victorious  laughter,  of  no  loud  report, 

If  heard ;  derision  aa  divinely  veiled 

As  terrible  Immortals  in  rose-mist. 

Given  to  the  vision  of  arrested  men : 

Whereat  they  feel  within  tbem  weave 

Community  its  closer  threads. 

And  are  to  our  fraternal  state  enlarged ; 

Like  warm  fresh  blood  is  their  enlivened  ken : 

They  learn  that  thou  art  not  of  alien  sort. 

Speaking  the  tongue  by  vipers  hissed, 

&  of  the  frosty  heights  unsealed. 

Or  of  the  vain  who  simple  speech  distort. 

Or  of  the  vapours  pointing  on  to  nought 

Along  cold  skies ;  though  sharp  and  high  thy  pitch: 

As  when  sole  homeward  the  belated  treads. 

And  hears  aloft  a  clamour  wailed. 

That  once  had  seemed  the  broomstick  witch 

Horridly  violating  cloud  for  drought : 

He,  from  the  rub  of  minds  dispersing  fears. 

Hears  migrants  marshalling  their  midnight  train; 

Homeliest  order  in  black  sky  appears. 

Not  less  than  in  the  lighted  village  steads. 

So  do  those  half-illumed  wax  clear  to  share 

A  cry  that  is  our  common  voice ;  the  note 

Of  fellowship  upon  a  loftier  plane. 

Above  embattled  castle-wall  and  moat ; 

And  toning  drops  as  from  pure  heaven  it  sheds. 

So  thou  for  washing  a  phantasmal  air. 

For  thy  sweet  singing  kej-note  of  the  wise, 

Laughter — the  joy  of  Reason  seeing  fade 

Obstruction  into  Earth's  renewing  beds. 

Beneath  the  stroke  of  her  good  servant's  blade — 

llienceforth  art  as  their  earth-star  hailed ; 

Gain  of  the  years,  conjunction's  prize. 

The  greater  heart  in  thy  appeal  to  heads 

They  see,  thou  Captain  of  our  civil  Fort  I 

By  more  elusive  savages  assailed 

{>[i  each  ascending  stage ;  untired 

Both  inner  foe  and  outer  to  cut  short. 

And  blow  to  chaff  pretenders  void  of  grist : 


dbyGoogle 


I  THE  COMIC  SPIRIT 

Showing  old  tiger's  claws,  old  crocodile's 

Yard-grin  of  eager  grinders,  slim  to  sight. 

Like  forms  in  niimiDg  water,  oft  when  smiles. 

When  pearly  tears,  when  fluent  lips  delight : 

But  never  with  the  slayer's  malice  fired  : 

As  little  as  informs  an  Infant's  fist 

Clenched  at  the  sneeze  1    Thou  wouidst  hut  have  us  be 

Good  sons  of  mother  soil,  whereby  to  grow 

Branching  on  fairer  skies,  one  stately  tree ; 

Broad  of  the  tilth  for  flowering  at  the  Court : 

Which  is  the  tree  bound  fast  to  wave  its  tress; 

Of  strength  controlled  sheer  beauty  to  bestow. 

Ambrosial  heights  of  possible  acquist. 

Where  soub  of  men  with  soul  of  man  consort. 

And  all  look  higher  to  new  loveliness 

Begotten  of  the  look :  thy  mark  is  there ; 

While  on  our  temporal  ground  alive, 

Kightly  though  fearfully  thou  wieldest  sword 

Of  flner  temper  now  a  numbered  learn 

That  they  resisting  thee  themselves  resist ; 

And  not  thy  bigger  joy  to  smite  and  drive. 

Prompt  the  dense  herd  to  butt,  and  set  the  snare 

Witching  them  into  pitfalls  for  hoarse  shouts. 

More  now,  and  hourly  more,  and  of  the  Lord 

Thou  lead'st  to,  doth  this  rebel  heart  discern. 

When  pinched  ascetic  and  red  sensualist 

Alternately  recurrent  freeze  or  burn, 

And  of  its  old  religions  it  has  doubts. 

It  fears  thee  less  when  thou  hast  shown  it  bare; 

Less  hates,  part  understands,  nor  much  resents, 

When  the  prized  objects  it  has  raised  for  prayer. 

For  fitful  prayer ; — repentance  dreading  fire. 

Impelled  by  aches ;  the  blindness  which  repents 

Like  the  poor  trampled  worm  that  writhes  in  mire ; — 

Are  sounded  by  thee,  and  thou  darest  probe 

Old  institutions  and  establishments. 

Once  fortresses  against  the  floods  of  sin. 

For  what  their  worth ;  and  questioninAly  prod 

For  why  they  stand  upon  a  racing  globe. 

Impeding  blocks,  leas  useful  than  the  clod ; 

Their  angel  out  of  them,  a  demon  in. 


dbyGOOg 


I 


THE  COMIC  SPIRIT  4 

This  half-enlightened  heart,  still  doomed  to  tret. 

To  hurl  at  vanities,  to  drift  in  shame 

Of  gain  or  loss,  bewailing  the  sure  rod. 

Shall  of  predestination  wed  thee  yet. 

Something  it  gathers  of  what  things  should  drop 

At  entrance  on  new  times ;  of  how  thrice  hroad 

The  worid  of  minds  communicative ;  how 

A  straggling  Nature  classed  in  school,  and  scored 

AVith  stripes  admonishing,  may  yield  to  plough 

Fniitfullest  furrows,  nor  for  waxing  tame 

Be  feeble  on  an  Earth  whose  gentler  crop 

Is  its  most  living,  in  the  mind  that  steers. 

By  Reason  led,  her  way  of  tree  and  flame. 

Beyond  the  genuflexions  and  the  tears; 

Upon  an  Earth  that  cannot  stop. 

Where  upward  is  the  visible  aim. 

And  ever  we  espy  the  greater  God, 

For  simple  pointing  at  a  good  adored : 

Proof  of  the  closer  neighbourhood.     Head  on. 

Sword  of  the  many,  light  of  the  tew  I  untwist 

Or  cut  our  tangles  till  fair  space  is  won 

Beyond  a  briared  wood  of  austere  brow, 

Relieved  of  discord  by  thy  timely  word 

At  intervals  refreshing  life :  for  thou 

Art  verily  Keeper  of  the  Muse's  Key ; 

Thyself  no  vacant  melodist ; 

On  lower  land  elective  even  as  she ; 

Holding,  as  sh^,  all  dissonance  abhorred ; 

Advising  to  her  measured  steps  in  flow ; 

And  teaching  how  for  being  subjected  free 

Past  thought  of  freedom  we  may  come  to  know 

The  music  of  the  meaning  of  Accord. 


ODE  TO  YOUTH  IN  MEMORY  • 

Days,  when  the  hall  of  our  vision 
Had  eagles  that  flew  unabashed  to  sun ; 
When  the  grasp  on  the  bow  was  decision. 
And  arrow  and  hand  and  eye  were  one ; 


dbyGoogle 


YOUTH  IN  MEMORY 

When  the  Pleaaurea,  like  waves  to  a  3wimnm, 
Came  heaving  for  rapture  ahead ! — 
Invoke  them,  they  dwindle,  they  glimmer 
As  lights  over  mounds  of  the  dead. 

Behold  the  winged  Olympus,'  off  the  mead. 
With  thunder  of  wide  piniona,  lightning  speed. 
Wafting  the  shepherd-boy  through  ether  clear. 
To  bear  the  golden  nectar-cup. 
So  flies  desire  at  view  of  its  delight, 
When  the  young  heart  is  tiptoe  perched  on  sight. 
We  meanwhile  who  in  hues  of  the  sick  year 
The  Spring-time  paint  to  prick  us  for  our  lost. 
Mount  but  the  fatal  half  way  up — 
Whereon  abut  eyes  1    This  is  decreed, 
For  Age  that  would  to  youthful  heavens  ascend, 
By  passion  for  the  arms'  possession  tossed. 
It  falls  the  way  of  sighs  and  hath  their  end ; 
A  spark  gone  out  to  more  sepulchral  night. 
Good  if  tbe  arrowy  eagle  of  the  height 
Be  then  the  little  bird  that  hops  to  feed. 

Lame  falls  the  cry  to  kindle  days 

Of  radiant  orb  and  daring  gaze. 

It  does  but  clank  our  mortal  chain. 

For  Earth  reads  through  her  felon  old. 

The  many-numbered  of  her  fold. 

Who  forward  tottering  backward  strain. 

And  would  be  thieves  of  treasure  spent, 

With  their  grey  season  soured. 

She  could  write  out  their  history  in  their  thirst 

To  have  again  the  much  devoured, 

And  be  the  bud  at  burst ; 

In  honey  fancy  join  the  flow, 

Where  Youth  swims  on  as  once  they  went, 

All  choiric  for  spontaneous  glee 

Of  active  eager  lungs  and  thews ; 

They  now  bared  roots  beside  the  river  bent; 

Whose  privilege  themselves  to  see  ; 

Their  place  in  yonder  tideway  know ; 

The  current  glass  peruse ; 


dbyGoogle 


YOUTH  IN  MEMORY  405 

The  depths  intently  sound ; 
And  sapped  by  each  returning  flood 
Accept  for  monitory  nourishment 
Those  worn  roped  features  under  crust  of  mud. 
Reflected  in  the  silvery  smooth  around : 
Not  less  the  branching  and  high  singing  tree, 
A  home  of  nests,  a  landmark  and  a  tent. 
Until  their  hour  for  losing  hold  on  ground. 
Even  such  good  harvest  of  the  things  that  flee 
Earth  offers  her  subjected,  and  they  choose 
Rather  of  Bacchic  Youth  one  beam  to  drink, 
And  warm  alow  marrow  with  the  sensual  wink. 
So   block   they   at  her  source   the   Mother  of   the 
Muse. 

Who  cheerfully  the  little  bird  becomes. 

Without  a  fall,  and  pipes  for  peck  at  crumbs, 

May  have  her  doltngs  to  the  lightest  touch  ; 

As  where  some  cripple  muses  by  his  crutch. 

Unwitting  that  the  spirit  in  him  sings : 

'When  I  had  legs,  then  had  I  wings, 

As  good  as  any  born  of  eggs, 

To  feed  on  all  aerial  things, 

When  I  had  legs!' 

And  if  not  to  embrace  he  sighs. 

She  gives  him  breath  of  Youth  awhile, 

Perspective  of  a  breezy  mile, 

Companionable  hedgeways,  lifting  skies ; 

Scenes  where  his  nested  dreams  upon  their  hoard 

Brooded,  or  up  to  empyrean  soared : 

Enough  to  link  him  with  a  dotted  hne. 

But  cravings  for  an  eagle's  flight. 

To  top  white  peaks  and  serve  wild  wine 

Among  the  rosy  undecayed, 

Bring  only  flash  of  shade 

From  her  full  throbbing  breast  of  day  in  night. 

Sk^  what  they  crave  are  they  betrayed : 
/And  cavernous  is  that  young  draguu'!^  ' 
I     Crimson  for  all  the  fiery  reptile  saw 
Vin  time  now  coveted,  for  teeth  to  flay, 
^Qnce  more  consume,  were  Life  recurrent  Ma/ 


dbyGoogle 


t  YOUTH  IN  MEMORY 

They  to  their  moment  of  drawn  breath. 

Which  is  the  life  that  makes  the  death. 

The  death  that  makes  ethereal  life  would  bind : 

The  death  that  breeds  the  spectre  do  they  find. 

Darkness  is  wedded  and  the  waste  regrets 

Beating  as  dead  leaves  on  a  fitful  gust. 

By  souls  no  longer  dowered  to  climb 

Beneath  their  pack  of  dust, 

Whom  envy  of  a  lustrous  prime, 

Eclipsed  while  yet  invoked,  besets. 

And  dooms  to  sink  and  water  sable  flowers, 

Thnt^rrrr  gladdened  eye  or  loaded  bee. 

/strain  we  the  arms  for  Memory's  hours, 

I  We  are  the  seized  Persephone.' 

Responsive  never  to  the  soft  desire 

For  one  prized  tune  is  this  our  chord  of  life. 

Tis  clipped  to  deadoess  with  a  wanton  knife, 

In  wishes  that  for  ecstasies  aspire. 

Yet  have  we  glad  companionship  of  Youth, 

Elysian  meadows  for  the  mind, 

Dare  we  to  face  deeds  done,  and  in  our  tomb 

Filled  with  the  parti-coloured  bloom 

Of  loved  and  hated,  grasp  all  human  truth 

Sowed  by  us  down  the  mazy  paths  behind. 

To  feel  that  heaven  must  we  that  hell  sound  through : 

Whence  comes  a  line  of  continuity, 

That  brings  our  middle  station  into  view. 

Between  those  poles ;  a  novel  Earth  we  see. 

In  likeness  of  us,  made  of  banned  and  blest; 

The  sower's  bed,  but  not  the  reaper's  rest ; 

An  Earth  alive  with  meanings,  wherein  meet 

Buried,  and  breathing,  and  to  be. 

Then  of  the  junction  of  the  three, 

Even  as  a  heart  in  brain,  full  sweet 

May  sense  of  soul,  the  sum  of  music,  beat. 

Only  the  soul  can  walk  the  dusty  track 
Where  hangs  our  flowering  under  vapours  black. 
And  bear  to  see  how  these  pervade,  obscure. 
Quench  recollection  of  a  spacious  pure. 


dbyGoogle 


YOUTH  IN  MEMORY  W, 

They  take  phantasmal  forms,  divide,  convolve, 
Hard  at  each  other  point  and  gape. 
Horrible  ghosts  I  in  agony  dissolve, 
To  reappear  with  one  they  drape 
For  criminal,  and.  Father  1  shrieking  name. 
Who  such  distorted  issue  did  beget.' 
Accept  them,  them  and  him,  though  hiss  thy  sweat 
rT)f!  brow  on  breast,  whose  furnace  flame 
Has  eaten,  and  otd  Self  consumes. 
Out  of  the  purification  will  they  leap. 
Thee  renovating  while  new  light  illumes 
The  dusky  web  of  evil,  known  as  pain, 
That  heavily  up  healthward  mounts  the  steep ; 
Our  fleshly  road  to  beacon-fire  of  brain : 
Midway  the  tameless  oceanic  brute 
Below,  whose  heave  is  topped  with  foam  for  fruit. 
And  the  fair  heaven  reflecting  inner  peace 
On  righteous  warfare,  that  asks  not  to  cease. 

Porth  of  such  passage  through  black  fire  we  win 

3lear  hearing  of  the  simple,  lute, 

Vhereon,  and  not  on  other.  Memory  plays 

■"or  them  who  can  in  quietness  receive 

{er  restorative  airs :  a  ditty  thin 
As  note  of  hedgerow  bird  in  ear  of  eve. 
Or  wave  at  ebb,  the  shallow  catching  rays 
On  a  transparent  sheet,  where  curves  a  glass 
To  truer  heavens  than  when  the  breaker  neighs 
Loud  at  the  plunge  for  bubbly  wreck  in  roar. 
Sitlidity  and  bulk  and  martial  brass, 
/Once  tyrants  of  the  senses,  faintly  score 
I  A  mark  on  pebbled  sand  or  fluid  slime. 
While  present  in  the  spirit,  vital  there, 
Are  things  that  seemed  the  phantoms  of  their  time ; 
Eternal  as  the  recurrent  cloud,  as  air 
Imperative,  refreshful  as  dawn-dew. 
Some  evanescent  hand  on  vapour  scrawled 
Historic  of  the  soul,  and  heats  anew 
Its  coloured  lines  where  deeds  of  flesh  stand  bald. 
True  of  the  man,  and  of  mankind  'tb  true. 
Did  we  stout  battle  with  the  Shade,  Despair, 


dbyGoogle 


YOUTH  IN  MEMORY 

Our  cowardice,  it  blooms ;  or  haply  warred 

Against  the  primal  beast  in  us,  and  flung ; 

Or  cleaving  mists  of  Sorrow,  left  it  starred 

Above  self-pity  slain :  or  it  was  Prayer 

First  taken  for  Life's  cleanser ;  or  the  tongue 

Spake  for  the  world  against  this  heart ;  or  rings 

Old  laughter,  from  the  founts  of  wisdom  sprung; 

Or  clap  of  wing  of  joy,  that  was  a  throb 

From  breast  of  Earth,  and  did  no  creature  rob : 

These  quickening  live.     But  deepest  at  her  springs. 

Most  filial,  is  an  eye  to  love  her  young. 

And  had  we  it,  to  see  with  it,  alive 

Is  our  lost  garden,  flower,  bird  and  hive. 

Blood  of  her  blood,  aim  of  her  aim,  are  then 

The  green-robed  and  grey-crested  sons  of  men : 

She  tributary  to  her  aged  restores 

The  living  in  the  dead ;  she  will  inspire 

Faith  homelier  than  on  the  Yonder  shores, 

Abhorring  these  as  mire. 

Uncertain  steps,  in  dimness  gropes, 

With  mortal  tremours  pricking  hopes. 

And,  by  the  final  Bacchic  of  the  lusts 

Propelled,  the  Bacchic  of  the  spirit  trusts : 

A  fervour  drunk  from  mystic  hierophants ; 

Not  utterly  misled,  though  blindly  led, 

Led  round  fermenting  eddies.    Faith  she  plants 

In  her  own  firmness  as  our  midway  road : 

Which  rightly  Youth  has  read,  though  blindly  read; 

Her  essence  reading  in  her  toothsome  goad ; 

Spur  of  bright  dreams  experience  disenchants. 

But  love  we  well  the  young,  her  road  midway 

The  darknesses  runs  consecrated  clay. 

Despite  our  feeble  hold  on  this  green  home. 

And  the  vast  outer  strangeness  void  of  dome, 

Shall  we  be  with  them,  of  them,  taught  to  feel, 

Up  to  the  moment  of  our  prostrate  fall. 

The  life  they  deem  voluptuously  real 

Is  more  than  empty  echo  of  a  call. 

Or  shadow  of  a  shade,  or  swing  of  tides ; 

As  brooding  upon  age,  when  veins  congeal, 

Grey  paby  nods  to  think.    With  us  for  guides. 


dbyGoogle 


YOUTH  IN  MEMORY  40 

Another  atep  above  the  animal. 

To  views  in  Alpin*  thought  are  they  helped  on. 

Good  it  so  far  we  live  in  them  when  gone ! 

And  there  the  arrowy  eagle  of  the  height 

Becomes  the  little  bird  that  hops  to  feed. 

Glad  of  a  crumb,  for  tempered  appetite 

To  make  it  wholesome  blood  and  fruitful  seed. 

Then  Memory  strikes  on  no  alack  string. 

Nor  sectional  will  varied  Life  appear : 

Perforce  of  soul  discerned  in  mind,  we  hear 

Earth  with  her  Onward  chime,  with  Winter  Spring. 

And  ours  the  mellow  note,  while  sharing  joys 

No  more  subjecting  mortals  who  have  learnt 

To  build  for  happiness  on  equipoise, 

The  Pleasures  read  in  sparks  of  substance  burnt; 

Know  in  our  seasons  an  integral  wheel. 

That  rolls  us  to  a  mark  may  yet  be  willed. 

This,  the  tniistic  rubbish  under  heel 

Of  all  the  world,  we  peck  at  and  are  filled. 


PENETRATION  AND  TRUST  * 


Sleek  as  a  lizard  at  round  of  a  stone. 
The  look  of  her  heart  slipped  out  and  in. 
Sweet  on  her  lord  her  soft  eyes  shone, 
As  innocents  clear  of  a  shade  of  sin. 


He  laid  a  finger  under  her  chin. 
His  arm  for  her  girdle  at  waist  was  thrown : 
Now,  what  will  happen  and  who  will  win. 
With  me  in  the  fight  and  my  lady  lone  ? 


He  clasped  her,  clasping  a  shape  of  stone ; 
Was  fire  on  her  eyes  till  they  let  him  in. 
Her  breast  to  a  God  of  the  daybeams  shone. 
And  never  a  comer  for  serpent  sin. 


dbyGoogle 


PENETRATION  AND  TRUST 


Tranced  she  stood,  with  a  chattering  chin ; 
Her  shrunken  form  at  his  feet  was  thrown : 
At  home  to  the  death  my  lord  shall  win, 
When  it  is  no  tyrant  who  leaves  me  lone  I 


THE  TEACHING  OF  THE  NUDE* 


.  A  Satyr  spied  a  Goddess  in  her  bath, 
Unseen  of  her  attendant  nymphs ;  none  knew. 
Forthwith  the  creature  to  his  fellows  drew. 
And  looking  backward  on  the  curtained  path. 
He  strove  to  tell ;  he  could  but  heave  a  breast 
Too  full,  and  point  to  mouth,  with  failing  leers : 
Vainly  he  danced  for  speech,  he  giggled  tears, 
Made  as  if  torn  in  two,  as  if  tight  pressed. 
As  if  cast  prone ;  then  fetching  whimpered  tunes 
For  words,  flung  heel  and  set  his  hairy  6ight 
Through  forest-hollows,  over  rocky  height. 
Tlie  green  leaves  buried  him  three  rounds  of  moons. 
A  senatorial  Satyr  named  what  herb 
Had  hurried  him  outrunning  reason's  curb. 

II 
"Tis  told  how  when  that  hieaway  unchecked 
To  dell  returned,  he  seemed  of  tempered  mood : 
Even  as  the  valley  of  the  torrent  rude. 
The  torrent  now  a  brook,  the  valley  wrecked. 
In  him,  to  bale  him  high  or  huri  aheap, 
Goddess  and  Goatfoot  hourly  wrestled  sore ; 
Hourly  the  immortal  prevailing  more : 
Till  one  hot  noon  saw  Meliboeus  peep 
From  thicket-sprays  to  where  his  full-blown  dame, 
In  circle  by  the  lusty  frJskers  gripped, 
Laughed  the  showered  rose-leaves  while  her  limbs  were 

stripped. 
She  beckoned  to  our  Satyr,  and  he  came.  I 

llien  twirled  she  mounds  of  ripeness,  wreath  of  arms. 
His  hoof  kicked  up  the  clothing  for  such  charms. 


by^ 


oogl 


e 


BREATH  OF  THE  BRIAR 


0  BRIAR-3CENT3,  on  yon  wet  wing 
Of  warm  South-west  wind  brushing  by. 
You  mind  me  of  tlie  sweetest  thing 
That  ever  mingled  frank  and  shy : 
When  she  and  I,  by  love  enticed. 
Beneath  the  orchard-apples  met. 
In  equal  halves  a  ripe  one  sliced, 
And  smelt  the  juices  ere  we  ate. 

II 
That  apple  of  the  briar-scent, 
Among  our  lost  in  Britain  now. 
Was  green  of  rind,  and  redolent 
Of  sweetness  as  a  milking  cow. 
The  briar  gives  it  back,  well  nigh 
The  damsel  with  her  teeth  on  it ; 
Her  twinkle  between  frank  and  shy. 
My  thirst  to  bite  where  she  had  bit. 

EMPEDOCLES  • 


He  leaped.    With  none  to  hinder. 
Of  Aetna's  fiery  scoriae 
In  the  next  vomit-shower,  made  he 

A  more  pecuhar  dnder. 
And  this  great  Doctor,  can  it  be, 
He  left  no  saner  recipe 
For  men  at  issue  with  despair? 
Admiring,  even  his  poet  owns. 
While  noting  his  fine  lyric  tones, 
The  last  of  him  was  heels  in  air  I 


Comes  Reverence,  her  features 
Amazed  to  see  high  Wisdom  hear. 
With  glimmer  of  a  faunish  leer. 

One  mock  her  pride  of  creatures. 


dbyGoogle 


EMPEDOCLES 

Shall  such  sad  incident  degrade 
A  stature  casting  sunniest  shade  f 
O  Reverence !  let  Reason  switn ; 
Each  life  it^  critic  deed  reveals ; 
And  him  reads  Reason  at  his  heels. 
If  heels  in  air  the  last  of  him  I 


TARDY  SPRING 

Now  the  North  wind  ceases, 
The  warm  South-west  awakes ; 
Swift  fly  the  fleeces, 
lUck  the  blossom-flakes. 

Now  hill  to  hiU  has  made  the  stride. 
And  distance  waves  the  without  end : 
Now  in  the  breast  a  door  flings  nide ; 
Our  farthest  smiles,  our  next  is  friend. 
And  song  of  England's  rush  of  flowers 
Is  this  full  breeze  with  mellow  stops. 
That  spins  the  lark  for  shine,  for  showers ; 
He  drinks  his  hurried  ftight,  and  drops. 
The  stir  in  memorj-  seem  these  things, 
^Miich  out  of  moistened  turf  and  clay 
Astrain  for  light  push  patient  rings. 
Or  leap  to  find  the  waterway. 
Tis  equal  to  a  wonder  done. 
Whatever  simple  lives  renew 
Their  tricks  beneath  the  father  sun. 
As  though  they  caught  a  broken  due: 
So  hard  was  earth  an  eyewink  back ; 
But  now  the  common  life  has  come, 
The  blotting  cloud  a  dappled  pack, 
The  grasses  one  vast  underiium. 
A  City  clothed  in  snow  and  soot. 
With  lamps  for  day  in  ghostly  rows. 
Breaks  to  the  scene  of  hosts  afoot, 
Tlie  river  that  reflective  flows : 


dbyGoogle 


TARDY  SPRING 

And  there  did  fog  down  crypts  of  street 

Play  spectre  upon  eye  and  mouth : — 

Their  faces  are  a  glass  to  greet 

This  magic  of  the  whirl  for  South. 

A  burly  joy  each  creature  swells 

With  sound  of  its  own  hungry  quest; 

Earth  has  to  fill  her  empty  wells, 

And  speed  the  service  of  the  nest ; 

The  phantom  of  the  snow-wreath  melt, 

That  haunts  the  farmer's  look  abroad, 

Who  sees  what  tomb  a  white  night  built, 

Where  flocks  now  bleat  and  sprouts  the  clod. 

For  iron  Winter  held  her  firm ; 

Across  her  sky  he  laid  his  hand ; 

And  bird  he  starved,  he  stiffened  worm ; 

A  sightless  heaven,  a  shaven  land. 

Her  shivering  Spring  feigned  fast  asleep, 

The  bitten  buds  dared  not  unfold : 

We  raced  on  roads  and  ice  to  keep 

Thought  of  the  girl  we  love  from  cold. 

But  now  the  North  wind  ceases. 
The  warm  South-west  awakes. 
The  heavens  are  out  in  fleeces. 
And  earth's  green  banner  shakes. 


FORESIGHT  AND  PATIENCE* 

Sprung  of  the  father  blood,  the  mother  brain. 
Are  they  •  who  point  our  pathway  and  sustain. 
They  rarely  meet ;  one  soars,  one  walks  retired. 
W'hen  they  do  meet,  it  is  our  earth  inspired. 

To  see  Ljfe's  formless  offspring  and  subdue 
Desire  of  times  unripe,  we  have  these  two. 
Whose  union  is  right  reason :  join  they  hands. 
The  world  shall  know  itself  and  where  it  stands; 
What  cowering  angel  and  what  upright  beast 
Make  man,  behold,  nor  coimt  the  low  the  least, 
Nor  less  the  stars  have  round  it  than  its  flowers. 
When  these  two  meet,  a  point  of  time  is  ours. 


dbyGoogle 


414  FORESIGHT  AND  PATIENCE 

As  in  a  land  of  waterfalls,  that  flow 
Smooth  for  the  leap  on  their  great  voice  below, 
Some  eddies  near  the  brink  borne  swift  along 
Will  capture  hearing  with  the  liquid  song. 
So,  while  the  headlong  world's  imperious  force 
Resounded  under,  heard  I  these  discourse. 

First  words,  where  down  my  woodland  walk  she  led. 
To  her  blind  sbter  PatieDce,  Foresight  said : 

(Foresight) — Your  faith  in  me  appals,  to  shake  my  own. 
When  still  I  6ncl  you  in  this  mire  alone. 

(Patience) — The  few  steps  taken  at  a  funeral  pace 
By  men  had  slain  me  but  for  those  you  trace. 

(Foresight) — Look  I  once  back,  a  broken  pinion  I : 
Black  as  the  rebel  angeb  rained  from  sky  1 

(Patience) — Needs  must  you  drink  of  me  while  here  you  live. 
And  make  me  rich  in  feeling  I  can  give. 

(Foresight)— A  brave  To-be  is  dawn  upon  my  brow : 
Yet  must  I  read  my  sbter  for  the  How. 
My  daisy  better  knows  her  God  of  beams 
Than  doth  an  eagle  that  to  mount  him  seems. 
She  hath  the  secret  never  fieriest  reach 
Of  wing  shall  master  till  men  hear  her  teach.* 

(Patience) — Liker  the  clod  flaked  by  the  driving  plough, 
My  semblance  when  I  have  you  not  as  now. 
The  quiet  creatures  who  escape  mishap 
Bear  likeness  to  pure  growths  of  the  green  sap : 
A  picture  of  the  settled  peace  desired 
By  cowards  shunning  strife  or  strivers  tired. 
I  listen  at  their  breasts :  is  there  no  jar 
Of  wrestlings  and  of  stranglings,  dead  they  are. 
And  such  a  picture  as  the  piercing  mind 
Ranks  beneath  vegetation.     Not  resigned 
Are  my  true  pupils  while  the  world  b  brute. 
What  edict  of  the  stronger  keeps  me  mute, 
Stronger  impels  the  motion  of  my  heart. 
I  am  not  Resignation's  counterpart. 


dbyGoogle 


FORESIGHT  AND  PATIENCE  415 

If  that  I  t«ach,  'tjs  little  the  dry  word, 

Content,  but  how  to  aavour  hope  deferred. 

We  come  of  earth,  and  rich  of  earth  may  be ; 

Soon  carrion  if  very  earth  are  we  I 

The  coursing  veins,  the  constant  breath,  the  use 

Of  sleep,  declare  that  strife  allows  short  truce ; 

Unless  we  clasp  decay,  accept  defeat. 

And  pass  despised ;  '  a-cold  for  lack  of  heat,' 

IJke  other  corpses,  but  without  death's  plea. 

(Foresight) — My  sister  calls  for  battle;  is  it  aheT 

(Patience) — Rather  a  world  of  pressing  men  in  arms, 
Than  stagnant,  where  the  sensual  piper  channs 
Each  drowsy  malady  and  coiling  vice 
With  dreams  of  ease  whereof  the  soul  pays  price  I 
No  home  is  here  for  peace  while  evil  breeda, 
While  error  governs,  none ;    and  must  the  seeds 
You  sow,  you  that  for  long  have  reaped  disdain. 
Lie  barren  at  the  doorway  of  the  brain. 
Let  stout  contention  drive  deep  furrows,  blood 
Moisten,  and  make  new  channels  of  its  flood  1 

(Foresight) — My  sober  little  maid,  when  we  meet  first. 
Drinks  of  me  ever  with  an  eager  thirst.* 
So  can  I  not  of  her  till  circumstance 
Drugs  cravings.     Here  we  see  how  men  advance 
A  doubtful  foot,  but  cirele  if  much  stirred, 
Lake  dead  weeds  on  whipped  waters.    Shout  the  word 
Prompting  their  hungers,  and  they  grandly  mareh, 
As  to  band-music  under  Victory's  arch. 
Thus  was  it,  and  thus  is  it ;  save  that  then 
The  beauty  of  frank  animals  had  men. 

(Patience) — Observe  them,  and  down  rearward  for  a  term. 
Gaze  to  the  primal  twistings  of  the  worm. 
Thence  look  this  way,  across  the  fields  that  show 
Men's  early  form  of  speech  for  Yes  and  No, 
My  sbter  a  bruised  infant's  utterance  had ; 
And  issuing  stronger,  to  mankind  'twas  mad. 
I  knew  my  home  where  I  had  choice  to  feel 
The  toad  beneath  a  harrow  or  a  heel.* 


dbyGoqgli 


416  FORESIGHT  AND  PATIENCE 

CFoREaiGHx) — Speak  of  this  Age. 

(Patience)  — When  you  it  shall  discern 

Bright  as  you  are,  to  me  the  Age  will  turn. 

(Foresight) — For  neither  of  us  has  it  any  care ; 
Its  learning  is  through  Science  to  despair. 

(Patience) — Despair  lies  down  and  grovels,  grapples  not 
With  evil,  casts  the  burden  of  its  lot. 
This  Age  climbs  earth. 

(Fobebiobt)  — To  challenge  heaven. 

(Patience)  — Not  less 

The  lower  deeps.    It  laughs  at  Happiness  1 
That  know  I,  though  the  echoes  of  it  wail, 
For  one  step  upward  on  the  crags  you  scale. 
Brave  b  the  Age  wherein  the  word  will  rust, 
Which  means  our  soul  asleep  or  body's  lust,' 
Until  from  warmth  of  many  breasts,  that  beat 
A  temperate  common  music,  sunlike  heat 
The  happiness  not  predatory  sheds  1 

(FoREsiaHT) — But  your  fierce  Yes  and  No  of  butting  heads 
Now  rages  to  outdo  a  homy  Past. 
Shades  of  a  wild  Destroyer  on  the  vast 
Are  thrown  by  every  novel  light  upraised. 
The  world's  whole  round  smokes  ominously,  amazed 
And  trembling  as  its  pregnant  Aetna  swelb. 
Combustibles  on  hot  combustibles 
Run  piling,  for  one  spark  to  roll  in  fire 
The  mountain-torrent  of  infernal  ire 
And  leave  the  track  of  devils  where  men  built.* 
Perceptive  of  a  doom,  the  sinner's  guilt 
Confesses  in  a  cry  for  help  shrill  loud. 
If  drops  the  chillness  of  a  passing  cloud. 
To  conscience,  reason,  human  love ;  in  vain  : 
None  save  they  but  the  souls  which  them  contain. 
No  extramural  God,  the  God  within 
Alone  gives  aid  to  city  charged  with  sin. 
A  world  that  for  the  spur  of  fool  and  knave 
Sweats  in  its  laboratory  what  shall  saveT 


dbyGoogle 


FORESIGHT  AND  PATIENCE  417 

But  men  who  ply  their  wits  in  such  a  school 
Must  pray  the  mercy  of  the  knave  and  fool. 

(Patience) — Much  have  I  studied  hard  Necessity  I 
To  know  her  Wisdom's  mother,  and  that  we 
May  deem  the  harshness  of  her  later  cries 
In  labour  a  sure  goad  to  prick  the  wise, 
If  men  among  the  warnings  which  convulse 
Can  gravely  dread  without  the  craven's  pulse. 
Long  ere  the  rising  of  this  age  of  ours. 
The  knave  and  fool  were  stamped  as  monstrous  Powers. 
Of  human  lusts  and  lassitudes  they  spring. 
And  are  as  lasting  as  the  parent  thing. 
Yet  numbering  locust  hosts,  bent  they  to  drill. 
They  might  o'ermatch  and  have  mankind  at  will. 
Behold  such  army  gathering ;  ours  the  spur, 
No  scattered  foe  to  face,  but  Lucifer. 
Not  fool  or  knave  is  now  the  enemy 
O'ershadowing  men,  'tis  Folly,  Knavery  ! 
A  sea ;  nor  stays  that  sea  the  bastioned  beach. 
Now  must  the  brother  soul  alive  in  each 
His  traitorous  individual  devildom 
Hold  subject  lest  the  grand  destruction  come. 
Dimly  men  see  it  menacing  apace 
To  overthrow,  perchance  uproot,  the  race. 
Within,  without,  they  are  a  field  of  tares : 
Fruitfuller  for  them  when  the  contest  squares. 
And  wherefore  warrior  service  they  must  yield. 
Shines  visible  as  life  on  either  field. 
That  is  my  comfort,  following  shock  on  shock. 
Which  sets  faith  quaking  on  their  firmest  rock. 
Since  with  his  weapions,  all  the  arms  of  Night, 
Frail  men  have  challenged  Lucifer  to  fight, 
Have  matched  in  hostile  ranks,  enrolled,  erect, 
The  human  and  Satanic  intellect, 
Determined  for  their  uses  to  control 
What  forces  on  the  earth  and  under  roll, 
Their  granite  rock  runs  igneous ;  now  they  stand 
Pledged  to  the  heavens  for  safety  of  their  land. 
They  cannot  learn  save  grossly,  gross  that  are ; 
Through  fear  they  learn  whose  aid  is  good  in  war. 


dbyGoogle 


418  FORESIGHT  AND  PATIENCE 

(Foresiobt) — My  sister,  as  I  read  them  in  my  ^ass. 
Their  6eld  of  tares  they  take  for  pasture  grass. 
How  waken  them  that  have  not  any  bent 
Save  browsing — the  concrete  indifferent ! 
Friend  Lucifer  supplies  them  solid  stuff : 
They  fear  not  for  the  race  when  full  the  trough. 
They  have  much  fear  of  giving  up  the  ghost ; 
And  these  are  of  mankind  the  unnumbered  host. 

(Patience) — If  I  could  see  with  you,  and  did  not  faint 
In  beating  wing,  the  future  I  would  paint. 
Those  massed  indifferents  will  learn  to  quake : 
Now  meanwhile  is  another  mass  awake,' 
Once  denser  than  the  grunters  of  the  sty. 
If  1  could  see  with  you!    Could  I  but  fly! 

(Foresight) — The  length  of  days  that  you  with  them  have 
housed, 
An  outcast  else,  approves  their  cause  espoused. 

(Patience) — 0  true,  they  have  a  cause,  and  woe  for  us, 
While  still  they  have  a  cause  too  piteous  I 
Yet,  happy  for  us  when,  their  cause  defined. 
They  walk  no  longer  with  a  stumbler  blind. 
And  quicken  in  the  virtue  of  their  cause. 
To  think  me  a.  poor  mouther  of  old  saws ! 
I  wait  the  issue  of  a  battling  Age ; 
The  toilers  with  your  '  troughsters '  now  engage ; 
Instructing  them,  through  their  acutest  sense. 
How  close  the  dangers  of  indifference ! 
Already  have  my  people  shown  their  worth. 
More  love  they  light,  which  folds  the  love  of  Earth. 
That  love  to  love  of  labour  leads :  thence  love 
Of  humankind — earth's  incense  flung  above. 

(Foeehight) — Admit  some  other  features ;  Faithless,  mean ; 
Encased  in  matter ;  vowed  to  Gods  obscene ; 
Contemptuous  of  the  impalpable,  it  swells 
On  Doubt ;  for  [jastime  swallows  miracles ;  ' 
And  if  I  bid  it  face  what  /  observe. 
Declares  me  hoodwinked  by  my  optic  nerve  I 


dbyGoogle 


FORESIGHT  AND  PATIENCE  41t 

(Patience) — Oft  has  your  prophet,  for  reward  of  toil. 
Seen  nests  of  seeming  cockatrices  coU : 
Disowned  them  as  the  unholiest  of  Time, 
Which  were  his  offspring,  bom  of  flame  on  slime. 
Nor  him,  their  sire,  have  known  the  filial  fry : 
As  little  as  Time's  earliest  knew  the  sky. 
Perchance  among  them  shoots  a  lustrous  flame 
At  intervals,  in  proof  of  whom  they  came. 
To  strengthen  our  foundations  is  the  task 
Of  this  tough  Age ;  not  in  your  beams  to  bask. 
Though,  lighted  by  your  beams,  down  mining  caves 
The  rock  it  blasts,  the  hoarded  foulness  braves. 

'  My  sbter  sees  no  round  beyond  her  mood ; 
To  hawk,  this  Age  has  dressed  her  head  in  hood. 
Out  of  the  course  of  ancient  nits  and  grooves, 
It  moves :  O  much  for  me  to  say  it  moves ! 
About  his  ^thiop  Highlands  Nile  is  Nile, 
Though  not  the  stream  of  the  paternal  smile: 
And  where  his  tide  of  nourishment  he  drives. 
An  Abyssinian  wantonness  revives. 
Calm  as  his  lotus-leaf  to-day  he  swims ; 
He  is  the  yellow  crops,  the  rounded  limbs, 
The  Past  yet  flowing,  the  fair  time  that  fills ; 
Breath  of  all  mouths  and  grist  of  many  milb. 
To-morrow,  warning  none  with  tempest-showers, 
He  is  the  vast  Insensate  who  devours 
His  golden  promise  over  leagues  of  seed, 
Then  sits  in  a  smooth  lake  upon  the  deed. 
The  races  which  on  barbarous  force  begin 
Inherit  onward  of  their  origin, 
And  canceUed  blessings  will  the  current  length 
Reveal  till  they  know  need  of  shaping  strength. 
'Tis  not  in  men  to  recognize  the  need 
Before  they  clash  in  hosts,  in  hosts  they  bleed. 
Then  may  sharp  suffering  their  nature  grind  ; 
Of  rabble  passions  grow  the  chieftain  Mind. 
Yet  mark  where  still  broad  Nile  boasts  thousands  fed. 
For  tens  up  the  safe  mountains  at  his  head. 
Few  would  he  feed,  not  far  his  course  prolong, 
Save  for  the  troublous  blood  which  makes  him  strong.* 


d  by  Google 


420  FORESIGHT  AND  PATTENCE 

(FoHESiaHx) — That  ringa  of  truth  I    More  do  your  people 
thrive ; 
Your  Many  are  more  merrily  alive 
Than  erewhile  when  I  gloried  io  the  page 
Of  radiant  singer  and  anointed  sage. 
Greece  was  my  lamp :  burnt  out  for  lack  of  oil ; 
Rome,  Python  Rome,  prey  of  its  robber  spoil  I 
All  structures  built  upon  a  narrow  space 
Must  fall,  from  having  not  your  hosts  for  base. 
O  thrice  must  one  be  you,'"  to  see  them  shift 
Along  their  desert  flats,  here  dash,  there  drift ; 
With  faith,  that  of  privations  and  spilt  blood, 
Comes  Reason  armed  to  clear  or  bank  the  flood  I 
And  thrice  must  one  be  you,  to  wait  release 
From  duress  in  the  swamp  of  their  increase. 
At  which  oppressive  scene,  beyond  arrest, 
A  darkness  not  with  stars  of  heaven  dressed 
Philosophers  behold ;  desponding  view 
Your  Many  nourished,  starved  my  brilliant  few ; 
Then  flinging  heels,  as  charioteers  the  reins, 
Dive  down  the  fumy  Aetna  of  their  brains. 
Belated  vessels  on  a  rising  sea, 
They  seem :  they  pass !  " 

(Patience)  — But  not  Philosophy  I 

(Foresiobt) — Ay,  be  we  faithful  to  ourselves :  despise 

Nought  but  the  coward  in  us !     That  way  lies 

The  wisdom  making  passage  through  our  slough. 

Am  I  not  heard,  my  head  to  Earth  shall  bow; 

Like  her,  shall  wait  to  see,  and  seeing  wait. 

Philosophy  is  Life's  one  match  for  Fate. 

That  photosphere  of  our  high  fountain  One, 

Our  spirit's  Lord  and  Reason's  fostering  sun. 

Philosophy,  shall  light  us  in  the  shade, 

Warm  in  the  frost,  make  Good  our  aim  and  aid. 

Companioned  by  the  sweetest,  ay  renewed. 

Unconquerable,  whose  aim  for  aid  is  Good  I 

Advantage  to  the  Many :  that  we  name 

God's  voice ;  have  there  the  surety  in  our  aim. 

This  thought  unto  my  sister  do  I  owe. 

And  irony  and  saUre  off  me  throw. 


dbyGoogle 


FORESIGHT  AND  PATIENCE  41 

They  "  crack  a  childish  wh!p,  drive  puny  herds. 

Where  numbers  crave  their  sustenance  in  words. 

Now  let  the  perils  thicken :  clearer  seen. 

Your  Chieftain  Mind  mounts  over  them  serene. 

Who  never  yet  of  scattered  lamps  was  bom 

To  speed  a  world,  a  marchiag  world  to  warn, 

But  sunward  from  the  vivid  Many  springs. 

Counts  conquest  but  a  step,  and  through  disaster  sings. 


POEMS  ON  NATIONAL  AFFAIRS 


[John  Morlet,  1867] 

Let  fate  or  Insufficiency  provide 

Mean  ends  for  men  who  what  they  are  would  be : 

Penned  in  their  narrow  day  no  change  they  see 

Save  one  which  strikes  the  blow  to  brutes  and  pride. 

Our  faith  is  ours  and  comes  not  on  a  tide : 

And  whether  Earth's  great  offspring,  by  decree. 

Must  rot  if  they  abjure  rapacity, 

Not  argument  but  effort  shall  decide. 

They  number  many  heads  in  that  hard  flock : 

Trim  swordsmen  they  push  forth :  yet  try  thy  steel, 

Thou,  fighting  for  poor  humankind,  wilt  feel 

The  strength  of  Roland  in  thy  wrist  to  hew 

A  chasm  sheer  into  the  barrier  rock. 

And  bring  the  army  of  the  faithful  through. 


LINES  TO  A  FRIEND  VISITING  AMERICA  • 


Now  farewell  to  you  I  you  are 
One  of  my  dearest,  whom  I  trust : 
Now  follow  you  the  Western  star, 
And  cast  the  old  world  off  as  dust. 


dbyGoogle 


TO  A  FRIEND  VISITING  AMERICA 


From  many  friends  adieu  I  adieu ! 
The  quick  heart  of  the  word  therein. 
Much  that  we  hope  for  hangs  with  you : 
We  lose  you,  but  we  lose  to  win. 


The  beggar-king,  November,  frets : 
His  tatters  rich  with  Indian  dyes 
Goes  hugging :  we  our  season's  debts 
Pay  calmly,  of  the  Spring  forewise. 


We  send  our  worthiest;  can  no  less. 
If  we  would  now  be  read  aright, — 
To  that  great  people  who  may  bless 
Or  curse  mankind :  they  have  the  might. 


The  proudest  seasons  find  their  graves. 
And  we,  who  would  not  be  wooed,  must  court. 
We  have  let  the  blunderers  and  the  waves 
Divide  us,  and  the  devil  had  sport. 


The  blunderers  and  the  waves  no  more 
Shall  sever  kindred  sending  forth 
Their  worthiest  from  shore  to  shore 
For  welcome,  bent  to  prove  their  worth. 


Go  you  and  such  as  you  afloat. 

Our  lost  kinsfellowship  to  revive. 

The  battle  of  the  antidote 

Is  tough,  though  silent:  may  you  thrive! 


I,  when  in  this  North  wind  I  see 
The  str^ning  red  woods  blown  awry, 
Feel  shuddering  like  the  winter  tree. 
Ail  vein  and  artery  on  cold  sky. 


dbyGOOg    I 


TO  A  FRIEND  VISITING  AMERICA 


The  leaf  that  clothed  me  is  torn  away ; 
My  friend  b  as  a  flying  seed. 
Ay,  true;  to  bring  replenished  day 
Light  ebbs,  but  I  am  bare,  and  bleed. 


What  husky  habitations  seem 
These  comfortable  sayings  I  they  fell, 
In  some  rich  year  become  a  dream : — 
So  cries  my  heart,  the  infidel  1  .  .  . 


Oh !  for  the  strenuous  mind  in  quest, 
Arabian  visions  could  not  vie 
With  those  broad  wonders  of  the  West, 
And  would  I  bid  you  stay  7    Not  1 1 


The  strange  experimental  land 
Where  men  continually  dare  take 
Niagara  leaps ; — unshattered  stand 
Twixt  fall  and  fall , — for  conscience'  sake. 


Drive  onward  like  a  flood's  increase; — 
Fresh  rapids  and  abysms  engage ; — 
(We  live — we  die)  scorn  fireside  peace, 
And,  as  a  garment,  put  on  rage. 


Rather  than  bear  God's  reprimand. 
By  rearing  on  a  full  fat  soil 
Concrete  of  sin  and  sloth ; — this  land. 
You  will  observe  it  coil  in  coil. 


The  land  has  been  discover'd  long. 
The  people  we  have  yet  to  know  ; 
Themselves  they  know  not,  save  that  strong 
For  good  and  evil  still  they  grow. 


dbyGOOg 


TO  A  FRIEND  VISITING  AMERICA 

XVI 

Nor  know  they  us.    Yea,  well  enough 
In  that  inveterate  machine 
Through  which  we  speak  the  printed  stuff 
Daily,  with  voice  most  hugeous,  mien 

XVII 

Tremendous : — as  a  lion's  show 
The  grand  menagerie  paintings  hide : 
Hear  the  drum  beat,  the  trombones  blow  1 
The  poor  old  Lion  hes  inside  I  .  .  . 


It  is  not  England  that  they  hear. 
But  mighty  Mammon's  pipers,  tmned 
To  trumpet  out  his  moods,  and  stir 
His  sluggish  soul :  her  voice  is  chained : 


Almost  her  spirit  seems  moribund  I 
0  teach  them,  'tis  not  she  displays 
The  panic  of  a  purse  rotund, 
Eternal  dread  of  evil  days, — 


That  haunting  spectre  of  success 
Which  shows  a  heart  sunk  low  in  the  girths : 
Not  En^and  answers  nobleness, — 
'live  for  thyself:  thou  art  not  earth's.' 

XXI 

Not  she,  when  struggling  manhood  tries 
For  freedom,  air,  a  hopefuller  fate, 
Pointa  out  the  planet.  Compromise, 
And  shakes  a  mild  reproving  pate : 

XXII 

Says  never :  '  I  am  well  at  ease. 
My  sneers  upon  the  weak  I  shed : 
The  strong  have  my  cajoleries : 
And  those  beneath  my  feet  I  tread.' 


dbyGoogk: 


TO  A  FRIEND  VISITING  AMERICA 

XXIII 

Nay,  but  'tis  stud  for  her,  great  Lord  I 
The  misery  's  there  1     The  shameless  one 
Adjures  mankind  to  sheathe  the  sword. 
Herself  not  yielding  what  it  won : — 


tier  sermon  at  cock-crow  doth  preach. 
On  sweet  Prosperity — or  greed. 
'  Lo  I  as  the  b^ts  feed,  each  for  each, 
God's  hiessings  let  us  take,  and  feed  I ' 


Ungrateful  creatures  crave  a  part — 
She  telb  them  firmly  she  is  full ; 
Lest  sheared  sheep  hurt  her  tender  heart 
With  bleating,  stops  her  ears  with  wool : — 


Seized  sometimes  by  prodigious  qualms 
(Nightmares  of  bankruptcy  and  death), — 
Showers  down  in  lumps  a  load  of  alma. 
Then  pants  as  one  who  has  lost  a  breath ; 

XXVII 

Believes  high  heaven,  whence  favours  flow, 
Too  kmd  to  ask  a  sacrifice 
For  what  it  specially  doth  bestow: — 
Gives  ike,'tis  generous,  cheese  to  mice. 

xxvtu 
She  saw  the  young  Dominion  strip 
For  battle  with  a  grievous  wrong. 
And  curled  a  noble  Norman  lip. 
And  looked  with  half  an  eye  sidelong; 


And  in  stout  Saxon  wrote  her  sneers. 
Denounced  the  waste  of  blood  and  coii 
Implored  the  combatants,  with  tears. 
Never  to  think  they  could  rejoin. 


dbyGoogle 


TO  A  FRIEND  VISITING  AMERICA 

XXX 

Oh  1  was  it  England  that,  alas ! 
Turned  sharp  the  victor  to  cajole  ? 
Behold  her  features  in  the  glass : 
A  monstrous  semblance  mocks  her  soul  1 

A  false  majority,  by  stealth. 
Have  got  her  fast,  and  sway  the  rod : 
A  headless  tyrant  built  of  wealth. 
The  hypocrite,  the  belly-God. 


To  him  the  daily  hymns  they  ruse : 
His  tastes  are  sought :  his  will  is  done : 
He  sniffs  the  putrid  steam  of  praise. 
Place  for  true  England  here  is  none  I 


But  can  a  distant  race  discern 
The  difference  'twixt  her  and  him? 
My  friend,  that  will  you  hid  them  team. 
He  shames  and  binds  her,  head  and  limb. 


Old  wood  has  blossoms  of  this  sort. 
Though  sound  at  core,  she  is  old  wood. 
If  freemen  hate  her,  one  retort 
She  has ;  but  one ! — '  You  are  my  blood.' 

XXXV 

A  poet,  half  a  prophet,  rose 
In  recent  days,  and  called  for  power.' 
I  love  him ;  but  his  mountain  prose — 
His  Alp  and  valley  and  wild  flower — 


dbyGoogle 


TO  A  FRIEND  VISITING  AMERICA 


Why,  these  are  great  at  City  feasts ; 
From  City  riches  mainly  rise ; 
Tia  well  to  hear  them,  when  the  beasts 
That  die  for  us  they  eulogize  1 

XXXVIII 

But  these,  of  all  the  liveried  crew 
Obeisant  in  Mammon's  walk, 
Most  deferent  ply  the  facial  screw, 
The  spinal  bend,  submissive  talk. 


Small  fear  that  they  will  run  to  books 
(At  least  the  better  form  of  seed)  I 
I,  too,  have  hoped  from  their  good  looks, 
And  fables  of  their  Northman  breed ; — 


Have  hoped  that  they  the  land  would  head 
In  acts  magnanimous  ;  but,  lo. 
When  fainting  heroes  beg  for  bread 
■Riey  frown :  where  they  are  driven  they  go. 


Good  health,  my  friend !  and  may  your  lot 
Be  cheerful  o'er  the  Western  rounds. 
Thb  butter-woman's  market-trot 
Of  verse  is  passing  market4>ounds. 


Adieu  I  the  sun  sets ;  he  b  gone. 
On  banks  of  fog  faint  lines  extend : 
Adieu  I  bring  back  a  braver  dawn 
To  England,  and  to  me  my  friend. 


d  by  Google 


ANEURIN'S  HARP* 


Prince  of  Barda  was  old  ADeurin ; 
He  the  grand  Gododin  sang ; 
All  his  numbers  threw  such  fire  in. 
Struck  his  harp  so  wild  a  twang ; — 
Still  the  wakeful  Briton  borrows 
Wisdom  from  its  ancient  heat : 
Still  it  haunts  our  source  of  sorrows. 
Deep  excess  of  liquor  sweet  I 


Here  the  Briton,  there  the  Saxon, 
Face  to  face,  three  fields  apart. 
Thirst  for  light  to  lay  their  thwacks  on 
Each  the  other  with  good  heart. 
Dry  the  Sanon  sits,  'mid  dinful 
Noise  of  iron  knits  his  steel ; 
Fresh  and  roaring  with  a  skinful, 
Britons  round  the  hirlas '  reel. 


Yellow  flamed  the  meady  sunset ; 
Red  runs  up  the  flag  of  mom. 
Signal  for  the  British  onset 
Hiccups  through  the  British  horn. 
Down  these  hillmen  pour  like  cattle 
Snifiing  pasture :  grim  below, 
Showing  eager  teeth  of  isattle, 
In  his  spear-heads  lies  the  foe. 


—Monster  of  the  sea  I  we  drive  him 

Back  into  his  hungry  brine. 
—You  shall  lodge  him,  feed  him,  wive  him. 

Look  on  us ;  we  stand  in  line. 
—Pale  sea-monster !  foul  the  waters 

Cast  him ;  foul  he  leaves  our  land. 
—You  shall  yield  us  land  and  daughters: 

Stay  the  tongue,  and  try  the  band. 


d  by  Google 


ANEURIN'S  HARP 


Swift  as  toirent-streams  our  warriors, 
Tossing  torrent  lights,  find  way ; 
Burst  the  ridges,  crowd  the  barriers, 
Pierce  them  where  the  spear-heads  play ; 
Turn  them  as  the  clods  in  furrow. 
Top  them  like  the  leaping  foam  ; 
Sorrow  to  the  mother,  sorrow. 
Sorrow  to  the  wife  at  home  I 


Stags,  they  butted ;  bulb,  tliey  bellowed ; 
Houuds,  we  baited  them ;  oh,  brave ! 
Every  second  man,  unfellowed. 
Took  the  strokes  of  two,  and  gave. 
Bare  as  hop-stakes  in  November's 
Mists  they  met  our  battle-flood : 
Hoary-red  as  Winter's  embers 
Lay  their  dead  lines  done  in  blood. 


Thou,  my  Bard,  didst  hang  thy  Ijtc  in 
Oak-leaves,  and  with  crimson  brand 
Rhythmic  fury  spent,  Aneurin ; 
Songs  the  churls  could  understand : 
Thrumming  on  their  Saxon  sconces 
Straight,  the  invariable  blow. 
Till  they  snorted  true  responses. 
Ever  thus  the  Bard  they  know  I 


But  ere  nightfall,  harper  lusty  I 
When  the  sun  was  like  a  ball 
Dropping  on  the  battle  dusty. 
What  was  yon  discordant  call  ? 
Cambria's  old  metheglin  demon 
Breathed  against  our  rushing  tide 
Clove  us  midst  the  threshing 
Gashed,  we  saw  our  ranks  divide 


dbyGoogk 


ANEURIN'S  HARP 


Britam  then  with  valedictory 
Shriek  veiled  off  her  face  and  knelt. 
Full  of  liquor,  full  of  victory, 
Chief  oD  chief  old  vengeance  dealt. 
Backward  swung  their  hurly-burly ; 
None  but  dead  men  kept  the  fight. 
They  that  drink  their  cup  too  early, 
Darkness  they  shall  see  ere  night. 


Loud  we  heard  the  yellow  rover 
Laugh  to  sleep,  while  we  raged  thick, 
Thick  as  ants  the  ant-hill  over. 
Asking  who  has  thrust  the  stick. 
Lo,  as  frogs  that  Winter  cumbers 
Meet  the  Spring  with  sfiffen'd  yawn. 
We  from  our  hard  night  of  slumbers 
Marched  into  the  bloody  dawn. 


Day  on  day  we  fought,  though  shattered ; 

Pushed  and  met  repulses  sharp, 

Till  our  Raven's  plumes  were  scattered : 

All,  save  old  Aneurin's  harp. 

Hear  it  wailing  like  a  mother 

O'er  the  strings  of  children  slain ! 

He  in  one  tongue,  in  another. 

Alien,  I ;  one  blood,  yet  twain. 


Old  Aneurin  I  droop  do  longer. 
That  squat  ocean-scum,  we  own. 
Had  fine  stoutness,  made  us  stronger. 
Brought  us  much-required  backbone : 


dbyGoogle 


ANEURIN'S  HARP 


Glorious  men,  with  heads  of  eagles. 
Chopping  arms,  and  cupboard  lips ; 
Warriors,  hunters,  keen  as  beagtes. 
Mounted  aye  on  horse  or  ships. 
Active,  being  hungry  creatures ; 
Silent,  having  nought  to  say : 
High  they  raised  the  lord  of  features, 
SaxoQ-worshipped  to  this  day. 


Hear  its  deeds,  the  great  recital  I 
Stout  as  bergs  of  Arctic  ice 
Once  it  led,  and  lived ;  a  title 
Now  it  is,  and  names  its  price. 
This  our  Saxon  brothers  cherish : 
This,  when  by  the  worth  of  wits 
Lands  are  reared  aloft,  or  perish, 
Sole  illumes  their  lucre-pits. 


Know  we  not  our  wrongs,  unwritten 
Though  they  be,  Aneurin?    Sword, 
Song,  and  subtle  mind,  the  Briton 
Brings  to  market,  all  ignored. 
'Gainst  the  Saxon's  bone  impinging, 
Still  is  our  Gododin  played ; 
Shamed  we  see  him  humbly  cringing 
In  a  shadowy  nose's  shade. 


Bitter  is  the  weight  that  crushes 
Low,  my  Bard,  thy  race  of  fire. 
Here  no  fair  young  future  blushes 
Bridal  to  a  man's  desire. 
Neither  chief,  nor  aim,  nor  splendour 
Dressing  distance,  we  perceive. 
Neither  honour,  nor  the  tender 
Bloom  of  promise,  mom  or  eve. 


dbyGOOgJi 


ANEURIN'S  HARP 


Joined  we  are ;  a  tide  of  races 
Rolled  to  meet  a  common  fate ; 
England  clasps  in  her  embraces 
Many:  what  is  England's  state? 
England  her  distended  middle 
Thumps  with  pride  as  Mammon's  wife ; 
Says  that  thus  she  reads  thy  Hddle, 
Heaven  I  'tis  heaven  to  plump  her  life. 

xviii 
0  my  Bard  I  a  yellow  liquor, 
Like  to  that  we  drank  of  old — 
Gold  is  her  metheglin  beaker. 
She  destruction  drinks  in  gold. 
Warn  her.  Bard,  that  Power  is  pressing 
Hotly  for  his  dues  this  hour; 
Tell  her  that  no  drunken  blessing 
Stops  the  onward  march  of  Power. 

XIX 

Has  she  ears  to  take  forewamings 
She  will  cleanse  her  of  her  stains. 
Feed  and  speed  for  braver  mornings 
Valorously  the  growth  of  brains. 
Power,  the  hard  man  knit  for  action. 
Reads  each  nation  on  the  brow. 
Cripple,  fool,  and  petrifaction 
Fall  to  him — are  falling  now ! 

18S& 

A  CERTAIN  PEOPLE 

As  Puritans  they  prominently  wax, 
And  none  more  kindly  gives  and  takes  hard  knocks. 
Strong  psalmic  chanting,  like  to  nasal  cocks. 
They  join  to  thunderings  of  their  hearty  thwacks. 
But  naughtiness,  with  hoggery,  not  lacks 
When  Peace  another  door  in  them  unlocks. 
Where  conscience  shows  the  eyeing  of  an  ox 
Grown  dully  apprehensive  of  an  Axe. 


dbyGoogle 


PROGRESS 

Graceless  they  are  when  gone  to  frivolousness. 
Fearing  the  God  they  flout,  the  God  they  glut. 
They  need  their  pious  exercises  leas 
Than  schooling  in  the  Pleasures :  fair  belief 
That  these  are  devilish  only  to  their  thief, 
Charged  with  an  Axe  nigh  on  the  occiput. 


PROGRESS  * 

Ik  Progress  you  have  little  faith,  say  you : 

Men  will  maintain  dear  interests,  wr^k  base  bates, 

By  force,  and  gentle  women  choose  their  mates 

Most  amorou^  from  the  gilded  fighting  crew : 

The  human  heart  Bellona's  mad  halloo 

Will  ever  fire  to  dicing  with  the  Fates. 

'  Now  at  this  time,'  says  History,  '  those  two  States 

'  Stood  ready  their  past  wrestling  to  renew. 

'  They  sharpened  arms  and  showed  them,  like  the  brutes 

'  Whose  haunches  quiver.     But  a  yellow  bUght 

'  Fell  on  their  waxing  harvests.    They  deferred 

'  The  bloody  settlement  of  their  disputes 

*  Till  God  should  bless  them  better.'    They  did  right. 

And  naming  Progress,  both  shall  have  the  word.' 


ON  THE  DANGER  OF  WAR 

Avert,  High  Wisdom,  never  vainly  wooed, 
This  threat  of  War,  that  shows  a  land  brain-sick. 
When  nations  gain  the  pitch  where  rhetoric 
Seems  reason  they  are  ripe  for  cannon's  food. 
Dark  looms  the  issue  though  the  cause  be  good, 
But  with  the  doubt  'tis  our  old  devil's  trick. 
0  now  the  down-slope  of  the  lunatic 
Illumine  lest  we  redden  of  that  brood. 
For  not  since  man  in  his  first  view  of  thee 
Asrended  to  the  heavens  giving  sign 
Within  him  of  deep  sky  and  sounded  sea. 
Did  he  unforfeiting  thy  laws  transgress ; 
In  peril  of  his  blood  his  ears  incline 
To  drums  whose  loudness  is  their  emptiness. 


dbyGoOgk 


TO  CARDINAL  MANNDJO  ♦ 

I,  WAKEFUL  for  the  skylark  voice  in  men. 

Or  straining  for  the  angel  of  the  light. 

Rebuked  am  I  by  hungry  ear  and  the  sight, 

When  I  behold  one  lamp  that  through  our  fen 

Goes  hourly  where  moat  noisome ;  hear  again 

A  tongue  that  loathsomeness  will  not  affright 

From  speaking  to  the  soul  of  us  forthright 

What  things  our  craven  senses  keep  from  ken. 

This  b  the  doing  of  the  Christ ;  the  way 

He  went  on  earth ;  the  service  above  guile 

To  prop  a  tyrant  creed : '  it  sings,  it  shines ; 

Cries  to  the  Mammonites :  Allay,  allay 

Such  misery  as  by  these  present  signs 

Brings  vengeance  down ;  nor  them  who  rouse  revile. 


TO  COLONEL  CHARLES* 
(Dying  General  CB.B.) 


An  English  heart,  my  commandant, 
A  soldier's  eye  you  have,  awake 
To  right  and  left ;  with  looks  askant 
On  bulwarks  not  of  adamant. 
Where  white  our  Channel  waters  break. 


Where  Grisnez  winks  at  Dungeness 
Across  the  ruffled  strip  of  salt. 
You  look,  and  like  the  prospect  less. 
On  men  and  guns  would  you  lay  stress. 
To  bid  the  Island's  foemen  halt. 


While  loud  the  Year  is  raising  cry 
At  birth  to  know  if  it  must  bear 
In  history  the  bloody  dye. 
An  English  heart,  a  soldier's  eye. 
For  the  old  country  first  will  care. 


dbyGoogle 


TO  COLONEL  CHARLES 


And  how  stands  she,  artilterist, 

Among  the  vapours  waxing  dense. 

With  cannon  charged  ?    'Tis  hist  1  and  hist ! 

And  now  she  screws  a  gouty  fist. 

And  now  she  counts  to  clutch  her  pence. 


With  shudders  chill  as  aconite. 
The  couchant  chewer  of  the  cud 
Will  start  at  times  in  pussy  fright 
Before  the  dogs,  when  reads  her  sprite 
The  streaks  predicting  streama  of  blood. 

VI 

She  thinks  they  may  mean  something ;  thinks 
They  may  mean  nothing :  haply  both. 
Where  darkness  all  her  daylight  drinks. 
She  fain  would  find  a  leader  lynx, 
Not  too  much  taxing  mental  sloth. 


Cleft  like  the  fated  house  in  twain, 
One  half  is.  Arm  1  and  one,  Retrench ! 
Gambetta's  word  on  dull  MacMahon : 
'  The  cow  that  sees  a  passing  train' : 
So  spies  she  Russian,  German,  French. 


She?  no,  her  weakness :  she  unbraced 
Among  those  athletes  fronting  storms  I 
The  muscles  less  of  steel  than  paste. 
Why,  they  of  nature  feel  distaste 
For  flash,  much  more  for  push,  of  arms. 


The  poet  sings,  and  well  know  we, 
That '  iron  draws  men  after  it.' 
But  towering  wealth  may  seem  the  tree 
Which  hears  the  fruit  Indemnity, 
And  draw  as  fast  as  battle 's  fit, 


dbyGoogle 


TO  COLONEL  CHARLES 


If  feeble  be  the  hand  on  guard, 

Alas,  alas  I    And  nations  are 

Still  the  mad  forces,  though  the  scarred. 

Should  they  once  deem  our  emblem  Pard 

Wagger  of  tail  for  all  save  war ; — 


Mechanically  screwed  to  flail 
His  flanks  by  Presses  conjuring  fear; — 
A  money-bag  with  head  and  tail ; — 
Too  late  may  valour  then  avail ! 
As  you  behdd,  my  cannonier. 


When  with  the  staff  of  Benedek, 
On  the  plateau  of  Koniggratz, 
You  saw  below  that  wedgeing  speck ; 
Foresaw  proud  Austria  rammed  to  wreck, 
Where  Cblum  drove  deep  in  smoky  jets. 
Ftbniarv  1887.  _ 


ENGLAND  BEFORE  THE  STORM 


The  day  that  is  the  night  of  days. 
With  cannon-fire  for  sun  ablaze. 
We  spy  from  any  billow's  lift; 
And  England  still  this  tidal  drift  I 
Would  she  to  sainted  forethought  va\ 
A  space  before  the  thunders  flood. 
That  martyr  of  its  hour  might  now 
Spare  her  the  tears  of  blood. 


Asleep  upon  her  ancient  deeds. 
She  hugs  the  vision  plethora  breeds, 
And  counts  her  manifold  increase 
Of  treasure  in  the  fruits  of  peace. 


^dbyGoogle 


ENGLAND  BEFORE  THE  STORM 

What  curse  on  earth's  improvident. 
When  the  dread  trumptet  shatters  rest. 
Is  wreaked,  she  knows,  yet  smiles  content 
As  cradle  rocked  from  breast. 


She,  impious  to  tlie  Lord  of.HoJts, 
The  valour  of  her  offspring  boasts. 
Mindless  that  now  on  land  and  main 
His  heeded  prayer  is  active  brain. 
No  more  great  heart  may  guard  the  home, 
Save  eyed  and  armed  and  skilled  to  clea\'e 
Yon  swallower  wave  with  shroud  of  foam. 
We  see  not  distant  heave. 


They  stand  to  be  her  sacrifice. 
The  sons  this  mother  flings  like  dice, 
To  face  the  odds  and  brave  the  Fates ; 
As  in  those  days  of  starry  dates. 
When  cannon  cannon's  counterblast 
Awakened,  muzzle  muzzle  bowled, 
And  high  in  swathe  of  smoke  the  mast 
Its  fighting  rag  outrolled. 


THE  LABOURER* 

Fob  a  Heracles  in  his  fighting  ire  there  is  never  the  glory  that 
follows 
When  ashen  he  lies  and  the  poets  arise  to  sing  of  the  work 
he  has  done. 
But  to  vision  alive  under  shallows  of  sight,  to,  the  Labourer's 
crown  is  Apollo's, 
While  stands  he  yet  in  his  grime  and  sweat — to  wrestle  for 
fruits  of  the  Sun. 


dbyGOOglj 


438  THE  LABOURER 

Can  an  enemy  wither  his  cheer?    Not  you,  ye  fair  yellow- 
fiowerins  ladies, 
Who  join  with  your  lorda  to  jar  the  chords  of  a  bosom  heroic, 
and  clog. 
"Tia  the  faltering  friend,  an  inanimate  land,  may  drag  a  great 
30ul  to  their  Hades, 
And  plunge  htm  far  from  a  beam  of  star  till  he  hears  the 
deep  bay  of  the  Dog. 

Apparition  is  then  of  a  monster-task,  in  a  policy  carving  new 
fashions : 
l^e  winninger  course  than  the  rule  of  force,  and  the  springs 
lured  to  run  in  a  stream : 
He  would  bend  tough  oak,  he  would  stiffen  the  reed,  point 
Reason  to  swallow  the  passions. 
Bid  Britons  awake  two  steps  to  take  where  one  is  a  trouble 
lel 


Not  the  less  is  be  nerved  with  the  Labourer's  resolute  hope : 
that  by  him  shall  be  written, 
To  honour  his  race,  this  deed  of  grace,  for  the  weak  from 
the  strong  made  just : 
That  her  sons  over  seas  in  a  rally  of  praise  may  behold  a 
thrice  vitalised  Britain, 
Ashine  with  the  light  of  the  doing  of  right :  at  the  gates 
of  the  Futiue  in  trust 


THE  EMPTY  PURSE- 

A  BERUON  TO  OITB  LATER  PBODIQAL  BON 

Thou,  run  to  the  dry  on  this  wayside  bank. 
Too  plainly  of  all  the  propellers  bereft  1 

Quenched  youth,  and  is  that  thy  purse? 
Even  such  limp  slough  as  the  snake  has  left 
Slack  to  the  gale  upon  spikes  of  whin. 
For  cast-off  coat  of  a  life  gone  blank. 
In  its  frame  of  a  grin  at  the  seeker,  b  thine ; 
And  thine  to  crave  and  to  curse 
Tlie  aweet  thing  once  within. 


dbyGOOgltf 


THE  EMPTY  PURSE 

Accuse  him :  some  devil  committed  the  theft. 
Which  leaves  of  the  portly  a  skin. 
No  more ;  of  the  weighty  a  whine. 

Pursue  him :  and  first,  to  be  sure  of  bb  track, 
Over  devious  ways  that  have  led  to  this. 

In  the  stream's  consecutive  line. 

Let  memory  lead  thee  back 
To  where  waves  Morning  her  fleur-de-lys, 
Unflushed  at  the  front  of  the  roseate  door 
Unopened  yet :  never  shadow  there 

Of  a  Tartarus  lighted  by  Dia 

For  souls  whose  cry  is,  alack  t 
An  ivory  cradle  rocks,  apeep 
Through  his  eyelashes'  laugh,  a  breathing  pearl. 
There  the  young  chief  of  the  animals  wore 
A  likeness  to  heavenly  hosts,  unaware 
Of  his  love  of  himself  ;  with  the  hours  at  leap. 
In  a  dingle  away  from  a  rutted  highroad. 
Around  him  the  earliest  throstle  and  merle, 
Our  human  smile  between  milk  and  sleep. 

Effervescent  of  Nature  he  crowed. 
Fair  was  that  season ;  furl  over  furl 
The  banners  of  blossom  ;  a  dancing  floor 
This  earth ;  very  angels  the  clouds ;  and  fair 
Thou  on  the  tablets  of  forehead  and  breast : 
Careless,  a  centre  of  vigilant  care. 
Thy  mother  kisses  an  infant  curl. 
The  room  of  the  toys  was  a  boundless  nest, 

A  kingdom  the  field  of  the  games, 

Till  entered  the  craving  for  more. 

And  the  worshipped  small  body  bad  aims. 
A  good  little  idol,  as  records  attest. 
When  they  tell  of  him  lightly  appeased  in  a  scream 
By  sweets  and  caresses :  he  gave  but  sign 
lliat  the  heir  of  a  purse-plumped  dominant  race. 
Accustomed  to  plenty,  not  dumb  would  pine. 
Almost  magician,  his  earliest  dream 

Was  lord  of  the  unpossessed 

For  a  look ;  himself  and  his  chase. 

As  on  puffs  of  a  wind  at  whirl. 


dbyGOOgJi 


0  THE  EMPTY  PURSE 

Made  one  in  the  wink  of  a  gleam. 

She  kisses  a  locket  curl, 
She  conjures  to  vision  a  cherub  face. 

When  her  butterfly  counted  his  day 

All  meadow  and  flowers,  mishap 

Derided,  and  taken  for  play 

The  fling  of  an  urchin's  cap. 
When  her  butterfly  showed  him  an  eaglet  bom. 

For  preying  too  heedlessly  bred. 

What  a.  heart  clapped  in  thee  then  I 

With  what  fuller  colours  of  mom  ! 
And  high  to  the  uttermost  heavens  it  flew, 

Swift  as  on  poet's  pen. 

It  flew  to  be  wedded,  to  wed 

The  mystery  scented  around : 

Issue  of  flower  and  dew, 

Issue  of  light  and  sound : 

Thinner  than  either ;  a  thread 

Spun  of  the  dream  they  threw 

To  kindle,  allure,  evade. 
It  ran  the  sea-wave,  the  garden's  dance. 
To  the  forest's  dark  heart  down  a  dappled  glade ; 

Led  on  by  a  perishing  glance, 

By  a  twinkle's  eternd  waylaid. 
Woman,  the  name  was,  when  she  took  form ; 
Sheaf  of  the  wonders  of  life.    She  fled. 
Close  imaged  ;  she  neared,  far  seen.     How  she  made 
Palpitate  earth  of  the  living  and  dead  I 
Did  she  not  show  thee  the  world  designed 
Solely  for  loveliness?    Nested  warm, 
The  day  was  the  morrow  in  flight.     And  for  thee. 
She  muted  the  discords,  tuned,  refined ; 
Drowned  sharp  edges  beneath  her  cloak. 
Eye  of  the  waters,  and  throb  of  the  tree. 
Sliding  on  radiance,  winging  from  shade. 
With  her  witch-whisper  o'er  mins,  in  reeds, 
Rhe  fULnir  low  the  snnir  nf  her  nromiqp  Hf>ln.ved  • 


dbjGoogle 


THE  EMPTY  PURSE 

Shone  she  a  lure  of  the  hooey-bag  swarm, 
Most  was  her  beam  on  the  knightly :  she  led 
For  the  honours  of  manhood  more  than  the  prize ; 

Waved  her  magnetical  yoke 

Whither  the  warrior  bled. 

Ere  to  the  bower  o(  sighs. 
And  shy  of  her  secrets  she  was ;  under  deeps 
Plunged  at  the  breath  of  a  thirst  that  woke 
The  dream  in  the  cave  where  the  Dreaded  sleeps. 

Away  over  heaven  the  young  heart  flew. 
And  caught  many  lustres,  till  some  one  said 
(Or  was  it  the  thought  into  hearing  grew?}, 

Not  thou  cu  commoner  men  I 

Thy  stature  puffed  and  it  swayed. 

It  stiffened  to  royal-erect ; 

A  brassy  trumpet  brayed ; 

A  whiHing  seized  thy  head ; 

The  vision  of  beauty  was  flecked. 

Note  well  the  how  and  the  when. 

The  thing  that  prompted  and  sped. 

Tbereanon  the  keen  passions  clapped  wing, 

Fixed  eye,  and  the  world  was  prey. 
No  simple  world  of  thy  greenblade  Spring, 

Nor  world  of  thy  flowerfui  prime 

On  the  topmost  Orient  peak 

Above  a  yet  vaporous  day. 

Flesh  was  it,  breast  to  beak : 
A  four-walled  windowless  world  without  ray. 
Only  darkening  jets  on  a  river  of  slime, 
Where  harsh  over  music  as  woodland  jay, 

A  voice  chants.  Woe  to  the  weak  I 

And  along  an  insatiate  feast, 

Women  and  men  are  one 

In  the  cup  transforming  to  beast. 
Ma^n  worship  they  paid  to  their  sun. 
Lord  of  the  Purse  I     Behold  him  climb. 

Stalked  ever  such  figure  of  fun 
For  monarch  in  great-grin  paatomimef 
See  now  the  heart  dwindle,  the  frame  distend ; 
The  soul  to  its  anchorite  cavern  retreat. 


dbyGOOglJ 


dbjGooglc 


THE  EMPTY  PUBSE 

By  serpent  Apollyon  blest : 
His  plea  in  apology,  blindfold  Fool. 
A  fool  surcharged,  propelled,  imwamed ; 

Not  viler,  you  hear  him  protest : 
Of  a  popular  countenance  not  incorrect. 
But  deeds  are  the  picture  in  essence,  deeds 

Paint  him  the  hooved  aod  homed. 

Despite  the  poor  pother  he  pleads, 

And  his  look  of  a  nation's  elect. 

We  have  him,  our  quarry  confessed  I 

And  scan  him :  the  features  inspect 

Of  that  bestial  multiform :  cry. 
Corroborate  I,  0  Samian  Sage  1  • 

The  book  of  thy  wisdom,  proved 

On  me,  its  last  hieroglyph  page. 

Alive  in  the  homed  and  hooved? 

Hiou !  vill  he  make  reply. 

Thus  has  the  plenary  purse 
Done  often :  to  do  will  engage 
Anew  upon  all  of  thy  like,  or  worse. 
And  now  is  thy  deepest  regret 
To  be  man,  clean  rescued  from  beast: 
From  the  grip  of  the  Sorcerer,  Gold, 
Celestially  released. 

But  now  from  his  cavernous  hold. 

Free  may  thy  soul  be  set. 
As  a  child  of  the  Death  and  the  Life,  to  learn. 

Refreshed  by  some  bodily  sweat. 

The  meaning  of  either  in  turn. 

What  issue  may  come  of  the  two : — 
A  mom  beyond  mornings,  beyond  all  reach 
Of  emotional  arms  at  the  stretch  to  enfold  : 
A  firmament  passing  our  visible  blue. 
To  those  having  nought  to  reflect  it,  'tis  nought ; 
To  those  who  are  misty,  'tis  mist  on  the  beach 
From  the  billow  withdrawing ;  to  those  who  see 

Earth,  our  mother,  in  thought. 

Her  spirit  it  is,  our  key. 


dbyGOOgll 


I  THE  EMPTY  PURSE 

Ay,  the  Life  and  the  Death  are  her  words  to  us  here. 

Of  one  significance,  pricking  the  blind. 

This  is  thy  gain  now  the  surface  is  clear : 

To  read  with  a  soul  in  the  mirror  of  mind 

Is  man's  chief  lesson. — Thou  smilest  1  1  preach  I 

Acid  smiling,  my  friends,  reveals 
Abysses  within ;  frigid  preaching  a  street 

Paved  unconcernedly  smooth 

For  the  lecturer  straight  on  his  heeb, 

Up  and  down  a  pohceman's  beat ; 

Bearing  tonics  not  labelled  to  soothe. 
Thou  hast  a  disgust  of  the  sermon  in  rhyme. 
It  is  not  attractive  in  being  too  chaste. 
The  popular  tale  of  adventure  and  crime 
Would  equally  sicken  an  overdone  taste. 
So,  then,  onward.    Philosophy,  thoughtless  to  soothe, 
LJfts,  if  thou  wilt,  or  there  leaves  thee  supine. 

Thy  condition,  good  sooth,  has  so  seeming  of  sweet ; 
It  walks  our  first  crags,  it  is  flint  for  the  tooth. 

For  the  thirsts  of  our  nature  brine. 
But  manful  has  met  it,  manful  will  meet. 
And  think  of  thy  privilege :  supple  with  youth. 

To  have  sight  of  the  headlong  swine, 

Once  fouling  thee,  jumping  the  dips  1 

As  the  coin  of  thy  purse  poured  out : 

An  animal's  holiday  past : 
And  free  of  them  thou,  to  begin  a  new  bout ; 
To  start  a  fresh  hunt  on  a  resolute  blast: 
No  more  an  imp-ridden  to  bournes  of  eclipse : 
Having  knowledge  to  spur  thee,  a  gift  to  compare; 
Rubbing  shoulder  to  shoulder,  as  only  the  book 
Of  the  world  can  be  read,  by  necessity  urged. 
For  witness,  what  blinkers  are  they  who  look 
From  the  state  of  the  prince  or  the  millionaire  I 

They  see  but  the  fish  they  attract. 

The  hungers  on  them  converged  ; 
And  never  the  thought  in  the  shell  of  the  act. 

Nor  ever  life's  fangless  mirth. 
But  first,  that  the  poisonous  of  thee  be  purged, 

Go  into  thyself,  strike  Earth. 


d  by  Google 


THE  EMPTY  PURSE  « 

She  is  there,  she  is  felt  in  a  blow  struck  hard. 
Thou  findest  a  pu^list  countering  quick, 
Cunning  at  drives  where  thy  shutters  are  barred ; 
Not,  after  the  studied  professional  trick. 
Blue-sealing ;  she  brightens  the  sight.    Strike  Earth, 
Antaeus,  young  giant,  whom  fortune  tripa ! ' 

And  thou  com'st  on  a  saving  fact, 

To  nourish  thy  planted  worth. 
Be  it  clay,  flint,  mud,  or  the  rubble  of  chips. 
Thy  roots  have  grasp  in  the  stem-exact : 
The  redemption  of  sinners  deluded !  the  last 

Dry  handful,  that  bruises  and  saves. 
To  the  comraon  big  heart  are  we  bound  right  fast, 

When  our  Mother  admonishing  nips 

At  the  nakedness  bare  of  a  clout. 

And  we  crave  what  the  commonest  craves. 

This  wealth  was  a  fortress-wall. 
Under  which  grew  our  grim  little  beast-god  stout; 
Self-worshipped,  the  foe,  in  di^■ision  from  all ; 
With  crowds  of  illogical  Christians,  no  doubt ; 

Till  the  rescuing  earthquake  cracked. 

Thus  are  we  man  made  firm  ; 

Made  warm  by  the  numbers  compact. 
We  follow  no  longer  a  trumpet-snout. 

At  a  trot  where  the  hog  is  tracked. 

Nor  wriggle  the  way  of  the  worm. 

Thou  wilt  spare  us  the  cynical  pout 
At  humanity :  sign  of  a  nature  bechuried. 
No  stenchy  anathemas  cast 
Upon  Providence,  women,  the  world. 
Distinguish  thy  tempers  and  trim  thy  wits. 
The  purchased  are  things  of  the  mart,  not  classed 
Among  resonant  types  that  have  freely  grown. 

Thy  knowledge  of  women  might  be  surpassed : 
As  any  sad  dog's  of  sweet  flesh  when  he  quits 

The  wayside  wandering  bone  1 
No  revilings  of  comrades  as  ingrates :  thee 
The  tempter,  misleader,  and  criminal  (screened 

By  laws  yet  barbarous)  own. 


dbyGOOgJi 


5  THE  EMPTY  PURSE 

If  some  one  performed  Fiend's  deputy. 

He  was  for  awhile  the  Fiend. 

Still,  nursing  a  passion  to  speak. 
As  the  punch-bowl  does,  in  the  moral  vein. 

When  the  ladle  has  finished  its  leak. 
And  the  vessel  is  loquent  of  nature's  inane. 

Hie  where  the  demagogues  roar 
Like  a  Phalaris  bull,  with  the  victim's  force: 

Hurrah  to  their  jolly  attack 

On  a  City  that  smokes  of  the  Plain ;  * 

A  city  of  sin's  death-dyes. 

Holding  revel  of  worms  in  a  corse; 

A  city  of  malady  sore. 

Over-ripe  for  the  big  doom's  crack : 

A  city  of  hymnical  snore ; 

Connubial  truths  and  lies 

Demanding  an  instant  divorce. 

Clean  as  the  bright  from  the  black. 
It  were  well  for  thy  system  to  sermonize. 
There  are  giants  to  slay,  and  they  call  for  their  Jack. 

Then  up  stand  thou  in  the  midst : 

Thy  good  grain  out  of  thee  thresb. 

Hand  upon  heart :  relate 

What  things  thou  legally  didst 

For  the  Archseducer  of  flesh. 
Omitting  the  murmurs  at  women  and  fate. 

Confess  thee  an  instrument  armed 

To  be  snare  of  our  wanton,  oiur  weak, 

Of  all  by  the  sensual  charmed. 
For  once  shall  repentance  be  done  by  the  tongue: 

Speak,  though  execrate,  speak 

A  word  on  grandmotherly  Laws 

Giving  rivers  of  gokl  to  our  young, 

In  the  days  of  their  hungers  impure ; 

To  furnish  them  beak  and  claws. 

And  make  them  a  banquet's  lure. 

Thou  the  example,  saved 
Miraculously  by  this  poor  skin  I 

Thereat  let  the  Purse  be  waved : 
The  snake-slough  sick  of  the  snaky  sin : 


dbyGOOgIC 


THE  EMPTY  PURSE  447 

A  devil,  if  devil  as  devil  behaved 

Ever,  thou  knowest,  look  thou  but  in, 

Where  he  shivers,  a  culprit  fettered  and  shaved ; 

O  a  bird  stripped  of  feather,  a  fish  dipped  of  fin  I 

And  commend  for  a  washing  the  torrents  of  wrath, 
Whieh  hurl  at  the  foe  of  the  dearest  men  prize 

Rough-rolling  boulders  and  froth.' 
Gigantical  enginery  they  can  command, 
For  the  crushing  of  enemies  not  of  great  size : 

But  hold  to  thy  desperate  stand. 
Men's  right  of  bequeathing  their  all  to  their  own 
(With  little  regard  for  the  creatures  they  squeezed)  ■ 
"Dieir  mill  and  mill-water  and  nether  mill-stone 
Hed  fast  to  their  infant ;  lo,  this  is  the  last 
Of  their  hungers,  by  prudent  devices  appeased. 
The  law  they  decree  is  their  ultimate  slave ; 
Wherein  we  perceive  old  Voracity  glassed. 
It  works  from  their  dust,  and  it  reeks  of  their  grave. 
Point  them  to  greener,  though  Journals  be  guns ; 
To  brotherly  fields  under  fatherly  skies ; 
Where  the  savage  still  primitive  learns  of  a  debt 
He  has  owed  since  he  drummed  on  his  belly  for  war; 
And  how  for  his  giving,  the  more  will  he  get ; 
For  trusting  his  fellows,  leave  friends  round  his  sons : 
mi  they  see,  with  the  gape  of  a  startled  surprise. 
Their  adored  tyrant-monster  a  brute  to  abhor. 
The  sun  of  their  system  a  father  of  flies  I 

So,  for  such  good  hope,  take  their  scourge  unashamed; 
'Tis  the  portion  of  them  who  civilize. 

Who  speak  the  word  novel  and  true : 
How  the  brutish  antique  of  our  springs  may  be  tamed. 
Without  loss  of  the  strength  that  should  push  us  to  flower; 
How  the  God  of  old  time  will  act  Satan  of  new. 
If  we  keep  him  not  straight  at  the  higher  God  aimed ; 
For  whose  habitation  within  us  we  scour 
This  house  of  our  life ;  where  our  bitterest  pains 
Are  those  to  eject  the  Infernal,  who  heaps 
Mire  on  the  soul.    Take  stripes  or  chains; 

Grip  at  thy  standard  reviled. 


i 


i  THE  EMPTY  PURSE 

And  what  if  our  body  be  dashed  from  the  steeps? 
Our  spoken  in  protest  remains. 
A  young  generation  reaps. 

The  young  generation  I  ah,  there  is  the  child 

Of  our  souls  down  the  Ages !  to  bleed  for  it,  proof 

That  souls  we  have,  with  our  senses  filed. 

Our  shuttles  at  thread  ot  the  woof. 

May  it  be  braver  than  ours, 
To  encounter  the  rattle  of  hostile  bolts. 
To  look  on  the  rising  of  Stranger  Powers, 
May  it  know  how  the  mind  in  expansion  revolts 
From  a  nursery  Past  with  dead  letters  aloof. 
And  the  piping  to  stupor  of  Precedents  shun. 
In  a  field  where  the  forefather  print  of  the  hoof 
Is  not  yet  overgrassed  by  the  watering  hours. 
And  should  prompt  us  to  Change,  as  to  promise  of  sun 

Till  brain-rule  splendidly  towers. 
For  that  large  light  we  have  laboured  and  tramped 
Through  forests  and  bogland,  still  to  perceive 

Our  animate  morning  stamped 

With  the  lines  of  a  sombre  eve. 


A  timorous  thing  ran  the  innocent  hind. 

When  the  wolf  was  the  hypocrite  fang  under  hood, 

The  snake  a  lithe  lurker  up  sleeve. 

And  the  lion  effulgently  ramped. 
Then  our  forefather  hoof  did  its  work  in  the  wood. 

By  right  of  the  better  in  kind. 
But  now  will  it  breed  yon  bestial  brood 
Three-fold  thrice  over,  if  bent  to  bind, 

As  the  healthy  in  chains  with  the  sick, 
Unto  despot  usage  our  issuing  mind. 
It  signifies  battle  or  death's  dull  knell. 
Precedents  icily  written  on  high 
Challenge  the  Tentatives  hot  to  rebel. 
Our  Mother,  who  speeds  her  bloomful  quick 
For  the  march,  reads  which  the  impediment  well. 
She  smiles  when  of  sapience  is  their  boast. 
0  loose  of  the  tug  between  blood  run  dry 


ip^ilc 


THE  EMPTY  PURSE  449 

And  blood  ninning  flame  may  our  offspring  run  I  * 
May  brain  democratic  be  king  of  the  host  1 
Less  then  shall  the  volumes  of  History  tell 
Of  the  step  in  progression,  the  slip  in  relapse. 
That  counts  us  a  sand-slack  inch  hard  won 
Beneath  an  oppressive  incumbent  perhaps. 

Let  the  senile  lords  in  a  parchment  sky. 

And  the  generous  turbulents  drunken  of  room. 

Their  battle  of  instincts  put  by, 

A  moment  examine  this  field : 
On  a  Roman  street  cast  thoughtful  eye. 
Along  to  the  mounts  from  the  bog-forest  weald. 
It  merits  a  glance  at  our  history's  maps, 
To  see  across  Britain's  old  shaggy  unshorn. 
Through  the  Parties  in  strife  internecine,  foot 
The  ruler's  close-reckoned  direct  to  the  mark. 
From  the  head  ran  the  vanquisher's  orderly  route. 
In  the  stride  of  his  forts  through  the  tangle  and  dark. 

From  the  head  runs  the  paved  firm  way  for  advance, 

And  we  shoulder,  we  wrangle !    The  light  on  us  shed 

Shows  dense  beetle  blackness  in  swarm,  lurid  Chance, 

The  Goddess  of  gamblers,  above.    From  the  head. 

Then  when  it  worked  for  the  birth  of  a  star 

Fraternal  with  heaven's  in  beauty  and  ray, 

Sprang  the  Acropolis.     Ask  what  crown 

Comes  of  our  tides  of  the  blood  at  war. 

For  men  to  bequeath  generations  down ! 

And  ask  what  thou  wast  when  the  Purse  was  brimmed : 

What  high'bounding  ball  for  the  Gods  at  play : 

A  Conservative  youth  I  who  the  cream-bowl  skimmed. 

Desiring  affairs  to  be  left  as  they  are. 

So,  thou  takest  Youth's  natural  place  in  the  fray, 

As  a  Tentative,  combating  Peace, 

Our  lullaby  word  for  decay. — 

There  will  come  an  immediate  decree 
In  thy  mind  for  the  opposite  party's  decease. 

If  he  bends  not  an  instant  knee. 
Expunge  it :  extinguishing  counts  poor  gain. 

And  accept  a  mild  word  of  police . — 


dbyGoogle 


0  THE  EMPTY  PURSE 

Be  manneriy,  measured ;  refrain 
From  the  puffings  of  him  of  the  bagpipe  chedcs. 
Our  political,  even  as  the  merchant  main, 

A  temperate  gale  requires 

For  the  ship  that  haven  seeks ; 
Neither  God  of  the  winds  nor  hb  bellowsy  squires. 

Then  observe  the  antagonist,  con 
His  reasons  for  rocking  the  lullaby  word. 
You  stand  on  a  different  stage  of  the  stairs. 
He  fought  certain  battles,  yon  senile  lord. 
In  the  strength  of  thee,  feel  his  bequest  to  his  heirs. 
We  are  now  on  his  inches  of  ground  hard  won, 
For  a  perch  to  a  flight  o'er  his  resting  fence. 

Does  it  knock  too  hard  at  thy  head  if  I  say. 

That  Time  is  both  father  and  son  ? 
Tough  lesson,  when  senses  are  floods  over  sense  I — 

Discern  the  paternal  of  Now 

As  the  Then  of  thy  present  tense. 

You  may  puU  as  you  will  either  way. 

You  can  never  be  other  than  one. 

So,  be  filial.    Giants  to  slay 

Demand  knowing  eyes  in  their  Jack. 

There  are  those  whom  we  push  from  the  path  with  respect 

Bow  to  that  elder,  though  seeing  him  bow 

To  the  backward  as  well,  for  a  thunderous  back 

Upon  thee.     In  his  day  he  was  not  all  wrong. 

Unto  some  foundered  zenith  he  strove,  and  was  wrecked. 

He  scrambled  to  shore  with  a  worship  of  shore. 

The  Future  he  sees  as  the  slippery  murk ; 

The  Past  as  his  doctrinal  library  lore. 

He  stands  now  the  rock  to  the  wave's  wild  wash. 

Yet  thy  lumpish  antagonist  once  did  work 

Heroical,  one  of  our  strong. 
His  Kold  to  retain  and  his  dross  reject. 


d  by  Goodie 


THE  EMPTY  PURSE  451 

Lest  rhetoric  moonily  waft 
Whither  horrid  activities  snare. 
Rhetoric,  juice  for  the  mob 
Despising  more  luminous  grape. 
Oft  at  its  fount  has  it  laughed 
In  the  cataracts  rolling  for  rape 
Of  a  Reason  left  ^gle  to  sob  1 

Tia  known  how  the  permanent  never  is  writ 
In  blood  of  the  passions :  mercurial  they. 
Shifty  their  issue :  stir  not  that  pit 
To  the  game' our  brutes  best  play. 

But  with  rhetoric  loose,  can  we  check  man's  brute  T 
Assemblies  of  men  on  their  legs  invoke 
Excitement  for  wholesome  diversion :  there  shoot 
Electrical  sparks  between  their  dry  thatch 
And  thy  waved  tprch,  more  to  kindle  than  light. 
'Tis  instant  between  you :  the  trick  of  a  catch 

(To  match  a  Batrachian  croak ') 
Will  thump  them  a  frenzy  or  fun  in  their  veins. 
Then  may  it  be  rather  the  well-worn  joke 
Thou  repeatest,  to  stop  conflagration,  and  write 
Penance  for  rhetoric.    Strange  will  it  seem. 
When  thou  readest  that  form  of  thy  homage  to  brains  I 

For  the  secret  why  demagogues  fail. 
Though  they  carry  hot  mobs  to  the  red  extreme. 

And  knock  out  or  knock  in  the  nail 

(We  will  rank  them  as  flatly  sincere. 

Devoutly  detesting  a  wrong. 
Engines  o'ercharged  with  our  human  steam). 
Question  thee,  seething  amid  the  throng. 
And  ask,  whether  Wisdom  is  bom  of  blood-heat ; 
Or  of  other  than  Wisdom  comes  victory  here ; — 
Aught  more  than  the  banquet  and  roundelay, 
That  is  closed  with  a  terrible  terminal  wail, 

A  retributive  black  ding-dong? 
And  ask  of  thyself :  This  furious  Yea 

Of  a  speech  I  thump  to  repeat, 

la  the  cause  I  would  have  prevail. 


dbyGOOgIC 


THE  EMPTY  PURSE 

For  seed  of  a  nourishing  wheat, 

Is  it  accepted  o/  Son^  t 

Does  it  sound  to  the  mind  through  the  ear. 
Right  sober,  pure  sane?  has  it  disciplined  feet? 

Thou  wilt  find  it  a  test  severe ; 

Unerring  whatever  the  theme. 
Rings  it  for  Reason  a  melody  clear. 

We  have  bidden  old  Chaos  retreat ; 

We  have  called  on  Creation  to  bear ; 
All  forces  that  make  us  are  one  full  stream. 
Simple  islander  1  thus  may  the  spirit  in  verse. 
Showing  it^  practical  value  and  weight. 
Pipe  to  thee  clear  from  the  Empty  Purse, 
Lead  thee  aloft  to  that  high  estate. — 

The  test  is  conclusive,  I  deem : 

It  embraces  or  mortally  bites. 

We  have  then  the  key-note  for  debate : 

A  Senate  that  sits  on  the  heights 

Over  discords,  to  shape  and  amend. 

And  no  singer  is  needed  to  serve 

The  musical  God,  my  friend. 
Needs  only  his  law  on  a.  sensible  nerve : 

A  law  that  to  Measure  invites, 

Forbidding  the  passions  contend. 

Is  it  accepted  of  Song  ? 

And  if  then  the  blunt  answer  be  Nay, 
Dislink  thee  sharp  from  the  ramping  honje, 
Slaves  of  the  Goddess  of  hoar-old  sway. 

The  Queen  of  delirious  rites,' 
Queen  of  ^ose  issueless  mobs,  that  rend 
For  frenzy  the  strings  of  a  fruitful  accord. 
Pursuing  insensate,  seething  in  throng. 
Their  wild  idea  to  its  ashen  end. 
Off  to  their  Phrypa,  shriek  and  gong. 
Shorn  from  their  fellows,  behold  them  wend  I 

But  thou,  should  the  answer  ring  Ay, 
Hast  warrant  of  seed  for  thy  word : 
The  musical  God  is  nigh 
To  inspirit  and  temper,  tune  it,  and  ste^ 


dbyGOOgIC 


THE  EMPTY  PURSE 

Through  the  shoals :  b  it  worthy  of  Song, 

There  are  souls  all  woman  to  hear. 

Woman  to  bear  and  renew. 
For  he  is  the  Master  of  Measure,  and  weighs, 

Broad  aa  the  arms  of  his  blue. 

Fine  as  the  web  of  his  rays. 
Justice,  whose  voice  is  a  melody  clear, 
The  one  sure  life  for  the  numbered  long. 

From  him  are  the  brutal  and  vain. 

The  vile,  the  excessive,  out-thrust : 
He  points  to  the  God  on  the  upmost  throne : 

He  is  the  saver  of  grain. 

The  sifter  of  spirit  from  dust. 
He,  Harmony,  tells  how  to  Measure  pertain 

The  virilities ;  Measure  alone 

Has  votaries  rich  in  the  male: 

Fathers  embracing  no  cloud, 

Sowing  no  harvestlesa  main : 
Alike  by  the  fiesh  and  the  spirit  endowed 
To  create,  to  perpetuate ;  woo,  win,  wed  ; 
Send  progeny  streaming,  have  earth  for  their  ov 
Over-run  the  insensates,  disperse  with  a  puff 

Simulacra,  though  solid  they  sail. 

And  seem  such  imperial  stuff : 

Yes,  the  living  divide  off  the  dead. 

Then  thou  with  thy  furies  outgrown, 
Not  as  Cybele's  beast  will  thy  head  lash  tail 
So  prwter-determinedly  thermonous. 
Nor  thy  cause  be  an  Attis  far  fled.' 
Thou  under  stress  of  the  strife 
Shalt  hear  for  sustainment  supreme 
The  cry  of  the  conscience  of  Life : 
Keep  the  young  generations  in  hail, 
And  bequeath  them  no  tumbled  house  I 

There  hast  thou  the  sacred  theme. 
Therein  the  inveterate  spur, 
Of  the  Innermost.     See  her '"  one  blink 
In  vision  past  eyeballs.     Not  thee 
She  cares  for,  but  us.     Follow  her. 


dbyGoo<^: 


iQ  C 


1  THE  EMPTY  PURSE 

Follow  her,  and  thou  wilt  not  sink. 

With  thy  soul  the  Life  espouse : 
Thia  Life  of  the  visible,  audible,  ring 
With  thy  love  tight  about ;  and  no  death  will  be ; 

The  name  be  an  empty  thing, 

And  woe  a  forgotten  old  trick : 
And  battle  will  come  as  a  challenge  to  drink ; 
As  a  warrior's  wound  each  transient  sting. 
She  leads  to  the  Uppermost  link  by  link ; 
Exacts  but  vision,  desires  not  vows. 
Above  us  the  singular  number  to  see ; 
The  plural  warm  round  us ;  ourself  in  the  thick, 
A  dot  or  a  stop :  that  is  our  task ; 
Her  lesson  in  figured  arithemetic, 
For  the  letters  of  Life  behind  its  mask ; 
Her  flower-like  look  under  fearful  brows. 

As  for  thy  special  ease,  O  my  friend,  one  must  think 
Massilia's  victim,  who  held  the  carouse 

For  the  length  of  a  carnival  year. 
Knew  worse :  but  the  wretch  had  his  opening  choice. 
For  thee,  by  our  law,  no  alternatives  were : 
Thy  fall  was  assured  ere  thou  camest  to  a  voice. 

He  cancelled  the  ravaging  Plague, 

With  the  roll  of  his  fat  off  the  cliff." 
Do  thou  with  thy  lean  as  the  weapon  of  ink. 
Though  they  call  thee  an  angler  who  fishes  the  vague 

And  catches  the  not  too  pink. 
Attack  one  as  murderous,  knowing  thy  cause 
Is  the  cause  of  community.     Iterate, 
Iterate,  iterate,  harp  on  the  trite : 
Our  preacher  to  win  is  the  supple  in  stiff : 
Yet  always  in  measure,  with  bearing  polite : 
The  manner  of  one  that  would  expiate 

His  share  in  grandmotheriy  Laws, 


dbyGoogib 


THE  EMPTY  PURSE  45t 

Repentance  b  proved,  forgiveness  is  earned. 
And  'tis  bony :  denied  thee  thy  succulent  half 
Of  the  parable's  blessing,  to  swineherd  returned : 
A  Sermon  thy  slice  of  the  Scriptural  calf ! 

By  my  f^th,  there  is  feasting  to  come, 

Not  rfie  less,  when  our  Earth  we  have  seen 
Beneath  and  on  surface,  her  deeds  and  designs  : 
Who  gives  us  the  man-loving  Nazarenc, 
The  martyrs,  the  poets,  the  com  and  the  vines. 
By  my  faith  in  the  head,  she  has  wonders  in  loom ; 
Revelations,  delights.  I  can  hear  a  faint  crow 
Of  the  cock  of  fresh  mornings,  far,  far,  yet  distinct; 

As  down  the  new  shafting  of  mines, 

A  cry  of  the  metally  gnome. 

When  our  Earth  we  have  seen,  and  have  linked 
With  the  home  of  the  Spirit  to  whom  we  unfold, 
Imprisoned  humanity  open  will  throw 
Its  fortress  gates,  and  the  rivers  of  gold 

For  the  congregate  friendliness  flow. 
Then  the  meaning  of  Earth  in  her  children  behold ; 
Glad  eyes,  frank  hands,  and  a  fellowship  real : 
And  laughter  on  lips,  as  the  birds'  outburst 
At  the  flooding  of  light.    No  robbery  then 
The  feast,  nor  a  robber's  abode  the  home. 
For  a  furnished  model  of  our  first  den  ! 

Nor  Life  as  a  stationed  wheel ; 
Nor  History  written  in  blood  or  in  foam. 
For  vendetta  of  Parties  in  cursing  accursed. 
The  God  in  the  conscience  of  multitudes  feel. 

And  we  feel  deep  to  Earth  at  her  heart, 

We  have  her  communion  with  men. 

New  ground,  new  skies  for  appeal. 
Yield  into  harness  thy  best  and  thy  worst ; 
Away  on  the  trot  of  thy  servitude  start. 
Through  the  rigours  and  joys  and  sustainments  of  air. 
If  courage  should  falter,  'tis  wholesome  to  kneel. 
Remember  that  well,  for  the  secret  with  some, 
Who  pray  for  no  gift,  hut  have  cleansing  in  prayer. 
And  free  from  impurities  tower-like  stand. 
I  promise  not  more,  save  that  feasting  will  come 
To  a  mind  and  a  body  no  longer  inverstnl : 


dbyGOOgIC 


3  THE  EMPTY  PURSE 

The  sense  of  large  charity  over  the  land. 

Earth's  wheaten  of  wisdom  dispensed  in  the  rough. 

And  a  bell  ringing  thanks  for  a  sustenance  meal 

Through  the  active  machine :  lean  fare, 
But  it  carries  a  sparkle  1    And  now  enough, 

And  part  we  as  conu-ades  part. 
To  meet  again  never  or  some  day  or  soon. 

Our  season  of  drought  is  reminder  rude : — 

No  later  than  yesternoon, 

I  looked  on  the  horse  of  a  cart. 

By  the  wayside  water-trough. 
How  at  every  draught  of  his  bride  of  thirst 
His  nostrils  widened !    The  sight  was  good : 

Food  for  us,  food,  such  as  first 

Drew  our  thoughts  to  earth's  lowly  for  food. 


THE  WARNING 

We  have  seen  mighty  men  ballooning  high. 

And  in  another  moment  bump  the  ground. 

He  falls ;  and  in  his  measurement  is  found 

To  count  some  inches  o'er  the  common  fry. 

'Twas  not  enough  to  send  him  climbing  sky, 

Yet  'twas  enough  above  his  fellows  crowned. 

Had  he  less  panted.     Let  his  faithful  hound 

Bark  at  detractors.     He  may  walk  or  lie. 

Concerns  it  most  ourselves,  who  with  our  gas — 

This  little  Isle's  insatiable  greed 

For  Continents— filled  to  inflation  burst 

So  do  ripe  nations  into  squalor  pass. 

When,  driven  as  herds  by  their  old  pirate  thirst. 

They  scorn  the  brain's  wild  search  for  virtuous  li^t. 


lom  'twas  writ! 
wit, 
awled  on  fur. 


dbyGOOgIC 


TRAFALGAR  DAY  4J 

If  more  than  hands'  and  armsful  be  our  share, 
Snatch  we  for  substance  we  see  vapours  flit.' 
Have  we  not  beard  derision  inBnite 
When  old  men  play  the  youth  to  chase  the  snare? 
Let  us  be  belted  athletes,  matched  for  foes, 
Or  stand  aloof,  the  great  Benevolent, 
The  Lord  of  Lands  no  Robber-birds  annex. 
Where  Justice  holds  the  scales  with  pure  intent ; 
Armed  to  support  her  sword ; — lest  we  compose 
That  Chapter  for  the  historic  word  on  Wrecks. 


TRAFALGAR  DAY 

He  leads :  we  hear  our  Seaman's  call 

In  the  roll  of  battles  won ; 
For  he  is  Britain's  Admiral 

Till  setting  of  her  sun. 

When  Britain's  life  was  in  her  ships. 

He  kept  the  sea  as  his  own  right ; 
And  saved  us  from  more  fell  eclipse 

Than  drops  on  day  from  blackest  night. 
Again  his  battle  spat  the  flame  I 

Again  his  victory  flag  men  saw  I 
At  sound  of  Nelson's  chieftain  name, 

A  deeper  breath  did  Freedom  draw. 

Each  trusty  captain  knew  his  part : 

They  served  as  men,  not  marshalled  kine : 
The  pulses  they  of  his  great  heart. 

With  heads  to  work  his  main  design. 
Their  Nelson's  word,  to  beat  the  foe. 

And  spare  the  fall'n,  before  them  shone. 
Good  was  the  hour  of  blow  for  blow. 

And  clear  their  course  while  they  fought  on. 

Behold  the  Envied  vanward  sweep ! — 
A  day  in  mourning  weeds  adored ! 

Then  Victory  was  wrought  to  weep ; 
Then  sorrow  crowned  with  laurel  soared. 


dbyGOOgIC 


AT  THE  CLOSE 

A  breezeless  flag  above  a  shroud 
All  Britain  was  when  wind  and  wave. 

To  make  her,  passing  human,  proud, 
Brought  his  last  gift  from  o'er  the  grave  [ 

Uprose  the  soul  of  htm  a  star 

On  that  brave  day  of  Ocean  days : 
It  rolled  the  smoke  from  Trafalgar 

To  darken  Austerlitz  ablaze. 
Are  we  the  men  of  old,  its  light 

Will  point  us  under  every  sky 
The  path  he  took ;  and  must  we  fight, 

Our  Nelson  be  our  battle-cry  I 

He  leads :  we  hear  our  Seaman's  call 

In  the  roll  of  battles  won ; 
For  he  is  BritMn's  Admiral 

Till  setting  of  her  sun. 


AT  THE  CLOSE  * 

To  Thee,  dear  God  of  Mercy,  both  appeal. 

Who  straightway  sound  the  call  to  arms.    Thou  know'sl 

And  that  black  spot  in  each  embattled  host, 

Spring  of  the  blood-stream,  later  wilt  reveal. 

Now  is  it  red  artillery  and  white  steel ; 

Till  on  a  day  will  ring  the  victor's  boast, 

lliat  'tis  Thy  chosen  towers  uppermost, 

Where  Thy  rejected  grovels  under  heel. 

So  in  all  times  of  man's  descent  insane 

To  brute,  did  strength  and  craft  combining  strike, 

Even  as  a  God  of  Armies,  his  fell  blow. 

But  at  the  close  he  entered  Thy  domain, 

Dear  God  of  Mercy,  and  if  lion-like 

He  tore  the  fall'n,  the  Eternal  was  his  Foe. 


dbyGOOgIC 


•ATKINS' 

Yonder  *b  the  man  with  his  life  in  his  hand, 
Legs  on  the  march  for  whatever  the  land. 
Or  to  the  slaughter,  or  to  the  maimiog. 
Getting  the  dole  of  a  dog  for  pay. 
Laureb  he  clasps  in  the  words  'duty  done,' 
England  his  heart  under  every  sun : — 

Exquisite  humour  I  that  gives  him  a  naming 
Base  to  the  ear  as  an  ass's  bray. 


THE  VOYAGE  OF  THE  'OPHIR'  • 

Men  of  our  race,  we  send  you  one 
Round  whom  Victoria's  holy  name 
Is  halo  from  the  sunken  sun 
Of  her  grand  Summer's  day  aflame. 
The  heart  of  your  loved  Motherland, 
To  them  she  loves  as  her  own  blood. 
This  Flower  of  Ocean  bears  in  hand. 
Assured  of  gift  as  good. 

Forth  for  our  Southern  shores  the  fleet 
Which  crowns  a  nation's  wisdom  steams, 
That  there  may  Briton  Briton  greet. 
And  stamp  as  fact  Imperial  dreams. 
Across  the  globe,  from  sea  to  sea. 
The  long  smoke-pennon  trails  above. 
Writes  over  sky  how  wise  will  be 
The  Power  that  trusts  to  love. 

A  love  that  springs  from  heart  and  brain 
In  union  gives  for  ripest  fruit 
The  concord  Kings  and  States  in  vain 
Have  sought,  who  played  the  lofty  brute, 
And  fondly  deeming  they  possessed. 
On  force  relied,  and  found  it  break  ; 
That  truth  once  scored  on  Britain's  breast 
Now  keeps  her  mind  awake. 


dbyGOOgIC 


THE  VOYAGE  OF  THE  *  OPHIR ' 

Australian,  Canadian, 
To  tone  old  veins  with  streams  of  youth. 
Our  trust  be  on  the  best  in  man 
Henceforth,  and  we  shall  prove  that  truth. 
Prove  to  a  world  of  brows  down-bent 
That  in  the  Britain  thus  endowed. 
Imperial  means  beneficent. 

And  strength  to  service  vowed. 


OCTOBER  21,  1905 

The  hundred  years  have  passed,  and  he 
Whose  name  appeased  a  nation's  fears. 
As  with  a  hand  laid  over  sea ; 
To  thunder  through  the  foeman's  ears 
Defeat  before  his  blast  of  fire ; 
Lives  in  the  immortality 
lliat  poets  dream  and  noblest  souls  desire. 

Never  did  nation's  need  evoke 
Hero  like  him  for  aid,  the  while 
A  continent  was  cannon-smoke 
Or  peace  in  slavery :  tliis  one  Isle 
Reflecting  Nature :  this  one  man 
Her  sea>hound  and  her  mortal  stroke. 
With  war-worn  body  aye  in  battle's  van. 

And  do  we  Jove  him  well,  as  well 
As  he  hia  country,  we  may  greet. 
With  hand  on  steel,  our  passing  bell 
Nigh  on  the  swing,  for  prelude  sweet 
To  the  music  heard  when  his  last  breath 
Hung  on  its  ebb  beside  the  knell. 
And  Victory  in  his  ear  sang  gracious  Death. 

Ah,  day  of  glory !  day  of  tears  I 
Day  of  a  people  bowed  as  one  I 
Behold  across  those  hundred  years 
The  lion  flash  of  gun  at  gun  : 


d  by  Google 


OCTOBER  21,  1905 

Our  bitter  pride ;  our  love  bereaved ; 

What  pall  of  cloud  o'ercame  our  sun 

That  day,  to  bear  his  wreath,  the  end  achieved. 

Joy  that  no  more  with  murder's  frown 
The  ancient  rivals  bark  apart. 
Now  Nelson  to  brave  France  is  shown 
A  hero  after  her  own  heart : 
And  he  now  scanning  that  quick  race. 
To  whom  through  life  his  glove  was  thrown. 
Would  know  a  sister  spirit  to  embrace. 


THE  CALL  * 

Under  what  apell  are  we  debased 

By  fears  for  our  inviolate  Isle, 
Whose  record  is  of  dangers  faced 

And  flung  to  heel  with  even  smile? 
Is  it  a  vaster  force,  a  subtler  guile? 

Tbey  say  Exercitus  designs 
To  match  the  famed  Sabipotent ' 

Where  on  her  sceptre  she  reclines ; 
Awake :  but  were  a  slumber  sent 
By  guilty  gods,  more  fell  bis  foul  intent. 

The  subtler  web,  the  vaster  foe. 

Well  may  we  meet  when  drilled  for  deeds ; 
But  in  these  days  of  wealth  at  Bow, 

A  word  of  breezy  warning  breeds 
The  pained  responses  seen  in  lakeside  reeds. 

We  fain  would  stand  contemplative, 

All  innocent  as  meadow  grass ; 
In  human  goodness  fain  believe. 
Believe  a  cloud  is  formed  to  pass ; 
Its  shadows  chase  with  draughts  of  hippocras. 


dbyGOOgIC 


THE  CALL 

Others  have  gone ;  the  way  they  went 
Sweet  sunny  now,  and  safe  our  nest. 

Humanity,  enlightenment. 
Against  the  warning  bum  protest : 
Let  the  world  bear  tbat  we  know  what  is  best. 

So  do  the  beatific  speak ; 

Yet  have  they  ears,  and  eyes  as  well ; 
And  if  not  with  a  paler  cheek. 

They  feel  the  shivers  in  them  dwell, 
Tbat  something  of  a  dubious  future  tell. 

For  huge  possessions  reader  slack 
The  power  we  need  to  hold  them  fast; 

Save  when  a  quickened  heart  shall  make 

Our  people  one,  to  meet  what  blast 

May  blow  from  temporal  heavens  overcast. 

Our  people  one !    Nor  they  with  strength 

Dependent  on  a  single  arm : 
Alert,  and  braced  the  whole  land's  length. 
Rejoicing  in  their  manhood's  charm 
For  friend  or  foe ;  to  succour,  not  to  harm. 

Has  ever  weakness  won  esteem  ? 
Or  counts  it  as  a  prized  ally  ? 
They  who  have  read  in  History  deem 
It  ranks  among  the  slavish  fry, 
Whose  claim  to  live  justiciary  Fates  deny. 

It  can  not  be  declared  we  are 

A  nation  till  from  end  to  end 
The  land  can  show  such  front  to  war 
As  bids  a  crouching  foe  expend 
His  ire  in  air,  and  preferably  be  friend. 

We  dreading  him,  we  do  him  wrong; 

For  fears  discolour,  fears  invite. 
Like  him,  our  task  is  to  be  strong ; 
Unlike  him,  claiming  not  by  might 
To  snatch  an  envied  treasure  as  a  right. 


dbyGOOgIC 


THE  CALL 

So  may  a  stouter  brotherhood 
At  home  be  signalled  over  sea 

For  righteous,  and  be  understood, 
Nay,  welcomed,  when  'tis  shown  that  we 
All  duties  have  embraced  in  being  free. 

This  Britain  slumbering,  she  is  rich ; 

Lies  placid  as  a  cradled  child ; 
At  times  wi^  an  uneasy  twitch. 

That  tells  of  dreams  unduly  wild. 
Shall  she  be  with  a  foreign  drug  defiled? 

The  grandeur  of  her  deeds  recall ; 
Look  on  her  face  so  kindly  fair : 
This  Britain  1  and  were  she  to  fall, 
Mankind  would  breathe  a  harsher  air. 
The  nations  miss  a  light  of  leading  rare. 
1908. 


IL  Y  A  CENT  ANS  • 

That  march  of  the  funereal  Past  behold ; 

How  Glory  sat  on  Bondage  for  its  throne ; 
How  men,  like  dazzled  insects,  through  the  mould 

Still  worked  their  way,  ttnd  bled  to  keep  their  own. 

We  know  them,  as  they  strove  and  wrought  and  yearned ; 

Their  hopes,  their  fears ;  what  page  of  Life  they  wist : 
At  whiles  their  vision  upon  us  was  turned. 

Baffled  by  shapes  limned  loosely  on  thick  mist. 

Beneath  the  fortress  bulk  of  Power  they  bent 

Blunt  heads,  adoring  or  in  shackled  hate. 
All  save  the  rebel  hymned  him ;  and  it  meant 

A  world  submitting  to  incarnate  Fate. 

From  this  he  drew  fresh  appetite  for  sway, 
And  of  it  fell :  whereat  was  chorus  raised. 

How  surely  shall  a  mad  ambition  pay 
Dues  to  Humanity,  erewhile  amazed. 


dbyGOOgIt 


1  IL  Y  A  CENT  ANS 

Twaa  dreamed  by  some  the  deluge  would  enaue. 
So  trembling  was  the  tension  long  constrained; 

A  spirit  of  faith  was  in  the  chosen  few. 
That  steps  to  the  millenmum  had  been  gained. 

But  mainly  the  rich  business  of  the  hour. 
Their  sight,  made  blind  by  urgency  of  blood, 

Embraced  ;  and  facts,  the  passing  sweet  or  sour. 
To  them  were  solid  things  that  nought  withstood. 

Their  tacts  are  going  headlong  on  the  tides. 
Like  commas  on  a  line  of  History's  page ; 
.Nor  that  which  once  they  took  for  Truth  abides, 
Save  in  the  form  of  youth  enlarged  from  age.' 

Meantime  give  ear  to  woodland  notes  around, 
Look  on  our  Earth  full-breasted  to  our  sun : 

So  was  it  when  their  poets  heard  the  sound. 
Beheld  the  scene :  in  them  our  days  are  one. 

What  figures  will  be  shown  the  century  hence? 

What  lands  intact  ?    We  do  but  know  that  Power 
From  piety  divorced,  though  seen  immense, 

Shall  sink  on  envy  of  the  humblest  flower. 

Our  cry  for  cradled  Peace,  while  men  are  still 
The  three-parts  brute  which  smothers  the  divine. 

Heaven  answers :  Guard  it  with  forethoughtful  will, 
Or  buy  it ;  all  your  gains  from  War  resign, 

A  land,  not  indefensibly  alarmed. 

May  see,  unwarned  by  hint  of  friendly  gods. 

Between  a  hermit  crab  at  all  points  armed. 
And  one  without  a  shell,  decisive  odds. 


IRELAND 

Fire  in  her  ashes  Ireland  feels 
And  in  her  veins  a  glow  of  heat. 

To  her  the  lost  old  time  appeals 
For  resurrection,  good  to  greet : 


d  by  Google 


IRELAND  465 

Not  as  a  shape  with  spectral  eyes, 

But  humanly  maternal,  young 
In  all  that  quickens  pride,  and  wise 

To  speak  the  best  her  bards  have  sung. 

You  read  her  as  a  land  distraught. 

Where  bitterest  rebel  passiona  seethe. 
Look  with  a  core  of  heart  in  thought. 

For  so  is  known  the  truth  beneath. 
She  came  to  you  a  loathing  bride. 

And  it  has  been  no  happy  bed. 
Believe  in  her  as  friend,  allied 

By  bonds  as  close  as  those  who  wed. 

Her  speech  is  held  for  hatred's  cry; 

Her  silence  tells  of  treason  hid : 
Were  it  her  aim  to  burst  the  tie. 

She  sees  what  iron  laws  forbid. 
Excess  of  heart  obscures  from  view 

A  head  as  keen  as  yours  to  count. 
Trust  her,  that  she  may  prove  her  true 

In  links  whereof  is  love  the  fount. 

May  she  not  call  herself  her  own  ? 

That  is  her  cry,  and  thence  her  spits 
Of  fury,  thence  her  graceless  tone 

At  justice  given  in  bits  and  bits. 
The  limbs  once  raw  with  gnawing  chains 

Will  fret  at  silken  when  God's  beams 
Of  Freedom  beckon  o'er  the  plains 

From  mounts  that  show  it  more  than  dreams. 

She,  generous,  craves  your  generous  dole ; 

That  will  not  rouse  the  crack  of  doom. 
It  ends  the  blundering  past  control 

Simply  to  give  her  elbow-room. 
Her  offspring  feel  they  are  a  race. 

To  be  a  nation  is  their  claim ; 
Yet  stronger  bound  in  your  embrace 

Than  when  the  tie  was  but  a  name. 


dbyGOOglll 


IRELAND 

A  nation  she,  and  formed  to  charm, 

With  heart  for  heart  and  bands  all  round. 
No  longer  England's  broken  arm. 

Would  England  know  where  strength  is  found. 
And  strength  to-day  is  England's  need ; 

To-morrow  it  may  be  for  both 
Salvation :  heed  the  portents,  heed 

The  warnings ;  free  the  mind  from  sloth. 

Too  long  the  pair  have  danced  in  mud, 

With  no  advance  from  sun  to  sun. 
Ah,  what  a  bomiding  course  of  blood 

Has  England  with  an  Ireland  one ! 
Behold  yon  shadow  cross  the  downs. 

And  off  away  to  yeasty  seas. 
Ughtly  will  fly  old  rancour's  frowns 

When  solid  with  high  heart  stand  these. 


DECEMBEB  9,  1608:    DECEMBER  9,   1908 

What  splendour  of  imperial  station  man, 

The  Tree  of  Life,  may  reach  when,  rooted  fast. 

His  branching  stem  points  way  to  upper  dr 

And  skyward  still  aspires,  we  see  in  hira 

Who  sang  for  us  the  Archangelical  host. 

Made  Morning,  by  old  Darkness  urged  to  the  abyss; 

A  voice  that  down  three  centuries  onward  rolls ; 

Onward  will  roll  while  lives  our  English  tongue. 

In  the  devout  of  music  unsurpassed 

Since  Piety  won  Heaven's  ear  on  Israel's  harp. 


dbyGOOgIC 


MILTON  46 

Beside  his  peers  to  raise  the  voice  for  Freedom : 

Nor  has  fair  Uberty  a  champion  armed 

To  meet  on  heights  or  plains  the  Sophister 

Throughout  the  ages,  equal  to  this  man. 

Whose  spirit  breathed  high  Heaven,  and  drew  thence 

The  ethereal  sword  to  smite. 

Were  England  sunk 
Beneath  the  shifting  tides,  her  heart,  her  brain. 
The  smile  she  wears,  the  faith  she  holds,  her  best. 
Would  live  full-toned  in  the  grand  delivery 
Of  his  cathedral  speech :  an  utterance 
Almost  divine,  and  such  as  Hellespont, 
Crashing  its  breakers  under  Ida's  frown. 
Inspired  : '  yet  worthier  he,  whose  instrument 
Was  by  comparison  the  coarse  reed-pipe ; 
Whereof  have  come  the  marvellous  harmonies. 
Which,  with  his  lofty  theme,  of  infinite  range. 
Abash,  entrance,  exalt. 

Wc  need  him  now. 
This  latest  Age  in  repetition  cries : 
For  Belial,  the  adroit,  b  in  our  midst ; 
Mammon,  more  swoln  to  squeeze  the  slavish  sweat 
From  hopeless  toil :  and  overshadowingly 
(Aggrandized,  monstrous  in  bis  grinning  mask 
Of  hypocritical  Peace,)  inveterate  Moloch 
Remains  the  great  example. 

Homage  to  him 
His  debtor  band,  innumerable  as  waves 
Running  all  golden  from  an  eastern  sun. 
Joyfully  render,  in  deep  reverence 
Subscribe,  and  as  they  speak  their  Milton's  name, 
Rays  of  his  glory  on  their  foreheads  bear. 


dbyGOOgll 


ODES   IN  CX)NTRIBtrnON  TO  THE 
SONG  OF  FRENCH  HISTORY 

THE  REVOLUTION  * 


Not  yet  had  History's  Aetna  smoked  the  skies. 
And  low  the  Gallic  Giantesa  lay  enchained, 
While  overhead  in  ordered  set  and  rise 
Her  kingly  crowns  immutably  defiled ; 
EfFulgent  on  funereal  piled 
Across  the  vacant  heavens,  and  distrained 
Her  body,  mutely,  even  as  earth,  to  bear ; 
Despoiled  the  tomb  of  hope,  her  mouth  of  air. 


Through  marching  scores  of  winters  racked  she  tay. 

Beneath  a  hoar-frost's  brilliant  crust. 

Whereon  the  jewelled  flies  that  drained 

Her  breasts  disported  in  a  glistering  spray ; 

She,  the  land's  fount  of  fruits,  enclosed  with  dust; 

By  good  and  evil  angels  fed,  sustained 

In  part  to  curse,  in  part  to  pray, 

Sucking  the  dubious  rumours,  till  men  saw 

The  throbs  of  her  charged  heart  before  the  Just, 

So  worn  the  harrowed  surface  had  become : 

And  still  they  deemed  the  dance  above  was  Law, 

Amort  all  passion  in  a  rebel  dumb.* 


Then,  on  the  unanticipated  day, 

Earth  heaved,  and  rose  a  veinous  mound 

To  roar  of  the  underfloods ;  and  off  it  sprang, 

Ravishing  as  red  wine  in  woman's  form, 

A  splendid  Maenad,  she  of  the  delirious  laugh. 

Her  body  twisted  flames  with  the  smoke-cap  crowned ; 


dbyGOOgIC 


THE  REVOLUTION  4 

She  of  the  Bacchic  foot ;  the  challenger  to  the  fray, 

Bewitchment  for  the  embrace ;  who  sang,  who  sang 

Intoxication  to  her  swarm. 

Revolved  them,  hair,  voice,  feet,  in  her  carmagnole, 

As  with  a  stroke  she  snapped  the  Royal  staff, 

Dealt  the  awaited  blow  on  gilt  decay 

(0  ripeness  of  the  time  I    O  Retributioo  sure. 

If  but  our  vital  lamp  illume  us  to  endure !) 

And,  like  a  glad  releasing  of  her  soul. 

Sent  the  word  Liberty  up  to  meet  the  midway  blue. 

Her  bridegroom  in  descent  to  her ;  and  they  joined. 

In  the  face  of  men  they  joined :  attest  it  true, 

The  million  witnesses,  that  she. 

For  ages  lying  beside  the  mole, 

Was  on  the  unanticipated  miracle  day 

Upraised  to  midway  heaven  and,  as  to  her  goal, 

Enfolded,  ere  the  Immaculate  knew 

What  Lucifer  of  the  Mint  had  coined 

His  bride's  adulterate  currency 

Of  burning  love  corrupt  of  an  infuriate  hate ; 

She  worthy,  she  unworthy ;  that  one  day  his  mate : 

His  mate  for  that  one  day  of  the  unwritten  deed. 

Read  backward  on  the  hoar-frost's  brilliant  crust; 

Beneath  it  read. 

Athirst  to  kiss,  athiret  to  slay,  she  stood, 

A  radiance  fringed  with  grim  affright; 

For  them  that  hungered,  she  was  nourisliing  food, 

For  those  who  sparkled.  Night. 

Read  in  her  heart,  and  how  before  the  Just 

Her  doings,  her  misdoings,  plead. 


Down  on  her  leap  for  him  the  young  Angelical  broke 

To  husband  a  resurgent  France : 

From  whom,  with  her  dethroning  stroke. 

Dishonour  passed ;  the  dalliance, 

That  is  occasion's  yea  or  nay. 

In  issues  for  the  soul  to  pay, 

Discarded ;  and  the  cleft  'twi.\t  deed  and  word. 

The  sinuous  lie  which  warbles  the  sweet  bird, 


dbyGOOgIC 


)  THE  REVOLUTION 

Wherein  we  see  old  Darkness  peer, 

Cold  Dissolution  beck,  she  had  flung  hence ; 

And  hence  the  talons  and  the  beak  of  prey ; 

Hence  all  the  lure^to  silken  swine 

Thronging  the  troughs  of  indolence ; 

With  every  sleek  convolvement  serpentine; 

With  pride  in  elfin  arta  to  veil  an  evil  leer. 

And  bid  a  goatfoot  trip  it  like  a  fay. 

He  clasped  in  this  revived,  uprisen  Prance, 

A  valorous  dame,  of  countenance 

The  lightning's  upon  cloud :  unlit  as  yet 

On  brows  and  lips  the  lurid  shine 

Of  seas  in  the  night-wind'a  whirl ;  unstirred 

Her  pouch  of  the  centuries'  injuries  compressed ; 

The  shriek  that  tore  the  world  as  yet  unheard : 

Earth's  animate  full  flower  she  looked,  intense 

For  worship,  wholly  given  him,  fair 

Adoring  or  desiring;  in  her  bright  jet, 

Earth's  crystal  spring  to  sky :  Karth's  warrior  Best 

To  win  Heaven's  Pure  up  that  midway 

We  vision  for  new  ground,  where  sense 

And  spirit  are  one  for  the  further  flight ;  breast-bare, 

Bare-hmbed ;  nor  graceless  gleamed  her  disarray 

In  scorn  of  the  seductive  insincere, 

But  martially  nude  for  hot  Bellona's  play. 

And  amorous  of  the  loftiest  in  her  view. 


She  sprang  from  dust  to  drink  of.earth's  cool  dew. 
The  breath  of  swaying  grasses  share. 
Mankind  embrace,  their  weaklings  rear, 
At  wrfHit)(>  with  (h*  tvrftnnip  ittmrnr- 


dbjGooglc 


THE  EEVOLUnON  471 

Between  the  Pains  and  Pleasures ;  warned  of  both. 
Of  either  aided  on  their  hard  ascent. 
Now  when  she  looked,  with  love's  benign  delight 
After  great  ecstasy,  along  the  plains, 
What  foulest  impregnation  of  her  sight 
Transformed  the  scene  to  multitudinous  troops 
Of  human  sketches,  quaver-figures,  bent, 
As  were  they  winter  sedges,  broken  hoops, 
Dry  udders,  vineless  poles,  worm-eaten  posts. 
With  features  like  the  flowers  defaced  by  deluge  rains  T 
Recked  she  that  some  perverting  devil  had  limned 
Earth's  proudest  to  spout  scorn  of  the  Maker's  hand. 
Who  could  a  day  behold  these  deathly  hosts. 
And  see,  decked,  graced,  and  delicately  trimmed, 
A  ribanded  and  gemmed  elected  few. 
Sanctioned,  of  milk  and  honey  starve  the  land : — 
Like  melody  in  flesh,  its  pleasant  game 
Olympianwise  perform,  cloak  but  the  shame : 
B^utiful  statures ;  hideous. 

By  Christian  contrast ;  pranked  with  golden  chains, 
And  flexile  where  is  manhood  straight ; 
Mortuaries  where  warm  should  beat 
The  brotherhood  that  keeps  blood  sweet : 
Who  dared  in  cantique  impious 
Proclaim  the  Just,  to  whom  was  due 
Cathedral  gratitude  in  the  pomp  of  state. 
For  that  on  those  lean  outcasts  hung  the  sucker  Pains, 
On  these  dect  the  swelling  Pleasures  grew. 
Surely  a  devil's  land  when  that  meant  death  for  each ! 
Fresh  from  the  breast  of  Earth,  not  thus, 
With  all  the  body's  life  to  plump  the  leech. 
Is  Nature's  way,  she  knew.    The  abominable  scene 
Spat  at  the  skies ;  and  through  her  veins, 
To  cloud  celestially  sown. 
Ran  venom  of  what  nourishment 
Her  dark  sustainer  subterrene 
Supplied  her,  stretched  supine  on  the  rack. 
Alive  in  ^e  shrewd  nerves,  the  seething  brains. 
Under  derisive  revels,  prone 

As  one  clamped  fast,  with  the  interminable  senseless 
blent. 


dbyGoOgk 


THE  REVOLUTIOK 


Now  woa  her  face  white  waves  in  the  tempest's  sharp 

flame-blink ; 
Her  skies  shot  black. 
Now  was  it  visioned  i  of  amy  to  drink 
Of  earth's  cool  dew,  and  through  the  vines 
Frolic  in  pearly  laughter  with  her  young, 
Watehing  the  healthful,  natural,  happy  signs 
Where  hands  of  lads  and  m^ds  like  tendrils  clung. 
After  their  siy  shy  ventures  from  the  leaf. 
And  promised  bunches.    Now  it  seemed 
The  worid  was  one  malarious  mire. 
Crying  for  purification  r  chief 
lliis  land  of  France.     It  seemed 
A  duteous  desire 
To  drink  of  life's  hot  flood,  and  the  crimson  streamed. 


She  drank  what  makes  man  demon  at  the  draught. 

Her  skies  lowered  black. 

Her  lover  flew. 

There  swept  a  shudder  over  men. 

Her  heavenly  lover  fled  her,  and  she  laughed. 

For  laughter  was  her  spirit's  weapon  then. 

The  Infernal  rose  uncalled,  he  with  his  crew. 


As  mighty  thews  burst  manacles,  she  went  mad : 

Her  heart  a  flaring  torch  usurped  her  wits. 

Such  enemies  of  her  next-drawn  breath  she  had  1 

To  tread  her  down  in  her  live  grave  beneath 

Their  dancing  floor  sunned  blind  by  the  Royal  wreath, 

They  ringed  her  steps  with  crafty  prison  pits. 

Without  they  girdled  her,  made  nest  within. 

There  ramped  the  lion,  here  entrailed  the  snake. 

They  forcM  the  cup  to  her  lips  when  she  drank  blood ; 

Believing  it,  in  the  mother's  mind  at  strain. 

In  the  mother's  fears,  and  in  young  Liberty's  wail 

Alarmed,  for  her  encompassed  children's  sake. 


d  by  Google 


THE  REVOLUTION 

The  sole  sure  way  to  save  her  priceless  bud. 
Wherewith,  when  power  had  gifted  her  to  prevail, 
Vengeance  appeared  as  logically  akin. 
Insanely  rational  they ;  she  rationally  insane. 
And  in  compute  of  sin,  was  hers  the  appealing  sin. 


Amid  the  plash  of  scariet  mud 

Stained  at  the  mouth,  drunk  with  our  common  air. 

Not  lack  of  love  was  her  defect ; 

"Hie  Fury  mourned  and  raged  and  bled  for  France ; 

Breathing  from  exultation  to  despair 

At  every  wild-winged  hope  struck  by  mischance. 

Soaring  at  each  faint  gleam  o'er  her  abyss. 

Heard  still,  to  be  heard  while  France  shall  stand  erect, 

The  frontier  march  she  piped  her  sons,  for  where 

Her  crouching  outer  enemy  camped. 

Attendant  on  the  deadlier  inner'a  hiss. 

She  piped  her  sons  the  frontier  march,  the  wine 

Of  martial  music,  History's  cherished  tune ; 

And  they,  the  saintliest  labourers  that  aye 

Dropped  sweat  on  soil  for  bread,  took  arms  and  tramped ; 

High-breasted  to  match  men  or  elements. 

Or  Fortune,  harsh  schoolmistress  with  the  undrilled : 

War's  ragged  pupils ;  many  a  wavering  line, 

Tom  from  the  dear  fat  soil  of  champaigns  hopefully 

tiUed, 
Tom  from  the  motherly  bowl,  the  homely  spoon. 
To  jest  at  famine,  ply 

The  novel  scythe,  and  stand  to  it  on  the  field ; 
lie  in  the  furrows,  rain-clouds  for  then-  tents; 
Fronting  the  red  artillery  straighten  spine; 
Buckle  the  shiver  at  sight  of  comrades  strewn ; 
Over  an  empty  platter  affect  the  merrily  filled ; 
Die,  if  the  multiple  hazards  around  said  die ; 
Downward  measure  a  foeman  mightily  sized ; 
Laugh  at  the  legs  that  would  run  for  a  life  despised ; 
Lyrical  on  into  death's  red  roaring  jaw-gape,  steeled 
Gaily  to  take  of  the  foe  hia  lesson,  and  give  reply. 
Cheerful  apprentices,  they  shall  be  masters  soon  1 


dbyGOOglt 


THE  REVOLUTION 


Lo,  where  hurricaae  flocks  of  the  North-wind  rattle  their 

thunder 
Loud  through  a  night,  and  at  dawa  cornea  change  to  the 

great  South-west, 
Hounds  are  the  hounded  in  clouds,  waves,  forests,  inverted 

the  race: 
Lo,  in  the  day's  young  beams  the  colossal  invading  pursuets 
Burst  upon  rocks  and  were  foam ; 
Ridged  up  a  torrent  crest ; 

Crumbled  to  ruin,  still  gazing  a  glacial  wonder ; 
Turned  shamed  feet  toe  to  heel  on  their  track  at  a  panic  pace. 
Yesterday's  clarion  cock  scudded  hen  of  the  invalid  comb ; 
They,  the  triumphant  tonant  towering  upper,  were  under ; 
They,  violators  of  home,  dared  hope  an  inviolate  home ; 
They  that  had  stood  for  the  stroke  were  the  vigorous  hewers ; 
Quick  as  the  trick  of  the  wrist  with  the  rapier,  they  the 

pursuers. 
Heavens  and  men  amazed  heard  the  arrogant  crying  for  grace ; 
Saw  the  once  hearth-reek  rabble  the  scourge  of  an  army 

dispieced : 
Saw  such  a  shift  of  the  hunt  as  when  Titan  Olympus  clomb. 
Fly  I  was  the  sportsman's  word ;  and  the  note  of  the  quarry 

rang.  Chase  t         * 


Banners  from  South,  from  East, 

Sheaves  of  pale  banners  drooping  hole  and  shred ; 

The  captive  wives  of  valour,  Sabine  Wives 

Plucked  from  the  foeman's  blushful  bed. 

For  glorious  muted  battle-tongues 

Of  deeds  along  the  horizon's  red, 

At  cost  of  unreluctant  lives ; 

Her  toilful  heroes  homeward  poured. 

To  give  their  fevered  mother  air  of  the  lungs. 

She  breathed,  and  in  the  breathing  craved. 

Environed  as  she  was,  at  bay, 

Safety  she  kissed  on  her  drawn  sword. 

And  waved  for  victory,  for  fresh  victory  waved : 

She  craved  for  victory  as  her  daily  bread ; 

For  victory  as  her  daily  banquet  raved. 


dbyGOOgIC 


THE  REVOLUTION 


Now  had  her  glut  of  vengeance  left  her  grey 

Of  blood,  who  in  her  entrails  fiercely  tore 

To  clutch  and  squeeze  her  snakes ;  herself  the  more 

Devitalizing:  red  was  her  Auroral  ray; 

Desired  if  but  to  paint  her  pallid  hue. 

The  passion  for  that  young  horizon  red, 

Which  dowered  her  with  the  flags,  the  blazing  fame. 

Like  dotage  of  the  past-meridian  dame 

For  some  bright  Sun-god  adolescent,  swelled 

Insatiate,  to  the  voracious  grew, 

The  glutton's  inward  raveners  bred , 

1111  she,  mankind's  most  dreaded,  most  abhorred, 

Witless  in  her  demands  on  Fortune,  asked. 

As  by  the  weaving  Fates  impelled, 

To  have  the  thing  most  loathed,  the  iron  lord. 

Controller  and  chastiser,  under  Victory  masked. 


Banners  from  East,  from  South, 

She  hugged  him  in  them,  feared  the  scourge  they  meant, 

Yet  blindly  hugged,  and  hungering  built  his  throne. 

So  may  you  see  the  village  innocent. 

With  curtsey  of  shut  lids  and  open  mouth, 

In  act  to  beg  for  sweets  expect  a  loathly  stone  : 

See  furthermore  the  Just  in  his  measures  weigh 

Her  sufferings  and  her  sins,  dispense  her  meed. 

False  to  her  bridegroom  lord  of  the  miracle  day, 

She  fell :  from  his  ethereal  home  observed 

Through  love,  grown  alien  love,  not  moved  to  plead 

Against  the  season's  fruit  for  deadly  Seed, 

But  marking  how  she  had  aimed,  and  where  she  swecved, 

Why  suffered,  with  a  sad  consenting  thought. 

Nor  would  he  shun  her  sullen  look,  nor  monstrous  hold 

The  doer  of  the  monstrous ;  she  aroused. 

She,  the  long  tortured,  suddenly  freed,  distraught. 

More  strongly  the  divine  in  him  than  when 

Joy  of  her  as  she  sprang  from  mould 

Drew  him  the  midway  heavens  adown 

To  clasp  her  in  his  arms  espoused 


d  by  Google 


}  THE  REVOLUTION 

Before  the  sight  of  wonderiag  men. 

And  put  upon  the  day  a  deathless  crown. 

The  veins  and  arteries  of  her,  fold  in  fold. 

His  alien  love  laid  op>en,  to  divide 

The  martyred  creature  from  her  crimea ;  he  knew 

What  cowardice  in  her  valour  could  reside ; 

What  strength  her  weakness  covered ;  what  abased 

Sublimity  so  illumining,  and  what  raised 

This  wallower  in  old  slime  to  noblest  heights, 

Up  to  the  union  on  the  midway  blue  :— 

Day  that  the  celestial  grave  Recorder  hangs 

Among  dark  History's  nocturnal  lights, 

With  vivid  beams  indicative  to  the  quick 

Of  all  who  have  felt  the  vaulted  body's  pangs 

Beneath  a  mind  in  hopeless  soaring  sick. 

She  had  forgot  how,  long  enslaved,  she  yearned 

To  the  one  helping  hand  above; 

Forgot  her  faith  in  the  Great  Undiscemed, 

Whereof  she  sprang  aloft  to  her  Angelical  love 

That  day:  and  he,  the  bright  day's  husband,  still  with 

love. 
Though  alien,  though  to  an  upper  seat  retired. 
Beheld  a  wrangling  heart,  as  'twere  her  soul 
On  eddies  of  wild  waters  cast; 
In  wilderness  division ;  fired 
For  domination,  freedom,  lust. 
The  Pleasures ;  lo,  a  witch's  snaky  bowl 
Set  at  her  lips ;  the  blood -drinker's  madness  fast 
Upon  her ;  and  therewith  mistrust. 
Most  of  herself :  a  mouth  of  guile. 
Compassionately  could  he  smile, 
To  hear  the  mouth  disclaiming  God, 
And  clamouring  for  the  Just ! 
Her  thousand  impulses,  like  torches,  coursed 
City  and  field ;  and  pushed  abroad 
O'er  hungry  waves  to  thirsty  sands, 
Flaring  at  further ;  she  had  grown  to  be 
The  headless  with  the  fearful  hands ; 
To  slaughter,  else  to  suicide,  enforced. 
But  he,  remembering  how  his  love  began. 
And  of  what  creature,  pitied  when  was  plain 


dbyGOOgIC 


NAPOLEON 

Another  raeosure  of  captivity : 

The  need  for  strap  and  rod ; 

The  penitential  prayers  again ; 

Again  the  hitter  bowing  down  to  dust ; 

The  burden  on  the  flesh  for  who  discUims  the  God, 

The  answer  when  is  call  upon  the  Just. 

Whence  her  lost  virtue  had  found  refuge  strode 

Her  master,  saying, '  I  only ;  I  who  can ! ' 

And  echoed  round  her  army,  now  her  chain. 

So  learns  the  nation,  closing  Anarch's  reign. 

That  she  had  been  in  travail  of  a  Man. 


Cannon  his  name. 

Cannon  his  voice,  he  came. 

Who  heard  of  him  heard  shaken  hilla, 

An  earth  at  quake,  to  quiet  stamped ; 

Who  looked  on  him  beheld  the  will  of  wills, 

The  driver  of  wild  flocks  where  lions  ramped : 

Beheld  War's  liveries  flee  him,  like  lumped  grass 

Nid-nod  to  ground  beneath  the  cuffing  storm ; 

While  laurelled  over  his  Imperial  form, 

Forth  from  her  bearded  tube  of  lacquey  brass, 

Reverberant  notes  and  long  blew  volant  Fame. 

Incarnate  Victory,  Power  manifest. 

Infernal  or  God-given  to  mankind, 

On  the  quenched  volcano's  cusp  did  he  take  stand, 

A  conquering  army's  height  above  the  land, 

Which  calls  that  army  offspring  of  its  hreast, 

And  sees  it  mid  the  starry  camps  enshrined ; 

His  eye  the  cannon's  flame. 

The  cannon's  cave  his  mind. 

II 
To  weld  the  nation  in  a  name  of  dread, 
And  scatter  carrion  flies  off  wounds  unhealed, 
The  Necessitated  came,  as  comes  from  out 
Electric  ebon  lightning's  javelin-head. 


dbyGOOgIC 


i  NAPOLfeON 

I^ireatening  anoihilation  in  the  revealed 

Founts  of  our  being ;  terrible  with  doubt, 

With  radiance  restorative.    At  one  stride 

Athwart  the  Law  he  stood  for  sovereign  sway. 

That  Soliform  made  featureless  beside 

Hia  brilliancy  who  neighboured :  vapour  they ; 

Vapour  what  postured  statutes  barred  his  tread. 

On  high  in  amphitheatre  field  on  field, 

Italian,  Egyptian,  Austrian, 

Far  heard  and  of  the  carnage  discord  clear, 

Bella  of  his  escalading  triumphs  pealed 

In  crashes  on  a  choral  chant  severe. 

Heraldic  of  the  authentic  Charlemagne, 

Globe,  sceptre,  sword,  to  enfold,  to  rale,  to  smite. 

Make  unity  of  the  mass. 

Coherent  or  refractory,  by  his  might. 

Forth  from  her  bearded  tube  of  lacquey  brass, 

Fame  blew,  and  tuned  the  jangles,  bent  the  knees 

Rebellious  or  submissive ;  his  decrees 

Were  thunder  in  those  heavens  and  compelled : 

Such  as  disordered  earth,  eclipsed  of  stars. 

Endures  for  sign  of  Order's  calm  return, 

Whereunto  she  is  vowed ;  and  his  wreckage-spara. 

His  harried  ships,  old  riotous  Ocean  lifts  alight. 

Subdued  to  splendour  in  his  delirant  chum. 

Glory  suffused  the  accordant,  quelled. 

By  magic  of  high  sovereignty,  revolt : 

And  he,  the  reader  of  men,  himself  unread ; 

The  name  of  hope,  the  name  of  dread ; 

Bloom  of  the  coming  years  or  blight ; 

An  arm  to  hurl  the  bolt 

With  aim  Olympian ;  bore 

Likeness  to  Godhead.     Whither  his  flashes  hied 

Hosts  fell  1  what  he  constructed  held  rock-fast. 

So  did  earth's  abjects  deem  of  him  that  built  end  clove. 

Torch  on  imagination,  beams  he  cast, 

Whereat  they  hailed  him  deified : 

If  less  than  an  eagle-speeding  Jove,  than  Vulcan  more. 

Or  it  might  be  a  Vulcan-Jove, 

Europe  for  smithy,  Europe's  floor 


dbyGOOgIC 


Lurid  with  sparks  in  evanescent  showers, 
Loud  echo-clap  of  hammers  at  all  hours. 
Our  skies  the  reflex  of  its  furnace  blast. 


On  him,  the  long  enchained,  released 

For  bride  of  the  miracle  day  up  the  midway  blue, 

She  from  her  heavenly  lover  fallen  to  serve  for  feast 

Of  rancours  and  raw  hungers,  she,  the  untrue. 

Yet  pitiable,  not  despicable,  gazed.' 

Fawning,  her  body  bent,  she  gazed 

With  eyes  the  moonstone  portals  to  her  heart : 

Eyes  magnifyiQg  through  hysteric  t«ars 

liiis  apparition,  ghostly  for  belief ; 

Demoniac  or  divine,  but  sole 

Over  earth's  mightiest  written  Chief ; 

Earth's  chosen,  crowned,  unchallengeable  upstart : 

The  trumpet  word  to  awake,  transform,  renew; 

The  arbiter  of  circumstance ; 

High  above  limitations,  as  the  spheres. 

Nor  ever  had  heroical  Romance, 

Never  ensanguined  History's  lengthened  scroll. 

Shown  fulminant  to  shoot  the  levin  dart 

Terrific  as  this  man,  by  whom  upraised, 

Aggrandized  and  begemmed,  she  outstripped  her  peers; 

Like  midnight's  levying  brazier-beacon  blazed 

Defiant  to  the  world,  a  rally  for  her  sons,   - 

Day  of  the  darkness ;  this  man's  mate ;  by  him. 

Cannon  his  name. 

Rescued  from  vivisectionist  and  knave, 

Her  body's  dominators  and  her  shame ; 

By  him  with  the  rivers  of  ranked  battalions,  brave 

Past  mortal,  girt :  a  march  of  swords  and  guns 

Incessant ;  his  proved  warriors ;  loaded  dice 

He  flung  on  the  crested  board,  where  chilly  Fears 

Behold  the  Reaper's  ground.  Death  sitting  grim, 

Awatcb  for  his  predestined  ones, 

Mid  shrieks  and  torrent-hooves ;  but  these, 

Inebriate  of  his  inevitable  device. 

Hail  it  their  hero's  wood  of  lustrous  laurel-trees. 

Blossom  and  fruit  of  fresh  Hesperides, 


dbyGOOgIC 


0  NAPOLfiON 

The  boiling  life-blood  in  their  cheers. 
Unequalled  since  the  world  was  man  they  pour 
A  spiky  girdle  round  her ;  these,  her  sons, 
His  cataracts  at  smooth  holiday,  soon  to  roar 
Obstruction  shattered  at  his  will  or  whim : 
Kind  to  her  ear  as  quiring  Cherubim, 
And  tramping  earth  like  scornful  mastodons. 

IV 

The  flood  that  swept  her  to  be  slave 

Adoring,  under  thought  of  being  his  mate. 

These  were,  and  unto  the  visibly  unexcelled, 

As  much  of  heart  as  abjects  can  she  gave, 

Or  what  of  heart  the  body  bears  for  freight 

When  Majesty  apparent  overawes ; 

By  the  flash  of  his  ascending  deeds  upheld. 

Which  let  not  feminine  pride  in  him  have  pause 

To  question  where  the  nobler  pride  rebell«l. 

She  read  the  hieroglyphic  on  his  brow. 

Felt  his  firm  hand  to  wield  the  giant's  mace; 

Herself  whiried  upward  in  an  eagle's  claws. 

Past  recollection  of  her  earthly  place; 

And  if  cold  Reason  pressed  her,  called  him  Fate ; 

Offering  abashed  the  servile  woman's  vow. 

Delirium  was  her  virtue  when  the  look 

At  fettered  wrists  and  violated  laws 

Faith  in  a  rectitude  Supernal  shook, 

l^ll  worship  of  him  shone  as  her  last  rational  state. 

The  slave's  apology  for  gemmed  disgrace. 

Far  in  her  mind  that  leap  from  earth  to  the  ghost 

Midway  on  high ;  or  felt  as  a  troubled  pool ; ' 

Or  as  a  broken  sleep  that  hunts  a  dream  half  lost. 

Arrested  and  rebuked  by  the  common  school 

Of  ddly  things  for  truancy.    She  could  rejoice 

To  know  with  wakeful  eyebalb  Violence 

Her  crowned  possessor,  and,  on  every  sense 

Incumbent,  Fact,  Imf)erial  Fact,  her  choice. 

In  scorn  of  barren  visions,  aims  at  a  glassy  void. 

Who  sprang  for  Liberty  once,  found  slavery  sweet; 

And  Tyranny,  on  alert  subservience  buoyed. 

Spurred  a  blood-mare  immeasurably  fleet 


d  by  Google 


NAPOLEON  481 

To  shoot  the  transient  leagues  in  a  passing  wink. 
Prompt  for  the  glorious  bound  at  the  f  anged  abyss's  brink. 
Scarce  felt  she  that  she  bled  when  battle  scored 
On  riddled  flags  the  further  conjured  line ; 
From  off  the  meteor  gleam  of  his  waved  sword 
Reflected  bright  in  permanence :  she  bled 
As  the  Bacchante  spills  her  challengeing  wine 
With  whirl  o'  the  cup  before  the  kiss  to  lip  ; 
And  bade  drudge  History  in  his  footprints  tread. 
For  pride  of  sword<stroke3  o'er  slow  penmanship : 
Each  step  of  his  a  volume :  bis  sharp  word 
The  shower  of  steel  and  lead 
Or  pastoral  sunshine. 


Per^tent  through  the  brazen  chorus  round 

His  thunderous  footsteps  on  the  foeman's  ground, 

A  broken  carol  of  wild  notes  was  heard. 

As  when  an  ailing  infant  wails  a  dream. 

Strange  in  familiarity  it  rang : 

And  now  along  the  dark  blue  vault  might  seem 

Winged  migratories  having  but  heaven  for  home, 

Now  the  lone  sea-bird's  cry  down  shocks  of  foam. 

Beneath  a  ruthless  paw  the  captive's  pang. 

It  sang  the  ^t  that  comes  from  God 

To  mind  of  man  as  air  to  limg. 

So  through  her  days  of  under  sod 

Her  faith  unto  her  heart  had  sung, 

Like  bedded  seed  by  frozen  clod. 

With  view  of  wide-armed  heaven  and  buds  at  bunt. 

And  midway  up,  Earth's  fluttering  little  lyre.' 

Even  for  a  glimpse,  for  even  a  hope  in  chained  desire 

Tlie  vi^on  of  it  watered  thirst. 


But  whom  those  errant  moans  accused 
As  liberty's  murderous  mother,  cried  accursed, 
France  blew  to  deafness :  for  a  space  she  mused ; 
She  smoothed  a  startled  look,  and  sought. 


dbyGOOgIC 


482  NAPOL^N 

From  treasuries  of  the  adoriag  slave. 

Her  surest  way  to  strangle  thought ; 

Picturing  her  dread  lord  decree  advance 

Into  the  enemy's  land ;  artillery,  bayonet,  lance ; 

His  ordering  fingers  point  the  dial's  to  time  their  ranks : 

Himself  the  black  storm-cloud,  the  tempest's  bayonet-glaive. 

Like  foam-heads  of  a  loosened  freshet  bursting  banks. 

By  mount  and  fort  they  thread  to  swamp  the  slu^^rd  plains. 

Shines  his  gold-laurel  sun,  or  cloak  coimivent  rains. 

They  press  to  where  the  hosts  in  line  and  square  throng 

mute; 
He  watchful  of  their  form,  the  Audadoua,  the  Astute ; 
Eagle  to  grip  the  field ;  to  work  his  craftiest,  fox. 
From  his  brief  signal,  straight  the  stroke  of  the  leveller  falls ; 
From  him  those  opal  puffs,  those  arcs  with  the  clouded  balls : 
He  waves,  and  the  voluble  scene  is  a  quagmire  shifting  blocks ; 
They  clash,  they  are  knotted,  and  now  'tis  the  deed  of  the 

axe  on  the  log ; 
Here  away  moves  a  spiky  woodland,  and  yon  away  sweep 
Rivers  of  horse  torrent-mad  to  the  shock,  and  the  heap  over 

heap 
Right  through  the  troughed  black  lines  turned  to  bunches  or 

shreds,  or  a  fog 
Rolling  off  sunlight's  arrows.    Not  mightier  Phoebus  in  ire, 
Nor  deadlier  Jove's  avenging  right  hand,  than  be  of  the 

brain 
Keen  at  an  enemy's  mind  to  encircle  and  pierce  and  constrain, 
Muffling  his  own  for  a  fate-charged  blow  very  Gods  may 

admire. 
Sure  to  behold  are  his  eagles  on  high  where  the  conflict  raged. 
Rightly,then,  should  France  worship,  and  deafen  thedisaccord 
Of  those  who  dare  withstand  an  irresistible  sword 
To  thwart  his  predestined  subjection  of  Europe.    Let  them 

submit  I 
She  said  it  aloud,  and  heard  in  her  breast,  as  a  singer  caged. 
With  the  beat  of  wings  at  bars.  Earth's  fluttering  little  lyre. 
No  more  at  midway  heaven,  but  liker  midway  to  the  pit : 
Not  singing  the  spirally  upward  of  rapture,  the  downward  of 

pain 
Rather,  the  drop  sheer  downward  from  pressure  of  merciless 

weight. 


d  by  Goodie 


NAPOL^N  483 

Her  strangled  thought  got  breath,  with  her  worship  held 

debate; 
To  yield  and  sink,  yet  eye  askant  the  mark  she  had  missed. 
Over  the  black-blue  rollers  of  that  broad  Westerly  main. 
Steady  to  sky,  the  light  of  Liberty  glowed 
In  a  flaming  pillar,  that  cast  on  the  troubled  waters  a  road 
For  Europe  to  cross,  and  see  the  thing  lost  subsist. 
For  there  'twas  a  shepherd  led  hia  people,*  no  butcher  of 

sheep; 
Firmly  there  the  banner  he  first  upreared 
Stands  to  rally ;  and  nourishing  grain  do  his  children  reap 
From  a  father  beloved  in  life,  in  his  death  revered. 
Contemplating  him  and  his  work,  shall  a  skyward  glance 
Clearer  sight  of  our  dreamed  and  abandoned  obtain ; 
Nay,  but  as  if  seen  in  station  above  the  Republic,  France 
Had  view  of  her  one-day's  heavenly  lover  again ; 
Saw  him  amid  the  bright  host  looking  down  on  her ;   knew 

she  had  erred. 
Knew  him  her  judge,  knew  yonder  the  spirit  preferred ; 
Yonder  the  base  of  the  summit  she  strove  that  day  to  ascend. 
Ere  cannon  mastered  her  soul,  and  all  dreams  had  end. 


Soon  felt  she  in  her  shivered  frame 

A  bodeful  drain  of  blood  illume 

Her  wits  with  frosty  fire  to  read 

The  dazzling  wizard  who  would  have  her  bleed 

On  fruitless  marsh  and  snows  of  spectral  gloom 

For  victory  that  was  victory  scarce  in  name.* 

Husky  his  clarions  laboured,  and  her  sighs 

O'er  slaughtered  sons  were  heavier  than  the  prize ; 

Recalling  how  he  stood  by  Frederic's  tomb. 

With  Frederic's  country  underfoot  and  spurned: 

There  meditated  ;  till  her  hope  might  guess. 

Albeit  his  constant  star  prescribe  success. 

The  savage  strife  would  sink,  the  civil  aim 

To  head  a  mannered  world  breathe  zephyrous 

Of  morning  after  storm ;  whereunto  she  yearned ; 

And  Labour's  lovely  peace,  and  Beauty's  courtly  bloom, 

The  mind  in  strenuous  tasks  hilarious. 


dbyGOOglt^ 


*<*♦ 


t  ■■(*." 
'I 


">i — 


dbjGooglc 


NAPOLEON 


Where  peeps  the  weedy  poppy,  him  of  the  sea ; 
Earth's  power  to  baffle  Ocean's  power  resume ; 
Vii!toriou3  army  crown  o'er  Victory's  fleet ; 
And  bearing  low  that  Seaman  upon  knee. 
Stay  the  vexed  question  of  supremacy. 
Obnoxious  in  the  vault  by  Frederic's  tomb. 


Poured  streams  of  Europe's  veins  the  flood 
Full  Rhine  or  Danube  rolls  off  moming-tide 
Through  shadowed  reaches  into  crimson-dyed  : 
And  Rhine  and  Danube  knew  her  gush  of  blood 
Down  the  plucked  roots  the  deepest  in  her  breast. 
He  tossed  her  cordiab,  from  his  laurels  pressed. 
She  drank  for  dryness  thirstily,  praised  his  gifts. 
The  blooded  frame  a  powerful  draught  uplifts 
Writhed  the  devotedness  her  voice  rang  wide 
In  cries  ecstatic,  as  of  the  martyr-Blest, 
Their  spirits  issuing  forth  of  bodies  racked. 
And  crazy  chuckles,  with  life's  tears  at  feud ; 
While  near  her  heart  the  sunken  sentinel 
Called  Critic  marked,  and  dumb  in  awe  reviewed 
This  torture,  this  anointed,  this  untracked 
To  mortal  source,  this  alien  of  his  kind ; 
Creator,  slayer,  conjuror,  Solon-Mars, 
The  cataract  of  the  abyss,  the  star  of  stars ; 
Whose  arts  to  lay  the  senses  under  spell 
Aroused  an  insturectionary  mind. 


He,  did  he  love  her  ?  ■    France  was  his  weapon,  shrewd 

At  edge,  a  wind  in  onset :  he  loved  well 

Hb  tempered  weapon,  with  the  which  he  hewed 

Clean  to  the  ground  impediments,  or  hacked. 

Sure  of  the  blade  that  served  the  great  man-miracle. 

He  raised  her,  robed  her,. gemmed  her  for  his  bride. 

Did  but  her  blood  in  blindness  given  exact. 

Her  blood  she  gave,  was  blind  to  him  as  guide : 

She  quivered  at  his  word,  and  at  bis  touch 

Was  hound  or  ateed  for  any  mark  be  espied. 


dbyGOOgIC 


i  NAPOLEON 

He  loved  her  more  than  little,  less  than  much. 

The  fair  subservient  of  Imperi&l  Fact 

Next  to  hia  consanguineous  was  placed 

In  ranked  esteem ;  above  the  diurnal  meal. 

Vexatious  caraal  appetites  above. 

Above  his  hoards,  while  she  Imperial  Fact  embraced. 

And  rose  but  at  command  from  under  heel. 

The  iove  devolvent,  the  ascension  love, 

Receptive  or  profuse,  were  fires  he  lacked. 

Whose  marrow  had  expelled  their  wasteful  sparks ; 

Whose  mind,  the  vast  machine  of  endless  haste. 

Took  up  but  solids  for  its  glowing  seal. 

The  hungry  love,  that  fish-like  creatures  feel. 

Impelled  for  prize  of  hooks,  for  prey  of  sharks. 

His  night's  first  quarter  sicklied  to  distaste, 

In  warm  enjoyment  barely  might  distract. 

A  head  that  held  an  Europe  half  devoured 

Taste  in  the  blood's  conceit  of  pleasure  soured. 

Nought  save  bis  rounding  aim,  the  means  he  plied. 

Death  for  hia  cause,  to  him  could  point  appeal. 

His  mistress  was  the  thing  of  uses  tried. 

Frigid  the  netting  smile  on  whom  he  wooed, 

But  on  his  Policy  his  eye  was  lewd. 

That  sharp  long  zig-zag  into  distance  brooked 

No  foot  across ;  a  shade  bis  ire  provoked. 

The  blunder  or  the  cruelty  of  a  deed 

Hia  Policy  imperative  could  plead. 

He  deemed  nought  other  precious,  nor  knew  he 

Legitimate  out^de  bis  Policy. 

Men's  lives  and  works  were  due,  from  their  birth's  date. 

To  the  State's  shield  and  sword,  himself  the  State. 

He  thought  for  them  in  mass,  as  Titan  may ; 

For  their  pronounced  well-being  bade  obey ; 

O'er  each  obstructive  thicket  tlmnderclapped. 

And  straight  their  easy  road  to  market  mapped. 

Watched  Argus  to  survey  the  huge  preserves 

He  held  or  coveted ;  Mars  was  armed  alert 

At  sign  of  motion  ;  yet  his  brows  were  murk, 

His  gorge  would  surge,  to  see  the  butcher's  work. 

The  Reaper's  field ;  a  sensitive  in  nerves. 

He  rode  not  over  men  to  do  them  hurt. 


dbyGOOgIC 


NAPOLEON  48; 

As  one  who  claimed  to  have  for  paramour 
Earth's  fairest  form,  he  dealt  the  cancelling  blow ; 
Impassioned,  still  imffersonal ;  to  ensure 
Possession ;  free  of  rivals,  not  their  foe. 

The  common  Tyrant's  frenzies,  rancour,  spites. 

He  knew  as  little  as  men's  claim  on  rights. 

A  kindness  for  old  servants,  early  friends. 

Was  constant  in  him  while  they  served  his  ends ; 

And  if  irascible,  'twas  the  moment's  reek 

From  fires  diverted  by  some  gusty  freak. 

His  Policy  the  act  which  breeds  the  act 

Prevised,  in  issues  accurately  summed 

From  reckonings  of  men's  tempers,  terrors,  needs : — 

That  universal  army,  which  he  leads 

Viho  builds  Imperial  on  Imperious  Fact. 

Within  his  hot  brain's  hammering  workshop  hummed 

A  thousand  furious  wheels  at  whirr,  untired 

As  Nature  in  her  reproductive  throes ; 

And  did  they  grate,  he  spake,  and  cannon  fired  : 

The  cause  being  aye  the  incendiary  foes 

Proved  by  prostration  culpable.    His  dispense 

Of  Justice  made  his  active  conscience ; 

His  passive  was  of  ceaseless  labour  formed. 

So  found  this  Tyrant  sanction  and  repose ; 

Humanly  just,  inhumanly  un warmed. 

Preventive  fencings  with  the  foul  intent 

Occult,  by  him  observed  and  foiled  betimes. 

Let  fool  historians  chronicle  as  crimes. 

His  blows  were  dealt  to  clear  the  way  he  went : 

Too  busy  sword  and  mind  for  needless  blows. 

The  mighty  bird  of  sky  minutest  grains 

On  ground  perceived ;  in  heaven  but  rays  or  rains ; 

In  humankind  diversities  of  masks, 

For  rule  of  men  the  choice  of  bait  or  goads. 

The  statesman  steered  the  despwt  to  large  tasks; 

The  despot  drove  the  statesman  on  short  roads. 

For  Order's  cause  he  laboured,  as  inclined 

A  soldier's  training  and  his  Euclid  mind. 

His  army  unto  men  he  could  present 

As  model  of  the  perfect  instrument. 


dbyGOOgIC 


I  NAPOLEON 

That  creature,  woman,  was  the  sofa  soft. 

When  warriors  their  dusty  armour  doffed, 

And  read  their  manuals  for  the  tnalcing  truoe 

With  rosy  frailties  framed  to  reproduce. 

He  farmed  his  land,  distillingly  alive 

For  the  utmost  extnict  he  might  have  and  hive, 

^Mierewith  to  marshal  force ;  and  in  like  sch^ne. 

Benign  shone  Hymen's  torch  on  young  love's  dream. 

Thus  to  be  strong  was  be  beneficent ; 

A  fount  of  earth,  likewise  a  firmament. 

The  disputant  in  words  his  eye  dismayed : 

Opinions  blocked  tus  passage.    Rent 

Were  Councils  with  a  gesture ;  brayed 

By  hoarse  camp-phrase  what  argument 

Dared  interpose  to  waken  spleen 

In  him  whose  \ision  grasped  the  unseen, 

^liose  counsellor  was  the  ready  blade, 

Whose  argument  the  cannonade. 

He  loathed  his  land's  divergent  parties,  loth 

To  grant  them  speech,  they  were  such  idle  troops ; 

The  friable  and  the  grumous,  dizzards  both.' 

Men  were  good  sticks  his  mastery  wrought  from  hoops; 

Some  serviceable,  none  credible  on  oath. 

llie  silly  preference  they  nursed  to  die 

In  beds  he  scorned,  and  led  where  they  should  He. 

If  magic  made  them  [diable  for  his  use. 

Magician  he  could  be  by  planned  surprise. 

For  do  they  see  the  deuce  in  human  guise. 

As  men's  acknowledged  head  appears  the  deuce. 

And  they  will  toQ  with  de^'ilish  craft  and  zeal. 

Among  them  certain  vagrant  wits  that  had 

Ideas  buzaed ;  they  were  the  feebly  mad ; 

Pursuers  of  a  film  they  hailed  ideal ; 

But  could  be  dangerous  fire-flies  for  a  brain 

Subdued  by  fact,  still  amorous  of  the  inane. 

With  a  breath  he  blew  them  out,  to  beat  their  wings 

The  way  of  such  transfeminated  things, 

And  France  had  sense  of  vacancy  in  Light 

That  is  the  soul's  dead  darkness,  making  clutch 
Wild  hands  for  aid  at  musdes  nithin  touch ; 


d  by  Google 


NAPOLEON 

Adding  to  slavery's  chain  the  stringent  twist ; 
Even  when  it  brings  close  surety  that  aright 
She  reads  her  Tyrant  through  his  golden  mist ; 
Perceives  him  fast  to  a  harsher  Tyrant  bound; 
Self-ridden,  self-hunted,  captive  of  his  aim ; 
Material  grandeur's  ape,  the  Infemal's  hound ; 
Enormous,  with  no  infinite  around ; 
No  starred  deep  sky,  no  Muse,  or  lame 
The  dusty  pattering  pinions. 
The  voice  as  through  the  brazen  tube  of  Fame. 


Hugest  of  engines,  a  much  limited  man, 

She  saw  the  Lustrous,  her  great  lord,  appear 

Through  that  smoked  glass  her  last  privation  brought 

To  point  her  critic  eye  and  spur  her  thought : 

A  heart  but  to  propel  Leviathan ; 

A  spirit  that  breathed  but  in  earth's  atmosphere. 

Amid  the  plumed  and  sceptred  ones 

Irradiatingly  Jovian, 

Hie  mountain  tower  capped  by  the  floating  cloud ; 

A  nursery  screamer  where  dialectics  ruled : 

Mannerless,  graceless,  laughteriess,  unlike 

Herself  in  all,  yet  with  such  power  to  strike, 

Hiat  she  the  various  features  she  could  scan 

Dared  not  to  sum,  though  seeing :  and  befooled 

By  power  which  beamed  omnipotent,  she  bowed. 

Subservient  as  roused  echo  round  his  guns. 

Invulnerable  Prince  of  Myrmidons, 

He  sparkled,  by  no  sage  Athene  schooled. 

Partly  she  read  her  riddle,  stricken  and  pained ; 

But  irony,  her  spirit's  tongue,  restrained. 

The  Critic,  last  of  vital  in  the  proud 

Enslaved,  when  most  detectively  endowed. 

Admired  how  irony's  venom  off  him  ran, 

like  rain-drops  down  a  statue  cast  in  bronze : 

Whereby  of  her  keen  rapier  disarmed, 

Again  her  chant  of  eulogy  began, 

Protesting,  but  with  slavish  senses  charmed. 

Her  warrior,  chief  among  the  valorous  great 
In  arms  he  was,  dispelling  shades  of  blame. 


dbyGOOgll 


)  NAPOLEON 

With  radiance  palpable  in  fruit  and  weight. 

Heard  she  reproach,  his  victories  blared  response; 

His  victories  bent  the  Critic  to  acclaim. 

As  with  fresh  blows  upon  a  ringing  sconce. 

Or  heard  she  from  scajred  ranks  of  jolly  growls 

Hia  veterans  dwarf  their  reverence  and,  like  owls. 

Laugh  in  the  pitch  of  discord,  to  exalt 

Their  idol  for  some  genial  trick  or  fault, 

She,  too,  became  hia  marching  veteran. 

Again  she  took  her  breath  from  them  who  bore 

His  eagles  through  the  tawny  roar, 

And  murmured  at  a  peaceful  state, 

That  bred  the  title  charlatan. 

As  missile  from  the  mouth  of  hate. 

For  one  the  daemon  Serily  filled  and  hurled. 

Cannon  his  name, 

Shattering  against  a  barrier  world  ; 

Her  supreme  player  of  man's  primaeval  game. 

The  daemon  filled  him,  and  he  filled  her  sons; 
Strung  them  to  stature  over  human  height. 
As  march  the  standards  down  the  smoky  fight ; 
Her  cherubim,  her  towering  mastodons ! 
Directed  vault  or  breach,  break  through 
Earth's  toughest,  seasons,  elements,  tame; 
Dash  at  the  bulk  the  sharpened  few ; 
Count  death  the  smallest  of  their  debts : 
Show  that  the  will  to  do 
Is  masculine  and  begets  t 

These  princes  unto  him  the  mother  owed ; 

These  jewels  of  manhood  that  rich  hand  bestowed. 

What  wonder,  though  with  wits  awake 

To  read  her  riddle,  for  these  her  offspring's  sake ; — 

And  she,  before  high  heaven  adulteress. 

The  lost  to  honour,  in  his  glory  clothed. 

Else  naked,  shamed  in  sight  of  men,  self-loathed; — 

That  she  should  quench  her  thought,  nor  worship  lea; 

Than  ere  she  bled  on  sands  or  snows  and  knew 

The  slave's  alternative,  to  worship  or  to  rue ! 


dbyGOOgIC 


Bright  from  the  shell  of  that  much  limited  man. 

Her  hero,  like  the  falchion  out  of  sheath, 

Like  soul  that  quits  the  tumbled  body,  soared : 

And  France,  impulsive,  nuptial  with  his  plan. 

Albeit  the  Critic  fretting  her,  adored 

Once  more.     Exultingly  her  heart  went  forth, 

Submissive  to  his  mind  and  mood. 

The  way  of  those  pent-eyebrows  North ; 

For  now  was  he  to  win  the  wreath 

Surpassing  sunniest  in  camp  or  Court ; 

Next,  as  the  blessed  harvest  after  years  of  blight, 

Sit,  the  Great  Emperor,  to  be  known  the  Good  I 

Now  had  the  Seaman's  volvent  sprite. 

Lean  from  the  chase  that  barked  his  contraband, 

A  beggared  applicant  at  every  port, 

To  strew  the  profitless  deeps  and  rot  beneath. 

Slung  northward,  for  a  hunted  beast's  retort 

On  sovereign  power ;  there  his  final  stand. 

Among  the  perjured  Scythian's  shaggy  horde. 

The  hydrocephalic  aerolite 

Had  taken  ;■"  flashing  thence  repellent  teeth. 

Though  Europe's  Master  Europe's  Rebel  banned 

To  be  earth's  outcast,  ocean's  lord  and  sport. 

Unmoved  might  seem  the  Master's  taunted  sword. 

Northward  his  dusky  legions  nightly  slipped. 

As  on  the  map  of  that  all-provident  head ; 

He  luring  Peace  the  while,  like  morning's  cock 

The  quiet  day  to  round  the  hours  for  bed ; 

No  pastoral  shepherd  sweeter  to  his  flock. 

Then  Europe  first  beheld  her  Titan  stripped. 

To  what  vast  length  of  limb  and  mounds  of  thews. 

How  trained  to  scale  the  eminences,  pluck 

The  hazards  for  new  footing,  how  compel 

Those  timely  incidents  by  men  named  luck. 

Through  forethought  that  defied  the  Fates  to  choose. 

Her  grovelling  admiration  had  not  yet 

Imagined  of  the  great  man-miracle ; 

And  France  recounted  with  her  comic  smile 


d  by  Google 


I  NAPOLEON 

Duplicities  of  Court  and  Cabinet, 

The  silky  female  of  his  male  in  guile, 

Wherewith  her  two-faced  Master  could  amuse 

A  dupe  he  charmed  In  sunny  beams  to  bask. 

Before  his  feint  for  camisado  struck 

The  lightning  moment  of  the  cast-off  mask. 

Splendours  of  earth  repeating  heaven's  at  set 

Of  smi  down  mountain  cloud  in  masses  arched ; 

Since  Asia  upon  Europe  marched. 

Unmatched  the  copious  multitudes ;  unknown 

To  Gallia's  over-runner,  Rome's  inveterate  foe. 

Such  hosts ;  all  one  machine  for  overthrow, 

Coruacant  from  the  Master's  hand,  compact 

As  reasoned  thoughts  in  the  Master's  head ;  were  shown 

Yon  lightning  moment  when  his  acme  might 

Blazed  o'er  the  stream  that  cuts  the  sandy  tract 

Borussian  from  Sarmatia's  famished  flat ; 

The  century's  flower ;  and  off  its  pinnacled  throne. 

Rayed  servitude  on  Europe's  ball  of  sight. 


Behind  the  Northern  curtain-folds  he  passed." 

There  heard  hushed  France  her  muffled  heart  beat  fast 

Against  the  hollow  ear-drum,  where  she  sat 

In  expectation's  darkness,  until  cracked 

The  straining  curtain-seams :  a  scaly  light 

Was  ghost  above  an  army  under  shroud. 

Imperious  on  Imperial  Fact 

Incestuously  the  inci:edible  begat. 

Hia  veterans  and  auxiliaries. 

The  trained,  the  trustful,  sanguine,  proud. 

Princely,  scarce  numerable  to  recite, — 

Tetanic  of  all  Titan  tragedies  t — 

That  Northern  curtain  took  them,  as  the  seas 

Gulp  the  great  ships  to  ^ve  back  shipmen  white. 

Alive  in  marble,  she  conceived  in  soul. 

With  barren  eyes  and  mouth,  the  mother's  loss ; 

The  bolt  from  her  abandoned  heaven  sped ; 


dbyGoog[e 


The  snowy  Krmy  rolling  knoll  on  knoll 
Beyond  horizon,  under  no  blest  Cross : 
By  the  vulture  dotted  and  engarlanded. 

Was  it  a  necromancer  lured 

To  weave  his  tense  betraying  spell? 

A  'ntan  whom  our  God  endured 

Till  he  of  his  foul  hungers  fell. 

By  all  tus  craft  and  labour  scourged  1 

A  deluge  Europe's  liberated  wave, 

Fteaa  to  sky,  leapt  over  that  vast  grave. 

Its  shadow-points  against  her  sacred  land  converged. 

And  him,  her  yoke-fellow,  her  black  lord,  her  fate. 

In  doubt,  in  fevered  hope,  in  chills  of  hate. 

That  tore  her  old  credijity  to  strips. 

Then  pressed  the  auspicious  relics  on  her  lips. 

His  withered  slave  for  foregone  miracles  urged. 

And  he,  whom  now  his  ominous  halo's  round, 

A  three  parts  blank  decrescent  sickle,  crowned, 

Prodigious  in  catastrophe,  could  wear 

The  realm  of  Darkness  with  its  Prince's  air; 

Assume  in  mien  the  resolute  pretence 

To  satiate  an  hungered  confidence, 

Proved  criminal  by  the  sceptic  seen  to  cower 

Beside  the  generous  face  of  that  frail  flower. 


Desire  and  terror  then  had  each  of  each : 

His  crown  and  sword  were  staked  on  the  magic  stroke ; 

Her  blood  she  gave  as  one  who  loved  her  leech ; 

And  both  did  barter  under  union's  cloak. 

An  union  in  hot  fever  and  fierce  need 

Of  cither's  aid,  distrust  in  trust  did  breed. >* 

Their  trafGc  instincts  hooded  their  live  wits 

To  issues.     Never  human  fortune  throve 

On  such  alliance.    Viewed  by  fits, 

From  Vulcan's  forge  a  hovering  Jove 

Evolved.    The  slave  he  dragged  the  Tyrant  drove. 

Her  awe  of  him  his  dread  of  her  invoked : 

His  nature  with  her  shivering  faith  ran  yoked. 


dbyGOOglC 


I  NAPOLEON 

What  wisdom  counselled.  Policy  declined ; 

All  perils  dared  he  save  the  step  behind." 

Ahead  his  grand  initiative  becked : 

One  spark  of  radiance  blurred,  his  orb  was  wrecked, 

Stripf)ed  to  the  despot  upetart,  for  success 

He  raged  to  clothe  a  perilous  nakedness. 

He  would  not  fall,  while  falling ;  would  not  be  taught, 

While  learning;  would  not  relax  his  grasp  on  aught 

He  held  in  hand,  while  losing  it ;  pressed  advance, 

Pricked  for  her  lees  the  veins  of  wasted  France ; 

Who,  had  he  stayed  to  husband  her,  had  spun 

Hie  strength  he  taxed  unripened  for  his  throw. 

In  vengeful  casts  calamitous. 

On  fields  where  palsying  Pyrrhic  laurels  grow. 

The  luminous  the  ruinous. 

An  incalescent  scorpion. 

And  fierier  for  the  mounded  cirxjue 

That  narrowed  at  him  thick  and  murk, 

This  gambler  with  his  genius 

Flung  lives  in  angry  volleys,  bloody  lightnings,  flung 

His  fortunes  to  the  hosts  he  stung. 

With  victories  clipped  his  eagle's  wings. 

By  the  hands  that  built  him  up  was  he  undone : 

By  the  star  aloft,  which  was  hb  ram's-head  will 

Within ;  by  the  toppling  throne  the  soldier  won ; 

By  the  yeasty  ferment  of  what  once  had  been. 

To  cloud  a  rational  mind  for  present  things; 

By  his  own  force,  the  suicide  in  his  mill. 

Needs  never  God  of  Vengeance  intervene 

When  giants  their  last  lesson  have  to  learn. 

Fighting  against  an  end  he  could  discern. 

The  chivalry  whereof  he  had  none 

He  called  from  his  worn  slave's  abundant  springs : 

Not  deigning  spousally  entreat 

That  ever  blinded  by  his  martial  skill. 

But  harsh  to  have  her  worship  counted  out 

In  human  coin,  her  vital  rivers  drained. 

Her  infant  forests  felled,  commanded  die 

The  decade  thousand  deaths  for  his  Imperial  seat. 

Where  throning  he  her  faith  in  him  maintained ; 

Bound  Reason  to  believe  delayed  defeat 


d  by  Google 


NAPOLEON  49 

Was  triumph ;  and  what  strength  in  her  remuned 
To  head  agamst  the  ultimate  foreseen  rout, 
Insensate  taxed ;  of  his  impenitent  will. 
Servant  and  sycophant :  without  ally, 
In  Python's  coils,  the  Master  Craftsman  still ; 
The  smiter,  panther  springer,  trapper  sly. 
The  deadly  wrestler  at  the  crucial  bout. 
The  penetrant,  the  tonant,  tower  of  towers. 
Striking  from  black  disaster  starry  showers. 
Her  supreme  player  of  man's  primaeval  game. 
He  won  hb  harnessed  victim's  rapturous  shout. 
When  every  move  was  mortal  to  her  frame. 
Her  prayer  to  life  that  stricken  he  might  lie. 
She  to  exchange  his  laurels  for  earth's  flowers. 

The  innumerable  whelmed  him,  and  he  fell : 

A  vessel  in  mid-ocean  under  storm. 

Ere  ceased  the  lullaby  of  his  passing  bell. 

He  sprang  to  sight,  in  human  form 

Revealed,  from  no  celestial  uds : 

The  shades  enclosed  him,  and  he  fired  the  shades.'* 

Cannon  his  name, 

Cannon  his  voice,  he  came. 

The  fount  of  miracles  from  drought-dust  arose, 

Amazing  even  on  his  Imperial  stage. 

Where  marvels  lightened  through  the  alternate  hours 

And  winged  o'er  human  earth's  heroical  shone. 

Into  the  press  of  cumulative  foes. 

Across  the  friendly  fields  of  smoke  and  rage, 

A  broken  structure  bore  his  furious  powers ; 

The  man  no  more,  the  Warrior  Chi^  the  same ; 

Match  for  all  rivals ;  in  himself  but  flame 

Of  an  outworn  lamp,  to  illumine  nought  anon. 

Yet  loud  as  when  he  first  showed  War's  effete 

Their  Schoolman  off  his  eagle  mounted  high, 

And  summoned  to  subject  who  dared  compete, 

The  cannon  in  the  name  Napoleon 

Discoursed  of  sulphur  earth  to  curtained  sky. 

So  through  a  tropic  day  a  regnant  sun. 

Where  armies  of  aasulant  vapours  thronged, 


d  by  Google 


i  NAPOLEON 

Hb  glory's  trappings  laid  on  them :  comes  night, 

Enwraps  him  in  a  bosom  quick  of  heat 

From  hia  anterior  splendours,  and  shall  seem 

Day  instant.  Day's  own  lord  in  the  furnace  gleam. 

The  virulent  quiver  on  ravished  eyes  prolonged, 

When  severed  darkness,  all  flaminica)  bright. 

Slips  vivid  eagles  linked  in  rapid  flight; 

Which  bring  at  whiles  the  lionly  far  roar, 

As  wrestled  he  with  manacles  and  gags. 

To  speed  across  a  cowering  world  once  more. 

Superb  in  ordered  floods,  fes  lordly  flags. 

His  name  on  silence  thundered,  on  the  obscure 

Lightened ;  it  haunted  mom  and  even-song: 

Earth  of  her  prodigy's  extinction  long. 

With  shudderings  and  with  thrilliDgs,  hung  unsure. 

Snapped  was  the  chord  that  made  the  resonant  bow. 

In  Prance,  abased  and  like  a  shrunken  corse ; 

Amid  the  weakest  weak,  the  lowest  low. 

From  the  highest  fallen,  stagnant  off  her  soiurce ; 

Condemned  to  hear  the  nations'  hostile  mirth ; 

See  curtained  heavens,  and  smell  a  sulphurous  earth ; 

Which  told  how  evermore  shall  tyrant  Force 

Beget  the  greater  for  its  overthrow. 

The  song  of  Liberty  in  her  bearing  spoke 

A  foreign  tongue;  Earth's  fluttering  little  lyre 

Unlike,  but  like  the  raven's  ravening  croak." 

Not  till  her  breath  of  being  could  aspire 

Anew,  this  loved  and  scourged  of  Angels  found 

Our  common  brotherhood  in  sight  and  sound : 

When  mellow  rang  the  name  Napoleon, 

And  dim  aloft  her  young  Angehcal  waved." 

Between  ethereal  and  gross  to  choose. 

She  swung;  her  soul  desired,  her  senses  craved. 

They  pricked  her  dreams,  while  oft  her  skies  were  dun 

Behind  o'ershadowing  foemen :  on  a  tide 

They  drew  the  nature  having  need  of  pride 

Among  her  fellows  for  its  vital  dues : 

He  seen  like  some  rare  treasure-galleon, 

Hull  down,  with  masts  against  the  Western  hues. 


d  by  Google 


FRANCE 

I  1870  • 


We  look  for  her  that  sunlike  stood 

Upon  the  forehead  of  our  day. 

An  orb  of  nations,  radiating  food 

For  body  and  for  mind  alway. 

Where  is  the  Shape  of  glad  array ; 

The  nervous  hands,  the  front  of  steel, 

The  clarion  tongue  ?    Where  is  the  bold  proud  face  T 

We  see  a  vacant  place ; 

We  hear  an  iron  heel. 

n 
O  she  that  made  the  brave  appeal 
For  manhood  when  our  time  was  dark,' 
And  from  our  fetters  drove  the  spark 
Which  was  as  lightning  to  reveal 
New  seasons,  with  the  swifter  play 
Of  pulses,  and  benigner  day ; 
She  that  divinely  shook  the  dead 
From  living  man ;  that  stretched  ahead 
Her  resolute  forefinger  straight. 
And  marched  toward  the  gloomy  gate 
Of  earth's  Untried,  gave  note,  and  in 
The  good  name  of  Humanity 
Called  forth  the  daring  vision  1  she, 
She  likewbe  half  corrupt  of  sin, 
Angel  and  Wanton  1  can  it  be  T 
Her  star  has  foundered  in  eclipse. 
The  shriek  of  madness  on  her  lips ; 
Shreds  of  her,  and  no  more,  we  see. 
There  is  horrible  convulsion,  smothered  din. 
As  of  one  that  in  a  grave-cloth  struggles  to  be  tree. 

ni 
Look  not  for  spreading  boughs 
On  the  riven  forest  tree. 
Look  down  where  deep  in  blood  and  mire 
Black  thunder  plants  his  feet  and  ploughs 


Digitized  byGOOgIt 


5  FRANCE,  1870 

The  soil  for  ruin :  that  is  France : 

Still  thrilling  like  a  lyre. 

Amazed  to  shivering  discord  from  a  fall 

Sudden  as  that  the  lurid  hosts  recall 

Who  met  in  heaven  the  irreparable  mischance. 

0  that  is  France ! 

The  brilliant  eyes  to  kindle  bliss. 

The  shrewd  quick  lips  to  laugh  and  kiss. 

Breasts  that  a  sighing  worid  inspire, 

And  laughter-dimpled  countenance 

Where  soul  and  senses  caught  desire  I 


Ever  invoking  fire  from  heaven,  the  fire 
Has  grasped  her,  uoconsumable,  but  framed 
For  all  the  ecstasies  of  suffering  dire. 
Mother  of  Pride,  her  sanctuary  shamed : 
Mother  of  Delicacy,  and  made  a  mark 
For  outrage :  Mother  of  Luxury,  stripped  stark : 
Mother  of  Heroes,  bondsmen :  thro'  the  rains, 
Across  her  boundaries,  lo  the  league-long  chains  I 
Fond  Mother  of  her  martial  youth ;  they  pass, 
Are  spectres  in  her  sight,  are  mown  as  grass  I 
Mother  of  Honour,  and  dishonoured :  Mother 
Of  Glory,  she  condemned  to  crown  with  bays 
Her  victor,  and  be  fountain  of  his  praise. 
Is  there  another  curse  ?     There  is  another : 
Compassionate  her  madness :  is  she  not 
Mother  of  Reason  ?  she  that  sees  them  mown 
Like  grass,  her  young  ones !     Yea,  in  the  low  groan 
And  under  the  fixed  thunder  of  this  hour 
Which  holds  the  animate  world  in  one  foul  blot 
Tranced  circumambient  while  relentless  Power 
Beaks  at  her  heart  and  claws  her  limbs  down-thrown, 
She,  with  the  plungeing  lightnings  overshot. 
With  madness  for  an  armour  against  pain. 
With  milkless  breasts  for  little  ones  athirst. 


dbyGOOgIC 


FRANCE,  1870 

Gives  answer  of  the  cause  of  her  great  woe. 

Inexorably  echoing  thro'  the  vaults, 

'  'Tb  thus  they  reap  in  blood,  in  blood  who  sow ; 

'This  is  the  sum  of  self-absolved  faults.' 

Doubt  not  that  thro'  her  grief,  with  sight  supreme. 

Thro'  her  delirium  and  despair's  last  dream, 

Thro'  pride,  thro'  bright  illusion  and  the  brood 

Bewildering  of  her  various  Motherhood, 

The  high  strong  light  within  her,  tho'  she  bleeds, 

Traces  the  letters  of  returned  misdeeeds. 

She  sees  what  seed  long  sown,  ripened  of  late, 

Bears  this  fierce  crop ;  and  she  tUscems  her  fate 

From  origin  to  agony,  and  on 

As  far  as  the  wave  washes  long  and  wan 

Off  one  disastrous  impulse :  for  of  waves 

Our  life  is,  and  our  deeds  are  pregnant  graves 

Blown  rolling  to  the  sunset  from  the  dawn. 


Ah,  what  a  dawn  of  splendour,  when  her  sowers  * 

Went  forth  and  bent  the  necks  of  populations 

And  of  their  terrors  and  humiliations 

Wove  her  the  starry  wreath  that  earthward  lowers 

Now  in  the  figure  of  a  burning  yoke ! 

Her  legions  traversed  North  and  South  and  East, 

Of  triumph  they  enjoyed  the  glutton's  feast : 

They  grafted  the  green  sprig,  they  lopped  the  oak. 

They  caught  by  the  heard  the  tempests,  by  the  scalp 

The  icy  precipices,  and  clove  sheer  through 

The  heart  of  horror  of  the  pinnacled  Alp, 

Emerging  not  as  men  whom  mortals  knew. 

They  were  the  earthquake  and  the  hurricane. 

The  lightnings  and  the  locusts,  plagues  of  blight. 

Plagues  of  the  revel :  they  were  Deluge  rain. 

And  dreaded  Conflagration ;  lawless  Might. 

Death  writes  a  reeling  line  along  the  snows. 

Where  imder  frozen  mists  tiiey  may  be  tracked, 

Who  men  and  elements  provoked  to  foes. 

And  Gods :  they  were  of  god  and  beast  compact : 

Abhorred  of  all.    Yet,  how  they  sucked  the  teats 


dbyGOOgIC 


)  FRANCE,  1870 

Of  Carnage,  thirsty  issue  of  their  dam,  ' 

Whose  eagles,  angrier  than  their  oriflt 

Flushed  the  vext  earth  with  blood,  green  earth  forgets. 

The  gay  young  generations  mask  her  grief ; 

Where  bled  her  c-hildren  hangs  the  hwided  sheaf. 

Forgetful  is  green  earth ;  the  Gods  alone 

Remember  everlastingly :  they  strike 

Remorselessly,  and  ever  like  for  like. 

By  their  great  memories  the  Gods  are  known. 


They  are  with  her  now,  and  in  her  ears,  and  known. 

'Tis  they  that  cast  her  to  the  dust  for  Strength, 

Their  slave,  to  feed  on  her  fair  body's  length, 

That  once  the  sweetest  and  the  proudest  shone; 

Scoring  for  hideous  dismemberment 

Her  limbs,  as  were  the  anguish-taking  breath 

Gone  out  of  her  in  the  insufferable  descent 

From  her  high  chieftainship ;  as  were  she  death. 

Who  hears  a  voice  of  justice,  feels  the  knife 

Of  torture,  drinks  all  ignominy  of  life. 

They  are  with  her,  and  the  painful  Gods  might  weep. 

If  ever  rain  of  tears  came  out  of  heaven 

To  flatter  Weakness  and  bid  conscience  sleep. 

Viewing  the  woe  of  this  Immortal,  driven 

For  the  soul's  life  to  drain  the  maddening  cup 

Of  her  own  children's  blood  implacably : 

Unsparing  even  as  they  to  furrow  up 

The  yellow  land  to  likeness  of  a  sea : 

The  bountiful  fair  land  of  vine  and  grain. 

Of  wit  and  grace  and  ardour,  and  strong  roots. 

Fruits  perishable,  imperishable  fruits ; 

Furrowed  to  likeness  of  the  dim  grey  main 

Behind  the  black  obliterating  cydone. 


Behold,  the  Gods  are  with  her,  and  are  known. 
Whom  they  abandon  misery  persecutes 
No  more :  them  half-eyed  apathy  may  loan 
The  happiness  of  pitiable  brutes. 


dbyGOOgIC 


FRANCE,  1870  501 

Whom  the  just  Gods  abandoo  have  no  light, 

No  ruthless  light  of  introspective  eyes 

That  in  the  midst  of  misery  scrutinize 

The  heart  and  its  iniquities  outright. 

They  rest,  they  smile  and  rest ;  have  earned  perchance 

Of  ancient  service  quiet  for  a  term ; 

Quiet  of  old  men  dropping  to  the  worm ; 

And  so  goes  out  the  soul.     But  not  of  France. 

She  cries  for  grief,  and  to  the  Gods  she  cries, 

For  fearfully  their  loosened  hands  chastize. 

And  icily  they  watch  the  rod's  caress 

fiavage  her  flesh  from  scourges  merciless. 

But  she,  inveterate  of  brain,  discerns 

That  Pity  has  as  little  pUce  as  Joy 

Among  their  roU  of  gifts ;  for  Strength  she  yearns. 

For  Strength,  her  idol  once,  too  long  her  toy. 

Lo,  Strength  is  of  the  plain  root-Virtues  bom : 

Strength  shall  ye  gain  by  service,  prove  in  scorn. 

Train  by  endurance,  by  devotion  shape. 

Strength  is  not  won  by  miracle  or  rape. 

It  is  the  offspring  of  the  modest  years. 

The  gift  of  sire  to  son,  thro'  those  firm  laws 

Which  we  name  Gods ;  which  are  the  righteous  cause. 

The  cause  of  man,  and  manhood's  ministers. 

Could  France  accept  the  fables  of  her  priests,' 

Who  blest  her  banners  in  this  game  of  beasts. 

And  now  bid  hope  that  heaven  will  intercede 

To  violate  its  laws  in  her  sore  need. 

She  would  find  comfort  in  their  opiates ; 

Mother  of  Reason !  can  she  cheat  the  Fates  ? 

Would  she,  the  champion  of  the  open  mind. 

The  Omnipotent's  prime  gift — the  gift  of  growth — 

Consent  even  for  a  night-time  to  be  blind, 

And  sink  her  soul  on  the  delusive  sloth. 

For  fruits  ethereal  and  material,  both, 

In  peril  of  her  place  among  mankind  ? 

The  Mother  of  the  many  Laughters  might 

Call  one  poor  shade  of  laughter  in  the  light 

Of  her  unwavering  lamp  to  mark  what  things 

The  world  puts  faith  in,  careless  of  the  trutJi : 

What  silly  puppet-bodies  danced  on  strings. 


dbyGOOgIt 


Attached  by  credence,  we  appear  in  sooth. 

Demanding  intercession,  direct  aid, 

When  the  whole  tragic  tale  hangs  on  a  broken  blade  I 

She  swung  the  sword  for  centuries ;  in  a  day 
It  slipped  her,  like  a  stream  cut  ofT  from  source. 
She  struck  a  feeble  hand,  and  tried  to  pray. 
Clamoured  of  treachery,  and  had  recourse 
To  drunken  outcries  in  her  dream  that  Force 
Needed  but  hear  her  shouting  to  obey. 
Was  she  not  formed  to  conquer?    The  bright  plumes 
Of  crested  vanity  shed  graceful  nods : 
Transcendent  in  her  foundries.  Arts  and  looms. 
Had  France  to  fear  the  vengeance  of  the  Gods? 
Her  faith  was  on  her  battle-roll  of  names 
Sheathed  in  the  records  of  old  war ;  with  dance 
And  song  she  thrilled  her  warriors  and  her  dames. 
Embracing  her  Dishonour : '  gave  him  France 
From  head  to  foot,  France  present  and  to  come. 
So  she  might  hear  the  trumpet  and  the  drum — 
Bellona  and  Bacchante  1  rushing  forth 
On  yon  stout  marching  Schoolmen  of  the  North. 

Inveterate  of  brain,  well  knows  she  why 
Strength  failed  her,  faithful  to  himself  the  first; 
Her  dream  is  done,  and  she  can  read  the  sky, 
And  she  can  take  into  her  heart  the  worst 
Calamity  to  drug  the  shameful  thought 
Of  days  that  made  her  as  the  man  she  served 
A  name  of  terror,  but  a  thing  unnerved  : 
Buying  the  trickster,  by  the  trickster  bought. 
She  for  dominion,  he  to  patch  a  throne. 


Henceforth  of  her  the  Gods  are  known. 
Open  to  them  her  breast  is  laid. 
Inveterate  of  brain,  heart-valiant. 
Never  did  fairer  creature  pant 
Before  the  altar  and  the  blade  I 


dbyGOOgIC 


FRANCE,  1870 


Swift  fall  the  blows,  and  men  upbraid. 
And  friends  ^ve  echo  blimt  and  cold. 
The  echo  of  the  forest  to  the  axe. 
Witbin  her  are  the  fires  that  wax 
For  resurrection  from  the  mould. 


She  snatched  at  heaven's  flame  of  old. 

And  kindled  nations :  she  was  weak : 

Frail  sister  of  her  heroic  prototype. 

The  Man ;  for  sacrifice  unripe. 

She  too  must  fill  a  Vulture's  beak. 

Deride  the  vanquished,  and  acclaim 

The  conqueror,  who  stains  her  fame. 

Still  the  Gods  love  her,  for  that  of  high  aim 

Is  this  good  France,  the  bleeding  thing  they  stripe. 


She  shall  rise  worthier  of  ber  prototype 
Thro'  her  abasement  deep ;  the  pain  that  runs 
From  nerve  to  nerve  some  victory  achieves. 
They  lie  like  circle-strewn  soaked  Autumn-leaves 
Which  stain  the  forest  scarlet,  her  fair  sons ! 
And  of  their  death  her  life  is :   of  their  blood 
From  many  streams  now  urging  to  a  flood, 
No  more  divided,  France  shall  rise  afresh. 
Of  them  she  learns  the  lesson  of  the  flesh : — 
The  lesson  writ  in  red  since  first  Time  ran, 
A  hunter  hunting  down  the  beast  in  man : 
That  till  the  chasing  out  of  its  last  vice. 
The  flesh  was  fashioned  but  for  sacrifice. 

Immortal  Mother  of  a  mortal  host  I 

Thou  suffering  of  the  wounds  that  will  not  slay. 

Wounds  that  bring  death  but  take  not  life  away ! — 

Stand  fast  and  hearken  while  thy  victors  boast : 

Hearken,  and  loathe  that  music  evermore. 

Slip  loose  thy  garments  woven  of  pride  and  shame : 


dbyGOOgIC 


I  FRANCE,  1870 

The  torture  lurks  in  them,  with  them  the  blame 
Shall  pass  to  leave  thee  purer  than  before. 
Uado  thy  jewels,  thinking  whence  they  came. 
For  what,  and  of  the  abominable  name 
Of  her  who  in  imperial  beauty  wore. 


dbyGOOgIC 


ALSACE-LORRAINE  • 


The  sbter  Hours  in  circles  linked,' 
Daughters  of  men,  of  men  the  mates, 
Are  gone  on  flow  with  the  day  that  winked. 
With  the  night  that  spanned  at  golden  gates. 
Mothers,  they  leave  us,  quickening  seed ; 
They  bear  us  grain  or  flower  or  weed. 
As  we  have  sown ;  is  nought  ejctinct 
For  them  we  fill  to  be  our  Fates. 
Life  of  the  breath  is  but  the  loan ; 
Passing  death  what  we  have  sown. 

Pearly  are  they  till  the  pale  inherited  stain 
Deepens  in  us,  and  tbe  mirrors  they  form  on  their  flow 
Darken  to  feature  and  nature :  a  volumed  chain, 
Sequent  of  issue,  in  various  eddies  they  show. 
Theirs  b  the  Book  of  the  River  of  Life,  to  read 
Leaf  by  leaf  by  reapers  of  long-sown  seed : 
There  doth  our  shoot  up  to  light  from  a  spiriting  sane 
Stand  as  a  tree  whereon  numberless  clusters  grow : 
Legible  there  how  the  heart,  with  its  one  false  move 
Cast  Eiirydice  pallor  on  all  we  love. 

Our  fervid  heart  has  filled  that  Book  in  chief ; 
Our  fitful  heart  a  wild  reflection  views; 
Our  craving  heart  of  passion  suckling  grief 
Disowns  the  author's  work  it  must  peruse ; 
Inconscient  in  its  leap  to  wreak  the  deed, 
A  round  of  harvests  red  from  crimson  seed. 
It  marks  the  current  Hours  show  leaf  by  leaf, 
And  raib  at  Destiny ;  nor  traces  clues ; 
Though  sometimes  it  may  think  what  novel  light 
Will  strike  their  faces  when  the  mind  shall  write. 


Succourful  daughters  of  men  are  the  rosed  and  starred 
Revolving  Twelves  in  their  fluent  germinal  rings. 
Despite  the  burden  to  chasten,  abase,  depose. 
Fallen  on  Prance,  as  the  sweep  of  scythe  over  sward, 


dbyGOOglC 


506  ALSACE-LORRAINE 

They  breathed  in  her  ear  tkm  voice  of  the  crystal  springs. 
That  nm  from  a  twilight  rise,  from  a  twilight  close, 
Through  alternate  beams  and  glooms,  rejoicingly  young. 
Only  to  Earth's  best  loved,  at  the  breathless  turns 
Where  Life  in  fold  of  the  Shadow  reclines  unstrung. 
And  a  ghostly  lamp  of  their  moment's  union  bums. 
Will  such  pure  notes  from  the  fountain-head  be  sung. 

Voice  of  Earth's  very  soul  to  the  soul  she  would  see  renewed : 

A  song  that  sought  no  tears,  that  laid  not  a  touch  on  the 
breast 

Sobbing  aswoon  and,  like  last  foJtglovts'  bells  upon  ferns 

In  sandy  alleys  of  woodland  silence,  shedding  to  bare. 

Daughters  of  Earth  and  men,  they  piped  of  her  natural  brood ; 

Her  patient  helpful  four-feet ;  wings  on  the  flit  or  in  nest ; 

Paws  at  our  old-woHd  task  to  scoop  a  defensive  lair ; 

Snouts  at  hunt  through  the  scented  grasses;  enhavened 
scuta 

Flashing  escape  under  show  of  a  laugh  nigh  the  mossed  burrow- 
mouth.* 

Sack-like  droop  bronze  pears  on  the  nailed  branch-frontage  of 
huts, 

To  greet  those  wedded  toilers  from  acres  where  sweat  is  a 
shower. 

Snake,  cicada,  lizard,  on  lavender  slopes  up  South, 

Pant  for  joy  of  a  sunlight  driving  the  fielders  to  bower. 

Sharpened  in  silver  by  one  chance  breeze  is  the  olive's  grey ; 

A  royal-mantle  floats,  a  red  fritillary  hies ; 

The  bee,  for  whom  no  flower  of  garden  or  wild  has  nay. 

Noises,  heard  if  but  named,  so  hot  is  the  trade  he  plies. 

Processions  beneath  green  arches  of  herbage,  the  long  colon- 
nades; 

Laboured  mounds  that  a  foot  or  a  wanton  stick  may  subvert ; 

Homely  are  they  for  a  lowly  look  on  bedewed  grass-blades. 

On  citied  fir-droppings,  on  twisted  wreaths  of  the  worm  in 
dirt. 

Does  nought  so  loosen  our  sight  from  the  despot  heart,  to 
receive 

Balm  of  a  sound  Earth's  primary  heart  at  its  active  beat: 

The  motive,  yet  servant,  of  energy ;  simple  as  mom  and  eve ; 

Treasureless,  fetterless ;  free  of  Uie  bonds  of  a  great  conceit : 


dbyGOOgIC 


ALSACE-LORRAINE  507 

Unwounded  even  by  cruel  blows  on  a  body  that  writhes ; 
Nor  whimpering   under  misfortune;  elusive  of  obstacles; 

prnnpt 
To  quit  any  threatened  familiar  domiun  seen  doomed  by  the 

scythes; 
Its  day's  hard  business  done,  the  score  to  the  good  accompt. 
Creatures  of  forest  and  mead.  Earth's  essays  in  being,  all 

Bound  by  the  navel-knot  to  the  Mother,  never  astray, 
They  in  the  ear  upon  ground  will  pour  their  intuitive  minds, 
Cut  man's  tangles  for  Earth's  first  broad  rectilinear  way  : 
Admonishing  loftier  reaches,  the  rich  adventurous  shoots, 
Pushes  of  tentative  curves,  embryonic  upwreathings  in  air ; 
Not  always  the  sprouts  of  Earth's  root-Laws  preserving  her 

brutes; 
Oft  but  our  primitive  hungers  licentious  in  fine  and  fair. 

Yet  the  Hke  aerial  growths  may  chance  be  the  delicate  sprays. 

Infant  of  Earth's  most  urgent  in  sap,  her  fierier  zeal 

For  entry  on  Life's  upper  fields:  and  soul  thus  fiourishing 


Her,  from  a  nerveless  well  among  stagnant  pools  of  the  dry. 
Through  her  good  aim  at  divine,  shall  commune  with  Earth 

remake; 
Fraternal  unto  sororial,  her,  where  abashed  she  may  lie, 
Divinest  of  man  shall  clasp ;  a  world  out  of  darkness  awake. 
As  it  were  with  the  Resurrection's  eyelids  uplifted,  to  see 
Honour  in  shame,  in  substance  the  spirit,  in  that  dry  fount 
Jets  of  the  songful  ascending  silvery-bright  water-tree 
Spout,  with  our  Earth's  unbaffled  resurgent  desire  for  the 

mount. 
Though  broken  at  intervals,  clipped,  and  barren  in  seeming 

it  be. 

For  this  at  our  nature  arises  rejuvenescent  from  Earth, 
However  respersive  the  blow  and  nigh  on  infernal  the  fall. 
The  chastisement  drawn  down  on  us  merited :  are  we  of 

worth 
Amid  our  satanic  excrescences,  this,  for  the  less  than  a  call. 


dbyGoOgil 


fiOS  ALSACE-LORRAINE 

Will  Earth  reprime,  man  cherish ;  the  God  who  is  in  us  and 

round. 
Consenting,  the  God  there  seen.     Impiety  speaks  despair ; 
Religion  the  virtue  of  serving  as  things  of  the  furrowy  ground. 
Debtors  for  breath  while  breath  with  our  fellows  in  service  we 

share. 
Not  such  of  the  crowned  discrowned 
Can  Earth  or  humanity  spare ; 
Such  not  the  God  let  (&e. 


Eastward  of  Paris  mom  is  high ; 

And  darkness  on  that  Eastward  side 

The  heart  of  France  beholds :  *  a  thorn 

Is  in  her  frame  where  shines  the  mom : 

A  rigid  wave  usurps  her  sky. 

With  eagle  crest  and  eagle-eyed 

To  scan  what  wormy  wrinkles  hint 

Her  forces  gathering :  she  the  thrown 

From  station,  lopped  of  an  arm,  astounded,  lone, 

Reading  late  History  as  a  foul  misprint : 

Imperial,  Angelical, 

At  strife  commingled  in  her  frame  convulsed ; 

Shame  of  her  broken  sword,  a  ravening  gall ; 

Pmu  of  the  limb  where  once  her  warm  blood  pulsed ; 

These  tortures  to  distract  her  underneath 

Her  whelmed  Aurora's  shade.     But  in  that  space 

When  lay  she  dumb  beside  her  trampled  wreath, 

Like  an  unburied  body  mid  the  tombs. 

Feeling  against  her  heart  life's  bitter  probe 

For  life,  she  saw  how  children  of  her  race. 

The  many  sober  sons  and  daughters,  plied, 

By  cottage  lamplight  through  the  water-globe. 

By  simmering  stew-pots,  by  the  serious  looms, 

Afield,  in  factories,  with  the  birds  astir, 

Their  nimble  feet  and  fingers ;  not  denied 

Refreshful  chatter,  laughter,  galliard  songs. 

So  like  Earth's  indestructible  they  were. 

That  wrestling  with  its  anguish  rose  her  pride. 

To  feel  where  in  each  breast  the  thought  of  her, 

On  whom  the  circle  Hours  laid  leaded  thongs. 


dbyGOOgIC 


ALSACE-LORRAINE  509 

Was  const&Dt ;  spoken  sometimes  in  low  tone 

At  lip  or  in  a  fluttered  look, 

A  shortened  breath :  and  they  were  ber  loved  own; 

Nor  ever  did  they  waste  tbeir  strength  with  tears, 

For  pity  of  the  weeper,  nor  rebuke. 

Though  mainly  they  were  charged  to  pay  her  debt. 

The  Mother  having  conscience  in  arrears ; 

Ready  to  gush  the  flood  of  vain  regret. 

Else  hearken  to  her  weaponed  children's  moati 

Of  stifled  rage  invoking  vengeance :  hell's. 

If  heaven  should  fail  the  counter-wave  that  swells 

In  blood  and  brain  for  retribution  swift. 

Those  helped  not :  wings  to  her  soul  were  these  who  yet 

Could  welcome  day  for  labour,  night  for  rest, 

Enrich  her  treasury,  built  of  cheerful  thrift, 

Of  honest  heart,  beyond  all  miracles ; 

And  likened  to  Earth's  humblest  were  Earth's  best.* 


Brooding  on  her  deep  fall,  the  many  strings 

Which  formed  her  nature  set  a  thought  on  Kings, 

As  aids  that  might  the  low-laid  cripple  lift; 

And  one  among  them  hummed  devoutly  leal. 

While  passed  the  sighing  breeze  along  her  breast. 

Of  Kings  by  the  festive  vanquishers  rammed  down 

Her  gorge  since  fell  the  Chief,  she  knew  their  crown ; 

Upon  her  through  long  seasons  was  its  grasp. 

For  neither  soul's  nor  body's  weal ; 

As  much  bestows  the  robber  wasp. 

That  in  the  hanging  apple  makes  a  meal, 

And  carves  a  face  of  abscess  where  was  fruit 

Ripe  ruddy.    They  would  blot 

Her  radiant  leap  above  the  slopes  acute, 

OS  summit  to  celestial ;  impute 

The  wanton's  aim  to  her  divinest  shot ;  * 

Bid  her  walk  History  backward  over  gaps ; 

Abhor  the  day  of  Phrygian  caps ; 

Abjure  ber  guerdon,  execrate  herself; 

The  Hapsburg,  Hohenzollem,  Guelph, 

Admire  repentant ;  reverently  prostrate 


dbyGOOgIC 


510  ALSACE-LORRAINE 

Her  person  unto  the  belly-god ;  of  whom 

Is  inward  plenty  and  external  bloom ; 

Enough  of  pomp  and  state 

And  carnival  to  queneh 

The  breast's  desires  of  an  intemperate  wench, 

The  head's  ideas  beyond  legitimate. 

She  flung  them :  she  was  France :  nor  with  far  frown 

Her  lover '  from  the  embrace  of  her  refrained : 

But  in  her  voice  an  interwoven  wire. 

The  exultation  of  her  gross  renown. 

Struck  deafness  at  her  heavens,  and  they  waned 

Over  a  look  ill-gifted  to  aspire. 

Wherefore,  as  in  abandonment,  irate. 

The  intemperate  summoned  up  her  trumpet  days, 

Her  treasure-galleon's  wondrous  freight.' 

The  cannon-name  she  sang  and  shrieked  ;  transferred 

Her  soul's  allegiance ;  o'er  the  Tyrant  slurred. 

Tranced  with  the  zeal  of  her  first  fawning  gaze, 

To  clasp  his  trophy  flags  and  hail  him  Saint. 


She  hailed  him  Saint : 

And  her  Jeanne  unsainted,  foully  sung  I' 

The  virgin  who  conceived  a  France  when  funeral  glooms 

Across  a  land  aquake  with  sharp  disseverance  hung: 

Conceived,  and  under  stress  of  battle  brought  her  forth ; 

Crowned  her  in  purification  of  feud  and  foeman's  taint ; 

Taught  her  to  feel  her  blood  her  being,  know  her  worth. 

Have  joy  of  unity  i  the  Jeanne  bescreeched,  bescoffed. 

Who  flamed  to  ashes,  flew  up  wreaths  of  faggot  furoes ; 

Through  centuries  a  star  in  vapour-folds  aloft. 

For  her  people  to  hail  her  Saint, 
Were  no  lifting  of  her,  Earth's  gem. 
Earth's  chosen,  Earth's  throb  on  divine : 
In  the  ranks  of  the  starred  she  is  one. 
While  man  has  thought  on  our  line : 
No  lifting  of  her,  but  for  them. 
Breath  of  the  mountain,  beam  of  the  sun 


dbyGOOgIC 


ALSACE-LORRAINE  51 

Through  mist,  out  at  swamp-fires'  lures  release, 
Youth  on  the  forehead,  the  rough  right  way 
Seen  to  be  footed :  for  them  the  heart's  peace. 
By  the  mind 's  war  won  for  a  permanent  miracle  day. 

Her  arms  below  her  sword-hilt  crossed. 

The  heart  of  that  high-hallowed  Jeanne 

Into  the  furnace-pit  she  tossed 

Before  her  body  knew  the  flame, 

And  sucked  lU  essence :  warmth  for  righteous  work> 

An  undivided  power  to  speed  her  aim. 

She  had  no  self  but  France :  the  sainted  man 

No  France  but  self.     Him  warrior  and-clerk. 

Free  of  his  iron  clutch ;  and  him  her  young. 

In  whirled  imagination  mastodonized ; 

And  him  her  penman,  him  her  poets ;  all 

For  the  visioned  treasure-galleon  astrain ; 

Sent  zenithward  on  bass  and  treble  tongue, 

Till  solely  through  his  glory  France  was  prized. 

She  who  had  her  Jeanne ; 

The  child  of  her  industrious ; 

Earth's  truest,  earth's  pure  fount  from  the  main ; 

And  she  who  had  her  one  day's  mate, 

In  the  soul's  view  illustrious 

Past  blazonry,  lier  Immaculate, 

Those  hours  of  slavish  Empire  would  recall ; 

Thrill  to  the  rattling  anchor-chain 

She  heard  upon  a  day  in  'I  who  can'; 

Start  to  the  softened,  tremulous  bugle-blare 

Of  that  Caesarean  Italian 

Across  the  storied  fields  of  trampled  grain, 

As  to  a  Vercingetorix  of  old  Gaul 

Blowing  the  rally  against  a  Caesar's  reign. 

Her  soul's  protesting  sobs  she  drowned  to  swear 

Fidelity  unto  the  sainted  man, 

Whose  nimbus  was  her  crown ;  and  he  again 

The  foreigner  in  Europe,  known  of  none. 

None  knowing ;  sight  to  dazzle,  voice  to  stun. 

Rearward  she  stepped,  with  thirst  for  Europe's  van ; 

The  dream  she  nursed  a  snare, 

The  flag  she  bore  a  pall. 


dbyGOOgIC 


AI£ACE-LORRAmE 


In  Npture  is  no  rearward  step  allowed. 
Hard  on  the  rock  Reality  do  we  dash 
To  be  shattered,  if  the  material  dream  propels. 
The  worship  to  departed  splendour  vowed 
Conjured  a  simulacrum,  wove  her  lash. 
For  the  slow  measure  timed  her  peal  of  bells. 

Thereof  was  the  cannon-name  a  mockery  round  her  hills ; 

For  the  will  of  wills. 

Its  flaccid  ape, 

Weak  as  the  final  echo  off  a  giant's  bawl : 

Napoleon  for  disdaio. 

His  banner  steeped  in  crape. 

Thereof  the  barrier  of  Alsace-Lorraine; 

The  frozen  billow  crested  to  its  fall ; 

Dismemberment ;  disfigurement ; 

Her  history  blotted  ;  her  proud  mantle  rent; 

And  ever  that  one  word  to  reperuse. 

With  eyes  behind  a  veil  of  fiery  dews ; 

Knelling  the  spot  where  Gallic  soil  defiled 

Showed  her  sons'  valour  as  a  frenzied  child 

In  arms  of  the  mailed  man. 

Word  that  her  mind  must  bear,  her  heart  put  under  ban, 

Lest  burst  it :  unto  her  eyes  a  ghost, 

Incredible  though  manifest :  a  scene 

Stamped  with  her  new  Saint's  name :  and  all  his  host 

A  wattled  flock  the  foeman's  dogs  between  I  * 


Mark  where  a  credible  ghost  pulls  bridle  to  view  that  bare 
Corpse  of  a  field  still  reddening  cloud,"  and  alive  in  its  throes 
Beneath  her  Purgatorial  Saint's  evocative  stare : 
Brand  on  his  name,  the  gulf  of  his  glory,  his  Legend's  close. 
Alustreless  Phosphor  heading  for  daybeam  Night's  dead-bom. 
His  underworld  eyeballs  grip  the  cast  of  the  land  for  a  fray 
Expugnant ;  swift  up  the  heights,  with  the  Victor's  instinctive 

scorn 
Of  the  trapped  below,  he  rides ;  he  beholds,  and  a  two-fold 

Even  as  the  misty  sun  growmg  moon  that  a  frost  ennngs, 


dbyGOOgIC 


ALSACE-LORRAINE  513 

Is  shroud  on  the  shrouded ;  he  knows  him  there  in  the  hel- 

meted  ranlis. 
The  golden  ea^es  flap  lame  wings, 
The  black  double-headed  are  round  their  flanks. 
He  is  there  in  midst  of  the  pupils  he  harried  to  brains  awake, 

trod  into  union ;  lo. 
These  ore  his  Epic's  tutored  Dardans,  yon  that  Rhapsode's 

Achaeans  to  know. 
Nor  is  aught  of  an  equipollent  conflict  seen,  nor  the  weaker's 

flashed  device ; 
Headless  is  ofFered  a  breast  to  beaks  deliberate,  formal,  assured, 

precise. 
Ruled  by  the  mathematician's  hand,  they  solve  their  problem, 

as  on  a  slate. 
This  is  the  ground  foremarked,  and  the  day;  their  leader 

modestly  hazarded  date. 
His  helmeted  ranks  might  be  draggers  of  poob  or  reapers  of 

plains  for  the  warrior's  guile 
Dbplayed;  they  haul,  they  rend,  as  in  some  orderly  office 

mercantile. 
And  a  timed  artillery  speaks  full-mouthed  on  a  stuttering 

feeble  reduced  to  nought. 
Can  it  be  France,  an  army  of  France,  tricked,  netted,  con- 
vulsive, all  writhen  caught? 

Arterial  blood  of  an  army's  heart  outpoured  the  Grey  Ob- 
server sees: 
A  forest  of  France  in  thunder  comes,  like  a  landslide  hurled 

off  her  Pyrenees." 
Torrent  and  forest  ramp,  roll,  sling  on  for  a  charge  against 

iron,  reason.  Fate ; 
It  is  gapped  through  the  mass  midway,  bare  ribs  and  dust 

ere  the  helmeted  feel  its  weight. 
So  the  blue  billow  white-plumed  is  plunged  upon  shingle  to 

screaming  withdrawal,  but  snatched, 
Waved  is  the  laurel  eternal  yielded  by  Death  o'er  the  waste 

of  brave  men  outmatched. 
The  France  of  the  fury  was  there,  the  thing  he  had  wielded, 

whose  honour  was  dearer  than  life ; 
The  Prussia  despised,  the  harried,  the  trodden,  was  here; 

his  pupil,  the  scholar  in  strife. 


dbyGOOgIC 


i 


dbjGooglc 


ALSACE-LORRAINE  51 

Cold,  comfortless,  but  braced  to  disabuse. 
Ran  tbrough  the  mind  of  this  most  lowly  laid ; 
From  the  top  billow  of  victorious  War, 
Down  in  the  fla^ess  troughs  at  ebb  and  flow ; 
A  wreck ;  her  past,  her  future,  both  in  shade. 

She  read  the  things  that  are ; 

Reality  unacceptwl  read 

For  sign  of  the  distraught,  and  took  her  blow 

To  brain ;  herself  read  through ; 

Wherefore  her  predatory  Glory  paid 

Napoleon  ransom  knew. 

Her  nature's  many  strings  hot  gusts  did  jar 

Against  the  note  of  reason  uttered  low, 

Ere  passionate  with  duty  she  might  wed, 

Compel  the  bride's  embrace  of  her  stern  groom. 

Joined  at  an  altar  liker  to  the  tomb, 

Nest  of  the  Furies  their  first  nuptial  bed. 

They  not  the  less  were  mated  and  proclaimed 

The  ration^  their  issue.    Then  she  rose. 

See  how  the  rush  of  southern  Springtide  glows 

Oceanic  in  the  chariot-wheel's  ascent, 

Illuminated  with  one  breath.    The  maimed, 

Tom,  tortured,  winter-visaged,  suddenly 

Had  stature ;  to  the  world's  wonderment. 

Fair  features,  grace  of  mien,  nor  least 

The  comic  dimples  round  her  April  mouth. 

Sprung  of  her  intimate  humanity. 

She  stood  before  mankind  the  very  South 

Rapt  out  of  frost  to  flowery  drapery ; 

Unshadowed  save  when  somewhiles  she  looked  East. 


Let  hut  the  rational  prevail, 

Our  footing  is  on  ground  though  all  else  fail : 

Our  kiss  of  Earth  is  then  a  plight 

To  w^k  within  her  Laws  and  have  her  light. 

Choice  of  the  life  or  death  lies  in  ourselves; 

There  is  no  fate  but  when  unreason  lours. 

This  Land  the  cheerful  toiler  delves. 


dbyGOOgIC 


J  ALSACE-LORRAINE 

The  thinker  brightens  with  fine  wit. 

The  lovelier  grace  as  lyric  flowers. 

Those  rosed  and  starred  revolving  Twelves 

Shall  nurse  for  effort  infinite 

WTiile  leashed  to  brain  the  heart  of  France  the  Fair 

Beats  tempered  music  and  its  lead  subserves. 

Washed  from  her  eyes  the  Napoleonic  glare. 

Divinely  raised  by  that  in  her  divine, 

Not  the  clear  sight  of  Earth's  blunt  actual  swerves 

When  her  lost  look,  as  on  a  wave  of  wine. 

Rolls  Eastward,  and  the  mother-flag  descries 

Caress  with  folds  and  curves 

The  fortress  over  Rhine, 

Beneath  the  one  tall  spire." 

Despite  her  brooding  thought,  her  nightlong  sighs, 

Her  anguish  in  desire. 

She  sees,  above  the  brutish  paw 

Alert  on  her  still  quivering  limb — 

As  little  in  past  time  she  saw. 

Nor  when  dispieced  as  prey, 

As  victris  when  abhorred — 

A  Grand  Germania,  stout  on  soil ; 

Audacious  up  the  ethereal  dim ; 

The  forest's  Infant ;  the  strong  hand  for  toil ; 

The  patient  brain  in  twilights  when  astray ; 

Shrewdest  of  heads  to  foil  and  counterfoil ; 

The  sceptic  and  devout ;  the  potent  sword ; 

With  will  and  armed  to  help  in  hewing  way 

For  Europe's  march  ;  and  of  the  most  golden  chord 

Of  the  Hehconian  lyre 

Excellent  mistress.    Yea,  she  sees,  and  can  admire; 

Still  seeing  in  what  walks  the  Gallia  leads ; 

And  with  what  shield  upon  Alsace-Lorraine 

Her  wary  sister's  doubtful  look  misreads 

A  mother's  throbs  for  her  lost :  "  so  loved :  so  near : 

Magnetic.     Hard  the  course  for  her  to  steer, 

The  leap  against  the  sharpened  spikes  restrain. 

For  the  belted  Overshadower  "  hard  the  course. 

On  whom  devolves  the  spirit's  touchstone,  Force ; 

Which  is  the  strenuous  arm,  to  strike  inclined. 

That  too  much  adamantine  makes  the  mind ; 


dbyGOOgIC 


ALSACE-LORRAINE 

Forgets  it  coin  of  Nature's  rich  Exchange ; 
Contracts  horizons  within  present  sight : 
Amalekite  to-day,  across  its  range 
Indisputable ;  to-morrow  Simeonite. 


The  mother  who  gave  birth  to  Jeanne ; 

Who  to  her  young  Angelical  sprang ; " 

Who  lay  with  Earth  and  heard  the  notes  she  sang, 

And  heard  her  truest  sing  them ;  she  may  reach 

Heights  yet  unknown  of  nations ;  haply  teach 

A  thirsting  world  to  learn  'tis  'she  who  can.' 

She  that  in  History's  Heliaea  pleads 

The  nation  flowering  conscience  o'er  the  heast ; 

With  heart  expurged  of  rancour,  tame  of  greeds ; 

With  the  winged  mind  from  fang  and  claw  released ; — 

Will  such  a  land  be  seen  ?     It  will  be  seen ; — 

Shall  stand  adjudged  our  foremost  and  Earth's  Queen. 

Acknowledgement  that  she  of  God  proceeds, 

The  invisible  makes  visible,  as  his  priest. 

To  her  is  yielded  by  a  world  reclaimed. 

And  stands  she  mutilated,  fancy-shamed. 

Yet  strong  in  arms,  yet  strong  in  self-control. 

Known  valiant,  her  maternal  throbs  repressed, 

Discarding  vengeance,  Giant  with  a  soul ; — 

My  faith  in  her  when  she  lay  low 

Was  fountain ;"  now  as  wave  at  flow 

Beneath  the  lights,  my  faith  in  God  b  best ; — 

On  France  has  come  the  test 

Of  what  she  holds  within 

Responsive  to  Life's  deeper  springs. 

She  above  the  nations  blest 

In  fruitful  and  in  liveliest. 

In  all  that  servant  earth  to  heavenly  bidding  brings. 

The  devotee  of  Giory,  she  may  win 

Glory  despoiling  none,  enrich  her  kind. 

Illume  her  land,  and  take  the  royal  seat 

Unto  the  strong  self-conqueror  assigned. 

But  ah,  when  speaks  a  loaded  breath  the  double  name," 

Humanity's  old  Foeman  winks  agrin. 


dbyGOOgIC 


3  ALSACE-LORRAINE 

Her  constant  Angel  eyes  her  heart's  quick  beat, 

The  thrill  of  shadow  coursing  through  her  frame. 

Like  wind  among  the  ranks  of  amber  wheat. 

Our  Europe,  vowed  to  unity  or  torn. 

Observes  her  face,  as  shepherds  note  the  mom. 

And  in  a  ruddy  beacon  mark  an  end 

That  for  the  flock  in  their  grave  hearing  rings. 

Specked  overhead  the  imminent  vulture  wings 

At  poise,  one  fatal  movement  indiscreet, 

Sprung  from  the  Aetna  passions'  mad  revolts. 

Draws  down ;  the  midnight  hovers  to  descend ; 

And  dire  as  Indian  noons  of  ulcer  heat 

Anticipating  tempest  and  the  bolts. 

Hangs  curtained  terrors  round  her  next  day's  door, 

Death's  emblems  for  the  breast  of  Europe  Hings ; 

The  breast  that  waits  a  spark  to  fire  her  stores 

Shall,  then,  the  great  vitality,  France, 

Signal  the  backward  step  once  more ; 

Again  a  Goddess  Fortune  trace 

Amid  the  Deities,  and  pledge  to  chance 

One  whom  we  never  could  replace  ? 

Now  may  she  tune  her  nature's  many  strings 

To  noble  harmony,  be  seen,  be  known. 

It  was  the  foreign  France,  the  unruly,  feared ; 

Little  for  all  her  witcheries  endeared ; 

llieBtrical  of  arrogance,  a  sprite 

With  gaseous  vapours  overblown. 

In  her  conceit  of  power  ensphered. 

Foredoomed  to  violate  and  atone ; 

Her  the  grim  conqueror's  iron  might 

Avenging  clutched,  distrusting  rent ; 

Not  that  sharp  intellect  with  fire  endowed 

To  cleave  our  webs,  run  lightnings  through  our  cloud ; 

Not  virtual  France,  the  France  benevolent. 

The  chivalrous,  the  many-stringed,  sublime 

At  intervals,  and  oft  in  sweetest  chime ; 

Though  perilously  instrument, 

A  breast  for  any  having  godlike  gleam. 

This  France  could  no  antagonist  disesteem. 

To  spurn  at  heel  and  confiscate  her  brood. 


dbyGOOgIC 


ALSACE-LORRAINE  61 

Albeit  a  waverer  between  heart  and  mind, 
And  laurels  won  from  sky  or  plucked  from  blood. 
Which  wither  all  the  wreath  when  intertwined, 
This  cherishable  France  ahe  may  redeem. 
Beloved  of  Earth,  her  heart  should  feel  at  length 
How  much  unto  Earth's  offspring  it  doth  owe. 
Obstructions  are  for  levelling,  have  we  strength ; 
"Tis  poverty  of  soul  conceives  a  foe. 
Rejected  be  the  wrath  that  keeps  unhealed 
Her  panting  wound ;  to  higher  Courts  appealed 
The  wrongs  discerned  of  higher ;  Europw  waits : 
She  chooses  God  or  gambles  with  the  Fates. 
Shines  the  new  Helen  in  Alsace-Lorr^e, 
A  darker  river  severs  Rhine  and  Rhone, 
Is  heard  a  deadlier  Epic  of  the  twain ; 
We  see  a  Paris  bum 
Or  France  Napoleon. 

For  yet  he  breathes  whom  less  her  heart  forswears 
While  trembles  its  desire  to  thwart  her  mind : 
The  Tj  rant  lives  in  Victory's  return. 
What  figure  with  recurrent  footstep  fares 
Around  those  memoried  tracks  of  scarlet  mud. 
To  sow  her  future  from  an  ashen  urn 
By  lantern-light,  as  dragons'  teeth  are  sownf 
Of  bleeding  pride  the  piercing  seer  is  blind. 
But,  cleared  her  eyes  of  that  ensanguined  scud 
Distorting  her  true  features,  to  be  shown 
Benignly  luminous,  one  who  bears 
Humanity  at  breast,  and  she  might  learn 
■How  surely  the  excelling  generous  find 
Renouncement  is  possession.     Sure 
As  light  enkindles  light  when  heavenly  earthly  mates. 
The  flame  n(  pure  immits  the  flame  of  pure. 
Magnanimous  magnanimous  creates. 
So  to  majestic  beauty  stricken  rears 
Hard-visaged  rock  against  the  risen  glow ; 
And  men  are  in  the  secret  with  the  spheres. 
Whose  glory  is  celestially  to  bestow. 

Now  nation  looks  to  nation,  that  may  live 
Their  common  nurseling,  like  the  torrent's  flower. 


dbyGOOgIC 


)  ALSACE-LORRAINE 

Shaken  by  foul  Destruction's  fast-piled  heap. 

On  France  is  laid  the  proud  initiative 

Of  sacrifice  in  one  self-mastering  hour. 

Whereby  more  than  her  lost  one  will  she  reap ; 

Perchance  tlie  very  lost  regain, 

To  count  it  less  than  her  superb  reward. 

Our  Europe,  where  is  debtor  each  to  each. 

Past  measure  of  excess,  and  war  is  Cain,* 

Fraternal  from  the  Seaman's  beach. 

From  answering  Rhine  in  grand  accord, 

From  Neva  beneath  Northern  cloud. 

And  from  our  Transatlantic  Europe  loud. 

Will  hail  the  rare  example  for  their  theme ; 

Give  response,  as  rich  foliage  to  the  breeze; 

In  their  entrusted  nurseling  know  them  one : 

Like  a  brave  vessel  under  press  of  steam, 

Abreast  the  winds  and  tides,  on  angry  seas, 

Plucked  by  the  heavens  forlorn  of  present  sun. 

Will  drive  through  darkness,  and,  with  faith  supreme. 

Have  ^ght  of  haven  and  the  crowded  quays. 


THE  CAGEING  OF  ARES" 

Iliad,  v.  385 

[dedicated  to  the  council  at  the  hague,  1899] 

How  big  of  breast  our  Mother  Gaea  laughed 

At  sight  of  her  boy  Giants  on  the  leap 

Each  over  other  as  they  neighboured  home. 

Fronting  the  day's  descent  across  green  slopes. 

And  up  fired  mountain  crags  their  shadows  danced. 

Close  with  them  in  their  fun,  she  scarce  could  guess. 

Though  these  two  billowy  urchins  reeked  of  craft. 

It  signalled  some  adventurous  master-trick 

To  set  Olympians  buzzing  in  debate. 

Lest  it  might  be  their  godhead  undermined. 

The  Tyranny  menaced.     Ephialtes  high 

On  shoulders  of  his  brother  Otos  waved 


dbyGoogle 


THE  CAGEING  OP  ARES  5 

For  the  bull-bellowiDgs  given  to  grand  good  news. 

Compact,  complexioned  in  his  gleeful  roar 

While  Otos  aped  the  prisoner's  wrists  and  knees, 

With  doleful  sniffs  between  recurrent  howls ; 

Till,  Gaea's  lap  receiving  them,  they  stretched. 

And  both  upon  her  bosom  shaken  to  speech. 

Burst  the  hot  story  out  of  throats  of  both, 

Like  rocky  head-founts,  bafiBing  in  their  glut 

The  hurried  spout.    And  as  when  drifting  storm 

Disburdened  loses  clasp  of  here  and  yon 

A  peak,  a  forest  mound,  a  valley's  gleam 

Of  grass  and  the  river's  crooks  and  snaky  coils, 

Signification  marvellous  she  caught. 

Through  gurglings  of  triumphant  jollity. 

Which  now  engulphed  and  now  gave  eye;  at  last 

Subsided,  and  the  serious  naked  deed. 

With  mountain-cloud  of  laughter  banked  around, 

Stood  in  her  sight  confirmed :  she  could  believe 

That  these,  her  sprouts  of  promise,  her  most  prized. 

These  two  made  up  of  hon,  bear  and  fox. 

Her  sportive,  suckling  mammoths,  her  young  joy. 

Still  by  the  reckoning  infants  among  men. 

Had  done  the  deed  to  strike  the  Titan  host 

In  envy  dumb,  in  envious  heart  elate : 

These  two  combining  strength  and  craft  had  soared. 

Enmeshed,  bound  fast  with  thongs,  discreetly  caged 

The  blood-shedder,  the  terrible  Lord  of  War; 

Destroyer,  ravager,  superb  In  plumes ; 

The  barren  furrower  of  anointed  fields ; 

The  scariet  heel  in  towns,  foul  smoke  to  sky. 

Her  hated  enemy,  too  long  her  scourge : 

Great  Ares.    And  they  gagged  his  trumpet  mouth 

When  they  had  seized  on  his  implacable  spear. 

Hugged  him  to  reedy  helplessness  despite 

His  godlike  fury  startled  from  amaze. 

For  he  had  eyed  them  nearing  him  in  play, 

The  giant  cults,  who  gambolled  and  who  snarled. 

Unheeding  his  fell  presence,  by  the  mount 

Ossa,  beside  a  brushwood  cavern ;  there 

On  Earth's  original  fisticuffs  they  called 

For  ease  of  sharp  dispute :  whereat  the  God, 


dbyGOOgIC 


!  THE  CAGEING  OP  ARES 

Approving,  deemed  that  sometime  trained  to  arms, 
Good  servitors  of  Ares  they  would  be. 
And  ply  the  pointed  spear  to  dominate 
Their  rebel  restless  fellows,  villain  brood 
Vowed  to  defy  Immortals.     So  it  chanced 
Amusedly  he  watched  them,  and  as  one 
The  lusty  twain  were  on  him  and  they  had  him. 
Breath  to  us.  Powers  of  air,  for  laughter  loud  I 
Cock  of  Olympus  he,  superb  in  plumes  1 
Bound  like  a  wheaten  sheaf  by  those  two  babes  t 
Because  they  knew  our  Motlier  Gaea  loathed  him. 
Knew  him  the  famine,  pestilence  and  waste ; 
A  desolating  fire  to  blind  the  sight 
With  splendour  built  of  fruitful  things  in  ashes; 
The  gory  chariot-wheel  on  cries  for  justice ; 
Her  deepest  planted  and  her  liveliest  voice. 
Heard  from  the  babe  as  from  the  broken  crone. 
Behold  him  in  his  vessel  of  bronze  encased. 
And  tumbled  down  the  cave.     But  rather  look — 
Ah,  that  the  woman  tattler  had  not  sought. 
Of  all  the  Gods  to  let  her  secret  6y, 
Hermes,  after  the  thirteen  songful  months ! 
Prompting  the  Dexterous  to  work  his  arts. 
And  shatter  earth's  delirious  holiday. 
Then  first,  as  where  the  fountain  runs  a  stream, 
Resolving  to  composure  on  its  throbs. 
But  see  her  in  the  Seasons  through  that  year ; 
That  one  glad  year  and  the  fair  opening  month. 
Had  never  our  Great  Mother  such  sweet  face  1 
War  with  her,  gentle  war  with  her,  each  day 
Her  sons  and  daughters  urged ;  at  eve  were  flung, 
On  the  morrow  stood  to  challenge ;  in  their  strength 
Renewed,  indomitable ;  whereof  they  won. 
From  hourly  wrestlings  up  to  shut  of  lids. 
Her  ready  secret :  the  abounding  life 
Returned  for  valiant  labour ;  she  and  they 
"  Defeated  and  victorious  turn  by  turn  ; 
By  loss  enriched,  by  overthrow  restored. 
Exchange  of  powers  of  this  conflict  came; 
Defacement  none,  nor  ever  squandered  force. 
Is  battle  nature's  mandate,  here  it  reigned. 


dbyGOOgIC 


.  THE  CAGEING  OP  ARES  52: 

A3  music  unto  the  hand  that  amot«  the  strings ; 

And  she  the  rosier  from  their  showery  brows, 

They  fruitful  from  her  ploughed  and  harrowed  breast. 

Back  to  the  primal  rational  of  those 

AVho  suck  the  teats  of  milky  earth,  and  clasp 

Stability  in  hatred  of  the  insane, 

Man  stepped  ;  with  wits  less  fearful  to  pronounce 

The  mortfd  miod's  concept  of  earth's  divorced 

Above;  those  beautiful,  those  masterful. 

Those  lawless.    High  they  sit,  and  if  descend, 

Descend  to  reap,  not  sowing.     Is  it  just? 

Earth  in  her  happy  children  asked  that  word. 

Whereto  within  their  breast  was  her  reply. 

Those  beautiful,  those  masterful,  those  lawless. 

Enjoy  the  life  prolonged,  outleap  the  years ; 

Yet  they  ('twas  the  Great  Mother's  voice  inspired 

The  audacious  thought),  they,  glorious  over  dust, 

Outleap  not  her ;  disrooted  from  her  soar. 

To  meet  the  certain  fate  of  earth's  divorced. 

And  clap  lame  wings  across  a  wintry  haze, 

Up  to  the  farthest  bourne :  immortal  still. 

Thenceforth  innocuous ;  lovelier  than  when  ruled 

The  Tyranny.     This  her  voice  witliin  them  told. 

When  softly  the  Great  Mother  chid  her  sons 

Not  of  the  giant  brood,  who  did  create 

Those  lawless  Gods,  first  offspring  of  our  brain 

Set  moving  by  an  abject  blood,  that  waked 

To  wanton  under  elements  more  benign. 

And  planted  aliens  on  Olympian  heights ; — 

Imagination's  cradle  poesy 

Become  a  monstrous  pressure  upon  men ; — 

Foes  of  good  Gaea ;  until  dispossessed 

By  light  from  her,  bom  of  the  love  of  her, 

llieir  lordship  the  illumined  brain  rejects 

For  earth's  beneficent,  the  sons  of  Law, 

Her  other  name.    So  spake  she  in  their  heart, 

Among  the  wheat-blades  proud  of  stalk ;  beneath 

Young  vine-leaves  pushing  timid  fingers  forth. 

Confidently  to  cling.    And  when  brown  com 

Swayed  armied  ranks  with  softened  cricket  song. 

With  gold  necks  bent  for  any  zephyr's  kiss ; 


dbyGOOgIC 


I  THE  CAGEING  OF  ARES 

When  vine-roots  daily  down  a  nibble  soil 

Drank  fire  of  heaven  athirat  to  swell  the  grape ; 

When  swelled  the  grape,  and  in  it  held  a  ray, 

Rich  issue  of  the  embrace  of  heaven  and  earth ; 

The  very  eye  of  passion  drowsed  by  excess. 

And  yet  a  burning  lion  for  the  spring ; 

Then  in  that  time  of  general  cherisfanient, 

Sweet  breathing  balm  and  flutes  by  cool  woodside, 

He  the  harsh  rouser  of  ire  being  absent,  caged. 

Then  did  good  Gaea's  children  gratefully 

Lift  hymns  to  Gods  they  judged,  but  praised  for  peace. 

Delightful  Peace,  that  answers  Reason's  call 

Harmoniously  and  images  her  Law ; 

Reflects,  and  though  short-lived  as  then,  revives. 

In  memories  made  present  on  the  brain 

By  natural  yearnings,  all  the  happy  scenes ; 

The  picture  of  an  earth  allied  to  heaven ; 

Between  them  the  known  smile  behind  black  masks ; 

Rightly  their  various  moods  interpreted ; 

And  frolic  because  toilful  children  home 

With  larger  comprehension  of  Earth's  aim 

At  loftier,  clearer,  sweeter,  by  their  aid. 


THE  NIGHT-WALK  • 

Awakes  for  me  and  leaps  from  shroud 
Ail  radiantly  the  moon's  own  night 
Of  folded  showers  in  streamer  cloud ; 
Our  shadows  down  the  highway  white 
Or  deep  in  woodland  woven-boughed. 
With  yon  and  yon  a  stem  ahght. 

I  see  marauder  runagates 
Across  us  shoot  their  dusky  wink ; 
I  hear  the  parliament  of  chats 
In  haws  beside  the  river's  brink ; 
And  drops  the  vole  off  alder-banka. 
To  push  his  arrow  through  the  stream. 
These  busy  people  had  our  thanks 
For  tickling  sight  and  sound,  but  theme 


dbyGoogle 


THE  NIGHT-WALK 

They  were  not  more  than  breath  we  drew 
Delighted  with  our  world's  embrace : 
The  moss-root  smell  where  beeches  grew, 
And  watered  grass  in  breezy  space ; 
The  silken  heights,  of  ghosdy  bloom 
Among  their  folds,  by  distance  draped. 
Twas  Youth,  rapacious  to  consume, 
That  cried  to  have  ita  chaos  shaped : 
Absorbing,  little  noting,  still 
Enriched,  and  thinking  it  bestowed ; 
With  wistful  looks  on  each  far  hill 
For  something  hidden,  something  owed. 
Unto  his  mantled  sbter.  Day 
Had  ^ven  the  secret  things  we  sought 
And  she  was  grave  and  saintly  gay ; 
At  times  she  fluttered,  spoke  her  thought; 
She  flew  on  it,  then  folded  wings. 
In  meditation  passing  lone, 
To  breathe  around  the  secret  things. 
Which  have  no  word,  and  yet  are  known ; 
Of  thirst  for  them  are  known,  as  air 
Is  health  in  blood :  we  gained  enough 
By  this  to  feel  it  honest  fare; 
Impalpable,  not  barren,  stuff. 

A  pride  of  legs  in  motion  kept 
Our  spirits  to  their  task  meanwhile. 
And  what  was  deepest  dreaming  slept : 
The  posts  tliat  named  the  swallowed  mile ; 
Beside  the  straight  canal  the  hut 
Abandoned ;  near  the  river's  source 
Its  infant  chirp;  the  shortest  cut ; 
The  roadway  missed ;  were  our  discourse ; 
At  times  dear  poets,  whom  some  view 
Transcendent  or  subdued  evoked 
To  speak  the  memorable,  the  true. 
The  luminous  as  a  moon  uncloaked : 
For  proof  that  there,  among  earth's  dumb, 
A  soul  had  passed  and  said  our  best. 
Or  it  might  be  we  chimed  on  some 
Historic  favourite's  astral  crest. 


dbyGOOgIC 


THE  NIGHT-WALK 


With  part  to  reverence  in  its  gleam. 
And  part  to  rivalry  the  shout : 
So  royal,  unuttered,  is  youth's  dream 
Of  power  within  to  strike  without. 
But  most  tlie  silences  were  sweet, 
Ljke  mothers'  breasts,  to  bid  it  feel 
It  lived  in  such  divine  conceit 
As  envies  aught  we  stamp  for  real.' 

To  either  then  an  untold  tale 
Was  Life,  and  author,  hero,  we. 
The  chapters  holding  peaks  to  scale. 
Or  depths  to  fathom,  made  our  glee; 
For  we  were  armed  of  inner  fires, 
Unbled  in  us  the  ripe  desires ; 
And  passion  rolled  a  quiet  sea. 
Whereon  was  Love  the  phantom  sail. 


A  GARDEN  IDYL  • 

With  sagest  craft  Arachne  worked 
Her  web,  and  at  a  comer  lurked. 
Awaiting  what  should  plump  her  soon, 
To  case  it  in  the  death-cocoon. 
Sagaciously  her  home  she  chose 
For  visits  that  would  never  close ; 
Inside  my  chalet-porch  her  feast 
Plucked  all  the  winds  but  chill  North-east 

The  finished  structure,  bar  on  bar, 
Had  snatched  from  light  to  form  a  star. 
And  struck  on  sight,  when  quick  with  dews, 
IJke  music  of  the  very  Muse. 
Great  artists  pass  our  single  sense ; 
We  hear  in  seeing,  strung  to  tense ; 
Then  haply  marvel,  groan  mayhap, 
To  think  such  beauty  means  a  trap. 
But  Nature's  genius,  even  man's 
At  best,  is  practical  in  plans ; 


dbyGOOgIC 


A  GARDEN  IDYL 

Subservient  to  the  needy  thought, 
However  rare  the  weapon  wrought. 
As  long  as  Nature  holds  it  good 
To  urge  her  creatures'  quest  for  food 
Will  beauty  stamp  the  Just  intent 
Of  weapons  ufMn  service  bent. 
For  beauty  is  a  flower  of  roots 
Embedded  lower  than  our  boots ; 
Out  of  the  primal  strata  springs. 
And  shows  for  crown  of  useful  things. 

Arachne's  dream  of  prey  to  size 
Aspired  ;  so  she  could  nigh  despise 
The  puny  specks  the  breezes  round 
Supplied,  and  let  them  shake  unwound ; 
Assured  of  her  fat  fly  to  come ; 
Perhaps  a  blue,  the  spider's  plum ; 
Who  takes  the  fatal  odds  in  fight. 
And  gives  repast  an  appetite. 
By  plunging,  whizzing,  till  his  wings 
Are  webbed,  and  in  the  lists  he  swings 
A  shrouded  lump,  for  her  to  see 
Her  banquet  in  her  victory. 
This  matron  of  the  unnumbered  threads, 
One  day  of  dandelions'  heads 
Distributing  their  gray  pemiques 
Up  every  gust,  I  watched  with  looks 
Discreet  beside  the  chalet-door ; 
And  gracefully  a  light  wind  bore. 
Direct  upon  my  Webster's  wall, 
A  monster  in  the  form  of  ball ; 
The  mildest  captive  ever  snared. 
That  neither  struggled  nor  despaired, 
On  half  the  net  invading  hung, 
And  plain  as  in  her  modier  tongue. 
While  low  the  weaver  cursed  her  lures, 
Remarked,  'You  have  me;  I  am  yours.' 
Thrice  magnified,  in  phantom  shape. 
Her  dream  of  size  she  saw,  agape. 
Midway  the  vast  round-raying  beard 
A  desiccated  midge  appeared ; 


dbyGOOgIC 


A  GARDEN  IDYL 

Whose  body  pricked  the  name  of  me^. 
Whose  hair  bad  growth  in  earth's  uni^ ; 
Provocative  of  dread  and  wrath. 
Contempt  and  horror,  in  one  froth. 
Inextricable,  insensible, 
His  poison  presence  there  would  dwell. 
Declaring  him  her  dream  fulfilled, 
A  catch  to  compliment  the  skilled ; 
And  she  reduced  to  beaky  skin. 
Disgraceful  among  kith  and  kin. 


Against  her  comer,  humped  and  ^ed, 
Arachne  wrinkled,  past  enraged, 
Beyond  disgust  or  hope  in  guile. 
Ridiculously  volatile 
He  seemed  to  her  last  spark  of  mind ; 
And  that  in  pallid  ash  declined 
Beneath  the  blow  by  knowledge  dealt. 
Wherein  throughout  her  frame  she  felt 
That  he,  the  light  wind's  libertine. 
Without  a  scoff,  without  a  grin. 
And  mannered  like  the  courtly  few. 
Who  merely  danced  when  light  winds  blew. 
Impervious  to  beak  and  claws. 
Tradition's  ruinous  Whitebeard  was; 
Of  whom,  as  actoi^  in  old  scenes. 
Had  grannam  weavers  warned  their  weans. 
With  word,  that  less  than  feather-weight. 
He  smote  the  web  like  bolt  of  Fate.' 

This  muted  drama,  hour  by  hour, 

I  watched  amid  a  worid  in  flower, 

Ere  yet  Autumnal  threads  had  laid 

Their  gray-blue  o'er  the  grass's  blade. 

And  still  along  the  garden-run 

The  blindworm  stretched  him,  drunk  of  sun. 

Arachne  crouched  unmoved ;  perchance 

Her  visitor  performed  a  dance ; 

She  puckered  thinner ;  he  the  same 

As  when  on  that  light  wind  he  came. 


dbyGOOgIC 


THE  VITAL  CHOICE 

Next  day  was  told  what  deeds  of  night 
Were  done ;  the  web  had  vanished  quite ; 
With  it  the  strange  opposing  pair; 
And  listless  waved  on  vacant  air. 
For  her  adieu  to  heart's  content, 
A  soHtary  filament. 


A  READING  OF  LIFE 
THE  VITAL  CHOICE  • 


Or  shall  we  run  with  Artemis 

Or  yield  the  breast  to  Aphrodite? 

Both  are  mighty ; 

Both  give  hiiss ; 

Each  can  torture  if  derided ; 

Each  claims  worship  undivided, 

In  her  wake  would  have  us  wallow. 

n 
Youth  must  ofler  on  bent  knees 
Homage  unto  one  or  other ; 
Earth,  the  mother. 
This  decrees ; 

And  unto  the  pallid  Scyther 
Either  points  us  shun  we  either. 
Shun  or  too  devoutly  follow. 


WITH  THE  HUNTRESS  * 

Through  the  water-eye  of  night, 
Midway  between  eve  and  dawn. 
See  the  chase,  tlie  rout,  the  flight 
In  deep  forest;  oread,  faun. 


dbyGOOgIC 


32  WITH  THE  PERSUADER 

To  clasp  and  strike  a  slackened  lyre, 
Till  over  smiles  of  hyacinth  seas, 
Flame  in  a  crystal  vessel  sails 
Beneath  a  dome  of  jewelled  spray, 
For  land  that  drops  the  rosy  day 
On  nights  of  throbbing  nightin^es. 

Landward  did  the  wonder  flit, 

Or  heart's  desire  of  her,  all  earth  in  it. 

We  saw  the  heavens  fling  down  their  rose; 

On  rapturous  waves  we  saw  her  glide ; 

The  pearly  sea-shell  half  enclose ; 

The  shoal  of  sea-nymphs  flush  the  tide ; ' 

And  we,  aBre  to  kiss  her  feet,  no  more 

Behold  than  tracks  along  a  startled  shore. 

With  brightened  edges  of  dark  leaves  that  feign 

An  ambush  hoped,  as  heartless  night  remain. 

More  closely,  warmly :  hither,  hither !  she. 
The  very  she  called  forth  by  ripened  blood 
For  its  next  breath  of  being,  murmurs ;  she. 
Allurement ;  she,  fulfilment ;  she. 
The  stream  within  us  urged  to  flood  ; 
Man's  cry,  earth's  answer,  heaven's  consent;  O  she, 
IMaid,  woman  and  divinity  | 
Xhir  over-eartnly,  inner-earthly  mate 
Unmated ;  she,  our  hunger  and  our  fruit 
Untasted ;  she  our  written  fate 
Unread;  Life's  flowering,  Life's  root: 
Unread,  divined ;  unseen,  beheld ; 
The  evanescent,  ever-present  she. 
Great  Nature's  stem  necessity 
In  radiance  clothed,  to  softness  quelled ; 
With  a  sword's  edge  of  sweetness  keen  to  take 
Our  breath  for  bliss,  our  hearts  for  fulness  break. 
The  murmur  hushes  down,  the  veil  is  rent. 
Man's  cry,  earth's  answer,  heaven's  consent. 
Her  form  is  given  to  pardoned  sight. 
And  lets  our  mortal  eyes  receive 
The  sovereign  loveliness  of  celestial  white; 
Adored  by  them  who  solitarily  pace. 


dbyGOOgIC 


WITH  THE  PERSUADER 

In  dusk  of  the  underworld's  perpetual  eve, 

The  paths  among  the  meadow  asphodel, 

Remembering.     Never  there  her  face 

Is  planetary ;  reddens  to  shore  sea-shell 

Around  such  whiteness  the  enamoured  air 

Of  noon  that  clothes  her,  never  there. 

Daughter  of  light,  the  joyful  light. 

She  stands  unveiled  to  nuptial  sight. 

Sweet  in  her  disregard  of  aid 

Divine  to  conquer  or  persuade. 

A  fountain  jets  from  moss ;  a  flower 

Bends  gently  where  her  sunset  tresses  shower. 

By  guerdon  of  her  brilliance  may  be  seen 

With  eyeUds  unabashed  the  passion's  Queen. 

Shorn  of  attendant  Graces  she  can  use 

Her  natural  snares  to  make  her  will  supreme. 

A  simple  nymph  it  is,  inclined  to  muse 

Before  the  leader  foot  shall  dip  in  stream : 

One  arm  at  curve  along  a  rounded  thigh ; 

Her  firm  new  breasts  each  pointing  its  own  way; 

A  knee  half  bent  to  shade  its  fellow  shy. 

Where  innocence,  not  nature,  signals  nay. 

The  bud  of  fresh  virginity  awaits 

The  wooer,  and  all  roseate  will  she  burst : 

She  touches  on  the  hour  of  happy  mates ; 

Still  is  she  unaware  she  wakens  thirst. 

And  while  commanding  blissful  sight  believe 
It  holds  her  as  a  body  strained  to  breast, 
Down  on  the  underworld's  perpetual  eve 
She  plunges  the  possessor  dispossessed ; 
And  bids  believe  that  image,  heaving  warm, 
Is  lost  to  float  like  torcli-smoke  after  Rame; 
The  phantom  any  breeze  blows  out  of  form ; 
A  thirst's  delusion,  a  defeated  aim. 

The  rapture  shed  the  torture  weaves ; 
The  direst  blow  on  human  heart  she  deals : 
The  pain  to  know  the  seen  deceives ; 
Nought  true  but  what  insufferably  feels. 


dbyGOOgIC 


[  WITH  THE  PERSUADEK 

And  stabs  of  her  delicious  note, 
That  is  as  heavenly  light  to  hearing,  heard 
Through  shelter  leavea,  the  laughter  from  her  throat. 
We  answer  as  the  midnight's  morning's  bird. 


She  laughs,  she  wakens  gleeful  cries ; 
In  her  delicious  laughter  part  revealed ; 
Yet  mother  is  she  more  of  moans  and  sighs, 
For  longings  unappeased  and  wounds  unhealed. 
Yet  would  she  hless,  it  is  her  task  to  bless : 
Yon  folded  couples,  passing  under  shade, 
Are  her  rich  harvest ;  bidden  caress,  caress. 
Consume  the  fruit  in  bloom  ;  not  disobeyed. 
We  dolorous  complainers  had  a  dream, 
Wrought  on  the  vacant  air  from  inper  fire, 
We  saw  stand  bare  of  her  celestial  beam 
The  glorious  Goddess,  and  we  dared  desire. 

Thereat  are  shown  reproachful  eyes,  and  lips 
Of  upward  curl  to  meanings  half  otecure ; 
And  glancing  where  a  wood-nymph  lightly  skips 
She  nods :  at  once  that  creature  wears  her  lure. 
Blush  of  our  being  between  birth  and  death : 
■  Sob  of  our  ripened  blood  for  its  nest  breath : 
Her  wily  semblance  nought  of  her  denies; 
Seems  it  the  Goddess  runs,  the  Goddess  hies, 
The  generous  Goddess  yields.    And  she  can  arm 
Her  dwarfed  and  twisted  with  her  secret  charm ; 
Benevolent  as  Earth  to  feed  her  own. 
Fully  shall  they  be  fed,  if  they  beseech. 
But  scorn  she  has  for  them  that  walk  alone; 
Blanched  men,  starved  women,  whom  no  arts  can  pleach. 
The  men  as  chief  of  criminals  she  disdains, 


dbyGoogle 


WITH  THE  PERSUADER  5 

For  couples  crowned  with  flowers  that  bum  in  dew. 

Comes  ibere  a  tremor  of  night's  forest  horn 

Across  her  garden  from  the  insaner  crew,' 

She  darkens  to  malignity  of  scorn. 

A  shiver  courses  through  her  garden-grounds : 

Gnmt  of  the  tusky  boar,  the  baying  hounds. 

The  hunter's  shouts,  are  heard  afar,  and  bring 

Dead  on  her  heart  her  crimsoned  flower  of  Spring. 

These,  the  irreverent  of  Life's  design,' 

Division  between  natural  and  divine 

Would  cast ;  these  vaunting  barrenness  for  best, 

Iq  veins  of  gathered  strength  Life's  tide  arrest ; 

And  these  because  the  roses  flood  their  cheeks. 

Vow  them  in  nature  wise  as  when  Love  speaks.* 

With  them  is  war;  and  well  the  Goddess  knows 

What  undermines  the  race  who  mount  the  rose; 

How  the  ripe  moment,  lodged  in  slumberous  hours. 

Enkindled  by  persuasion  overpowers : 

Why  weak  as  are  her  frailer  trailing  weeds. 

The  strong  when  Beauty  gleams  o'er  Nature's  needs, 

And  timely  guile  unguarded  linds  them  He. 

They  who  her  sway  withstand  a  sea  defy. 

At  every  point  of  juncture  must  be  proof ; 

Nor  look  for  mercy  from  the  incessant  surge 

Her  forces  mixed  of  craft  and  passion  urge 

For  the  one  whelming  wave  to  spring  aloof. 

She,  tenderness,  is  pitiless  to  them 

Resisting  in  her  godhead  nature's  truth. 

No  flower  their  face  shall  be,  but  writhen  stem ; 

Their  youth  a  frost,  their  age  the  dirge  for  youth. 

These  miserably  disinclined, 

The  lamentably  unembraced, 

Insult  the  Pleasures  Earth  designed 

To  people  and  beflower  the  waste. 

Wherefore  the  Pleasures  pass  them  by : 

For  death  they  live,  in  life  they  die. 

Her  head  the  Goddess  from  them  turns. 
As  from  grey  mounds  of  ashes  in  bronze  urns. 
She  views  her  quivering  couples  uuconsoled, 
And  of  her  beauty  mirror  they  become. 


dbyGoogle 


i  WITH  THE  PERSUADER 

Like  orchard  blossoms,  apple,  pear  and  plum. 

Free  of  the  cloud,  beneath  the  flood  of  gold. 

CrowDed  with  wreaths  that  bum  in  dew. 

Her  couples  whirl,  sun-satiated, 

Athirst  for  shade ;  they  sigh,  they  wed. 

They  play  the  music  made  of  two : 

Oldest  of  earth,  earth's  youngest  till  earth's  end; 

Cunninger  than  the  numbered  strings. 

For  melodies,  for  harmonies. 

For  mastered  discords,  and  the  things 

Not  vocable,  whose  mysteries 

Are  inmost  Love's,  life's  reach  of  Life  extend. 

Is  it  an  anguish  overflowing  shame 

And  the  tongue's  pudency  confides  to  her. 

With  eyes  of  embers,  breath  of  incense  myrrh. 

The  woman's  marrow  in  some  dear  youth's  name. 

Then  is  the  Goddess  tenderness 

Maternal,  and  she  has  her  sister's  tones 

Benign  to  soothe  intemperate  distress. 

Divide  despair  from  hope,  and  sighs  from  moans. 

Her  gentleness  imparts  exhaling  ease 

To  those  of  her  milk-bearer  votaries 

As  warm  of  bosom-earth  as  she ;  of  the  soiu-ce 

Direct;  erratic  but  in  heart's  excess; 

Being  mortal  and  ill-matched  for  Love's  great  force ; 

Like  green  leaves  caught  with  flames  by  his  impress. 

And  pray  they  under  skies  less  overcast. 

That  swiftly  may  her  star  of  eve  descend. 

Her  lustrous  morning  star  fly  not  too  fast. 

To  lengthen  blissful  night  will  she  befriend. 

Unfailing  her  reply  to  woman's  voice 
In  supplication  instant.     Is  it  man's. 
She  hears,  approves  his  words,  her  garden  scatta. 
And  him :  the  flowers  are  various,  he  has  choice. 
Perchance  hb  wound  is  deep ;  she  listens  long ; 
Enjoys  what  music  fills  the  plaintive  song ; 
And  marks  how  he,  who  would  be  hawk  at  poise 
Above  the  bird,  his  plaintive  song  enjoys. 


dbyGoogle 


WITH  THE  PERSUADER  53 

She  reads  him  when  his  humbled  manhood  weeps 

To  her  invoked :  distraction  is  implored. 

A  smile,  and  he  is  up  on  godlike  leaps 

Above,  with  his  bright  Goddess  owned  the  adored. 

His  tales  of  her  declare  she  condescends ; 

Can  share  his  firea,  not  always  goads  and  rends : 

Moreover,  quits  a  throne,  and  must  enclose 

A  queenlier  gem  than  woman's  wayside  rose. 

She  bends,  he  quickens ;  she  breathes  low,  he  springs 

Enraptured ;  low  she  laughs,  his  woes  disperse ; 

Aloud  she  laughs  and  sweeps  his  varied  strings. 

*Tis  taught  him  how  for  touch  of  mournful  verse 

Rarely  the  music  made  of  two  ascends. 

And  Beauty's  Queen  some  other  way  is  won. 

Or  it  may  solve  the  riddle,  that  she  lends 

Herself  to  all,  and  yields  herself  to  none. 

Save  heavenliest :  though  claims  by  men  are  raised 

In  hot  assurance  under  shade  of  doubt : 

And  numerous  are  the  images  bepraised 

As  Beauty's  Queen,  should  passion  head  the  rout. 

Be  sure  the  ruddy  hue  is  Love's :  to  woo 

Love's  Fountain  we  must  mount  the  ruddy  hue. 

That  is  her  garden's  precept,  seen  where  shines 

Her  blood-flower,  and  its  unsought  neighbour  pines. 

Daughter  of  light,  the  joyful  light. 

She  bids  her  couples  face  full  East, 

Reflecting  radiance,  even  when  from  her  feast 

Their  outstretched  arms  brown  deserts  disunite, 

The  lioD-haunted  thickets  hold  apart. 

In  love  the  ruddy  hue  declares  great  heart ; 

High  confidence  in  her  whose  aid  is  lent 

To  lovers  lifting  the  tuned  instrument. 

Not  one  of  rippled  strings  and  funeral  tone. 

And  doth  the  man  pursue  a  tightened  zone. 

Then  be  it  as  the  laurel  God  he  runs, 

Confirmed  to  win,  with  countenance  the  Sun's.* 

Should  pity  bless  the  tremulous  voice  of  woe 
He  lifts  for  pity,  limp  his  offspring  show. 
For  him  requiring  woman's  arts  to  please 
Infantile  tastes  with  babe  reluctances. 


dbyGoogle 


i  WITH  THE  PERSUADER 

No  race  of  giants !    In  the  woman's  vans 
Persuasion  ripely  runs,  through  hers  the  pains. 
Her  choice  of  him,  should  kind  occasion  nod. 
Aspiring  blends  the  Titan  with  the  God ; 
Yet  unto  dwarf  and  mortal,  she,  submiss 
In  her  high  Lady's  mandate,  yields  the  kiss; 
And  ia  it  needed  that  Love's  daintier  brut« 
Be  snared  as  hunter,  she  will  tempt  pursuit.* 
She  is  great  Nature's  ever  intimate 
Id  breast,  and  doth  as  ready  handmaid  wait, 
Until,  perverted  by  her  senseless  male. 
She  plays  the  winding  snake,  the  shrinkiDg  snail. 
The  flying  deer,  aU  tricks  of  evil  fame, 
Elusive  to  allure,  since  he  grew  tame. 

Hence  has  the  Goddess,  Nature's  earliest  Power, 

And  greatest  and  most  present,  with  her  dower 

Of  the  transcendent  beauty,  gained  repute 

For  meditated  guile.    She  laughs  to  hear 

A  charge  her  garden's  labyrinths  scarce  confute, 

Her  garden's  histories  tell  of  to  all  near. 

Let  it  be  said.     But  less  upon  her  guile 

Doth  she  rely  for  her  immortal  smile. 

S^l  let  the  rumour  spread,  and  terror  screens 

To  push  her  conquests  by  the  simplest  means. 

While  man  abjures  not  lustihead,  nor  swerves 

From  earth's  good  labours.  Beauty's  Queen  he  serves. 


Her  spacious  garden  and  her  garden's  grant 
She  offers  in  reward  for  handsome  cheer : 
Choice  of  the  nymphs  whose  looks  will  slant 
The  secret  down  a  dewy  leer 
Of  comer  eyelids  into  haze : 
Many  a  fair  Aphrosyne 
Like  flower-bell  to  honey-bee : 
And  here  they  flicker  round  the  maze 
Bewildering  him  in  heart  and  head : 
And  here  they  wear  the  close  demure 
With  subtle  peeps  to  reassure : 
Others  parade  where  love  has  bled 


dbyGoogle 


WITH  THE  PERSUADER  539 

And  of  its  crimson  weave  th«r  meah ; 
Others  to  snap  of  fingers  leap. 
As  bearing  breast  with  love  asleep. 
These  are  her  laughters  in  the  flesh. 
Or  would  she  fit  a  warrior  mood. 
She  lights  her  seeming  unsubdued. 
And  indicates  the  fortress-key. 
Or  is  it  heart  for  heart  that  craves. 
She  flecks  along  a  run  of  waves 
The  one  to  promise  deeper  sea. 

Bands  of  her  limpid  primitives. 

Or  patterned  in  the  curious  braid. 

Are  the  blest  man's ;'  and  whatsoe'er  he  gives. 

For  what  he  gives  is  he  repaid. 

Good  is  it  if  by  him  'tis  held 

He  wins  the  fairest  ever  welled 

From  Nature's  founts :  she  whispers  it :  Even  I 

Not  fairer  1  and  forbids  hiro  to  deny. 

Else  little  is  he  lover.    Those  he  clasps, 

Intent  as  tempest,  worshipful  as  prayer, — 

And  be  they  doves  or  be  they  asps, — 

Must  seem  to  him  the  sovereignly  fair ; 

Else  counts  he  soon  among  life's  wholly  tamed. 

Him  whom  from  utter  savage  she  reclaimed. 

Half  savage  must  he  stay,  would  he  be  crowned 

The  lover.     Else,  past  ripeness,  deathward  bound. 

He  reasons ;  and  the  totterer  Earth  detests, 

Love  shuns,  grim  Logic  scrcns  in  grasp,  is  he.' 

Doth  man  divide  divine  Necessity 

From  Joy,  between  the  Queen  of  Beauty's  breasts 

A  sword  is  driven  ;  for  those  most  glorious  twain 

Present  her ;  armed  to  bless  and  to  constrain. 

Of  this  he  perishes ;  not  she,  the  throned 

On  rocks  that  spout  their  springs  to  the  sacred  mounts. 

A  loftier  Reason  out  of  deeper  founts 

Earth's  chosen  Goddess  bears :  by  none  disowned 

While  red  blood  runs  to  swell  the  pulse,  she  boasts. 

And  Beauty,  like  her  star,  descends  the  sky ; 

Earth's  answer,  heaven's  consent  unto  man's  cry, 

Ul^if  ted  by  the  innumerable  hosts. 


Digitized  byGOOgle 


dbjGoogle 


THE  TEST  OF  MANHOOD  541 

Nor  either  points  for  us  the  way  of  flame. 
From  him'  predestined  mightier  it  came; 
His  task  to  hold  them  both  id  breast,  and  yield 
Their  dues  to  each,  and  of  their  war  be  field. 
The  foes  that  in  repulsion  never  ceased. 
Must  he,  who  once  has  been  the  goodly  beast 
Of  one  or  other,  at  whose  beck  he  ran, 
Constrain  to  make  him  serviceable  man ; 
Offending  neither,  nor  the  natural  claim 
Each  pressed,  denying,  for  his  true  man's  name. 

Ah,  what  a  sweat  of  anguish  in  that  strife 

To  hold  them  fast  conjoined  within  him  still ; 

Submissive  to  his  will 

Along  the  road  of  life ! 

And  marvel  not  be  wavered  if  at  whiles 

The  forward  step  met  frowns,  the  backward  smiles. 

For  Pleasure  witched  him  her  sweet  cup  to  drain ; 

Repentance  offered  ecstasy  in  pain. 

Delicious  licence  called  it  Nature's  cry ; 

Ascetic  rigours  crushed  the  fleshly  sigh ; 

A  tread  on  shingle  timed  his  lame  advance 

Flung  as  the  die  of  Bacchanalian  Chance, 

He  of  the  troubled  marching  army  leaned 

On  godhead  visible,  on  godhead  screened ; 

The  radiant  roseate,  the  curtained  white ; 

Yet  sharp  his  battle  strained  through  day,  through  night. 

He  drank  of  fictions,  till  celestial  aid 

Might  seem  accorded  when  he  fawned  and  prayed 

Sagely  the  generous  Giver  circumspect. 

To  choose  for  grants  the  egregious,  his  elect ; ' 

And  ever  that  imagined  succour  slew 

The  soul  of  brotherhood  whence  Reverence  drew. 

In  fellowship  religion  has  its  founts : 

The  solitary  his  own  God  reveres : 

Ascend  no  sacred  Mounts 

Our  hungers  or  our  fears. 

As  only  for  the  numbers  Nature's  care 

Is  shown,  and  she  the  personal  nothing  heeds. 


dbyGoogle 


I  THE  TEST  OF  MANHOOD 

So  to  Divinity  the  spring  of  prayer 

From  brotherhood  the  one  way  upward  leads. 

Like  the  sustaining  air 

Are  both  for  flowers  and  weeds. 

But  he  who  claims  in  spirit  to  be  flower 

Will  find  thero  both  an  air  that  doth  devour.* 

Whereby  he  smelt  his  treason,  who  implored 

ExtemaJ  gifts  bestowed  but  on  the  sword ;  * 

Beheld  himself,  with  less  and  less  disguise, 

Through  those  blood-cataracts  which  dimmed  his  eyes, 

His  army's  foe,  condemned  to  strive  and  fail ; 

See  a  black  adversary's  ghost  prevail ; ' 

Never,  though  triumphs  hailed  him,  hope  to  win 

While  still  the  conflict  tore  his  breast  within. 

Out  of  that  agony,  misread  for  those 

Imprisoned  Powers  warring  unappeased, 

The  ghost  of  his  black  adversary  rose. 

To  smother  light,  shut  heaven,  show  earth  diseased. 

And  long  with  him  was  wrestling  ere  emerged 

A  mind  to  read  in  him  the  reflex  shade 

Of  its  fierce  torment ;  this  way,  that  way  urged ; 

By  craven  compromises  hourly  swayed. 

Crouched  as  a  nestling,  still  its  wings  untried, 

The  man's  mind  opened  uoder  weight  of  cloud. 

To  penetrate  the  dark  was  it  endowed ; 

Stood  day  before  a  vision  shooting  wide. 

Whereat  the  spectral  enemy  lost  fonn ; ' 

The  traversed  wilderness  exposed  its  track. 

He  felt  the  far  advance  in  looking  back ; 

Thence  trust  in  his  foot  forward  through  the  storm. 

Under  the  low-browed  tempest's  eye  of  ire. 
That  ere  it  lightened  smote  a  coward  heart. 
Earth  nerved  her  chastened  son  to  hail  athwart 
All  ventures  perilous  his  shrouded  Sire ;  ■ 
A  stranger  still,  religiously  divined ; 
Not  yet  with  understanding  read  aright. 
But  when  the  mind,  the  cherishable  mind. 
The  midtitude's  grave  shepherd,  took  full  Bight, 


dbyGOOgl^ 


THE  TEST  OF  MANHOOD  54 

Himself  as  mirror  raised  among  his  kind  „ 

He  saw,  and  first  of  brotherhood  had  sight :     '  " 

Knew  that  his  force  to  fly,  his  will  to  see, 

His  heart  enlarged  beyond  its  ribbed  domain. 

Had  come  of  many  a  grip  in  mastery, 

IMiich  held  conjoined  the  hostile  rival  twain,* 

And  of  his  bosom  made  him  lord,  to  keep 

The  starry  roof  of  his  unruffled  frame 

Awake  to  earth,  to  heaven,  and  plumb  the  deep 

Below,  above,  aye  with  a  wistful  aim. 

The  mastering  mind  in  hira,  by  tempests  blown. 

By  traitor  inmates  baited,  upward  burned ; 

Perforce  of  growth,  the  Master  mind  discerned. 

The  Great  Unseen,  nowise  the  Dark  Unknown."* 

To  whom  unwittingly  did  he  aspire 

In  wilderness,  where  bitter  was  his  need : 

To  whom  in  blindness,  as  an  earthy  seed 

For  light  and  air,  he  struck  through  crimson,  mire. 

But  not  ere  he  upheld  a  forehead  lamp. 

And  viewed  an  army,  once  the  seeming  doomed. 

All  choral  in  its  fruitful  garden  camp. 

The  spiritual  the  palpable  illumed. 

This  gift  of  penetration  and  embrace. 

His  prize  from  tidal  battles  lost  or  won. 

Reveals  the  scheme  to  animate  his  race : 

How  that  it  is  a  warfare  but  begun ; 

Unending ;  with  no  Power  to  interpose ; 

No  prayer,  save  for  strength  to  keep  his  ground. 

Heard  of  the  Highest ;  never  battle's  close, 

The  victory  complete  and  victor  crowned : 

Nor  solace  in  defeat,  save  from  that  sense 

Of  strength  well  spent,  which  is  the  strength  renewed. 

In  manhood  must  he  find  his  competence ; 

In  his  clear  mind  the  spiritual  food : 

God  being  there  while  he  his  fight  maintains ; 

Throughout  his  mind  the  Master  Mind  being  there. 

While  he  rejects  the  suicide  despair ; 

Accepts  the  spur  of  explicable  pains ; 


dbyGoogle 


I  THE  TEST  OP  MANHOOD 

Obedient  to  Nature,  not  her  slave : 

Her  lord,  if  to  her  rigid  laws  he  bows ; 

Her  dust,  if  with  his  conscience  he  plays  knave. 

And  bids  the  Passions  on  the  Pleasures  browse : — 

Whence  Evil  in  a  world  unread  before ; 

That  mystery  to  simple  springs  resolved. 

His  God  the  Known,  diviner  to  adore. 

Shows  Nature's  savage  riddles  kindly  solved. 

Inconscient,  insensitive,  she  reigns 

In  iron  laws,  though  rapturous  fair  her  face. 

Back  to  the  primal  brute  shall  he  retrace 

His  path,  doth  he  permit  to  force  her  chains 

A  soft  Persuader  coursing  through  his  veins, 

An  icy  Huntress  stringing  to  the  chase : 

What  one  the  flesh  disdains ; 

What  one  so  gives  it  grace." 

But  is  he  rightly  manful  in  her  eyes, 

A  splendid  bloodless  knight  to  gain  the  skies. 

A  blood-hot  son  of  Earth  by  all  her  signs, 

Desireing  and  desireable  he  shines ; 

As  peaches,  that  have  caught  the  sun's  uprise 

And  kissed  warm  gold  till  noonday,  even  as  vines. 

Earth  fills  him  with  her  juices,  without  fear 

That  she  will  cast  him  drunken  down  the  steeps. 

All  woman  is  she  to  this  man  most  dear ; 

He  sows  for  bread,  and  she  in  spirit  reaps : 

She  conscient,  she  sensitive,  in  him  ; 

With  him  enwound,  his  brave  ambition  hers : 

By  him  humaner  made ;  by  his  keen  spurs 

Pricked  to  race  past  the  pride  in  giant  limb. 

Her  crazy  adoration  of  big  thews. 

Proud  in  her  primal  sons,  when  crags  they  burled. 

Were  thunder  spitting  lightnings  on  the  world 

In  daily  deeds,  and  she  their  evening  Muse. 

s  not  to  destroy ; 
in  ocean  stands ; — 
e  myriad  hands 
s  joy. 

or  purity  is  shown 
rge  to  make  it  clean. 


dbyGoogle 


THE  TEST  OF  MANHOOD  54 

Withal  his  pitch  of  pride  would  Dot  disown 
A  sober  world  that  walks  the  balanced  mean 
Between  its  tempters,  rarely  overthrown:" 
And  such  at  times  his  army's  march  has  been. 

Near  is  he  to  great  Nature  in  the  thought 
Each  changing  Season  intimately  saith. 
That  nought  save  apparition  knows  the  death ; 
To  the  God-lighted  mind  of  man  'tis  nought. 
She  counts  not  loss  a  word  of  any  weight ; 
It  may  befal  his  passions  and  his  greeds 
To  lose  their  treasures,  like  the  vein  that  bleeds. 
But  life  gone  breathless  will  she  reinstate. 

Close  on  the  heart  of  Earth  his  bosom  beats. 
When  he  the  mandate  lodged  in  it  obeys, 
Alive  to  breast  a  future  wrapped  in  haze. 
Strike  camp,  and  onward,  like  the  wind's  cloud-fleets. 
Unresting  she,  unresting  he,  from  change 
To  change,  as  rain  of  cloud,  as  fruit  of  rain  ; 
•  She  feels  her  blood-tree  throbbing  in  her  grain,      '     '' 
Yet  skyward  branched,  with  loftier  mark  and  range. 
No  miracle  the  sprout  of  wheat  from  clod, 
She  knows,  nor  growth  of  man  in  grisly  brute ; 
But  he,  the  flower  at  head  and  soil  at  root. 
Is  miracle,  guides  he  the  brute  to  God. 
And  that  way  seems  he  bound ;  that  way  the  road, 
With  his  dark-lantern  mind,  unled,  alone, 
Wearifidly  through  forest-tracks  unsown. 
He  travels,  urged  by  some  internal  goad. 

Dares  he  behold  the  thing  he  is,  what  thing 
He  would  become  is  in  his  mind  its  child ; 
Astir,  demanding  birth  to  light  and  wing ; 
For  battle  prompt,  by  pleasure  unbeguiled. 
So  moves  he  forth  in  faith,  if  he  has  made 
His  mind  God's  temple,  dedicate  to  truth. 
Earth's  nourishing  delights,  no  more  gainsaid. 
He  tastes,  as  doth  the  bridegroom  rich  in  youth. 
Then  knows  he  Love,  that  beckons  and  controls ; 
The  star  of  sky  upon  his  footway  cast ; 
Then  match  in  him  who  holds  his  tempters  fast, 


dbyGoogle 


5  THE  TEST  OF  MANHOOD 

The  body'a  love  and  mind's,  whereof  the  soul's. 

Then  Earth  her  man  for  woman  finds  at  last. 

To  speed  the  pair  unto  her  goal  of  goals. 

Or  is  't  the  widowed's  dream  of  her  new  mate? 

Seen  has  she  virulent  days  of  heat  in  flood ; 

The  sly  Persuader  snaky  in  his  blood  ; 

With  her  the  barren  Huntress  alternate ; 

His  rough  refractory  off  on  kicking  heels 

To  rear;  the  man  dragged  rearward,  shamed,  amazed; 

And  as  a  torrent  stream  where  cattle  grazed. 

His  tumbled  world.     What,  then,  the  faith  she  feels? 

May  not  his  aspect,  like  her  own  so  fair 

Reflexively,  the  central  force  belie. 

And  he,  the  once  wild  ocean  storming  sky, 

Be  rebel  at  the  core?    What  hope  is  there? 

'Tis  that  in  each  recovery  he  preserves, 
Between  his  upper  and  his  nether  wit. 
Sense  of  his  march  ahead,  more  brightly  lit ; 
He  less  the  shaken  thing  of  lusts  and  nerves ; 
With  such  a  grasp  upon  his  brute  as  tells 
Of  wisdom  from  that  vile  relapsing  spun, 
A  Sun  goes  down  in  wasted  fire,  a  Sun 
Resplendent  springs,  to  faith  refreshed  compels. 


THE  HUELESS  LO\T  * 

Unto  that  love  must  we  through  fire  attain, 
Which  those  two  held  as  breath  of  common  air; 
The  hands  of  whom  were  given  in  bond  elsewhere; 

Whom  Honour  was  untroubled  to  restrain. 

Midway  the  road  of  our  life's  term  they  met. 
And  one  another  knew  without  surprise ; 
Nor  cared  that  beauty  stood  in  mutual  eyes ; 

Nor  at  their  tardy  meeting  nursed  regret. 

To  them  it  was  revealed  how  they  had  found 
The  kindred  nature  and  the  needed  mind ; 
The  mate  by  long  conspiracy  designed ; 

Tlie  flower  to  plant  in  sanctuary  ground. 


dbyGoogle 


THE  HUELESS  LOVE 

Avowed  in  vigilant  solicitude 

For  either,  jvhat  most  lived  within  each  breast 
They  let  be  seen  :  yet  every  human  test 

Demanding  righteousness  approved  them  good. 

She  leaned  on  a  strong  arm,  and  little  feared 
Abandonment  to  help  if  heaved  or  sank 
Her  heart  at  intervals  while  Love  looked  blank. 

Life  rosier  were  she  biit  less  revered. 

An  arm  that  never  shook  did  not  obscure 
Her  woman's  intuition  of  the  bliss — 
Their  tempter's  moment  o'er  the  black  abyss. 

Across  the  narrow  plank — he  could  abjure. 

Then  came  a  day  that  clipped  for  him  the  thread. 
And  their  first  touch  of  lips,  as  he  lay  cold, 
Was  all  of  earthly  in  their  love  untold. 

Beyond  all  earthly  known  to  them  who  wed. 

So  has  there  come  the  gust  at  South-west  flung 
By  sudden  volt  on  eves  of  freezing  mist. 
When  sister  snowfiake  sister  snowdrop  kissed. 

And  one  passed  out,  and  one  the  belUhead  hung. 


UNION  IN  DISSEVERANCE 

Sunset  worn  to  its  last  vermilion  he; 
She  that  star  overhead  in  slow  descent : 
That  white  star  with  the  front  of  angel  she ; 
He  undone  in  his  rays  of  glory  spent. 

Halo,  fair  as  the  bow-shot  at  his  rise, 
He  casts  round  her,  and  knows  his  hour  of  rest 
Incomplete,  were  tbe  light  for  which  he  dies 
Less  like  joy  of  the  dove  that  wings  to  nest. 

Lustrous  momently,  near  on  earth  she  sinks ; 
Life's  full  throb  over  breathless  and  abased  : 
Yet  stand  they,  though  impalpable  the  links. 
One,  more  one  than  Uie  bridally  embraced. 


dbyGoogle 


SONG  IN  THE  SONGLESS 

Thet  have  do  song,  the  sedges  dry, 

And  still  they  sing. 
It  is  within  my  breast  they  sing, 

As  I  pass  by. 
Within  my  breast  they  touch  a  string, 

They  wake  a  sigh. 
There  is  but  sound  of  sedges  dry ; 

In  me  tfaey  sing. 


THE  BURDEN  OF  STRENGTH 

If  that  thou  hast  the  gift  of  strength,  then  know 

Thy  part  is  to  uplift  tlie  trodden  low ; 

Else  in  a  giant's  grasp  until  the  end 

A  hopeless  wrestler  shall  thy  soul  contend. 


THE  MAIN  REGRET 

[WBHTEN  FOB  'THE  CHARINU  CH088  ALBDM'] 


Seen,  too  clear  and  historic  within  us,  our  sins  of  omission 
Frown  when  the  Autumn  days  strip  us  all  ruthlessly  bare. 


dbyGoogle 


ALTERNATION 

Between  the  founudn  and  the  rill 
I  passed,  and  saw  the  mighty  will 
To  leap  at  sky ;  the  careless  run, 
Aa  earth  would  lead  her  little  sod. 

Beneath  them  throbs  an  urgent  well. 
That  here  is  play,  and  there  is  war. 
I  know  not  which  had  most  to  tell 
Of  whence  we  spring  and  what  we  are. 


FOREST  HISTORY  • 


Beneath  the  vans  of  doom  did  men  pass  in. 
Heroic  who  came  out ;  for  round  them  hung 
A  wavering  phantom's  red  volcano  tongue, 

With  league-long  lizard  tail  and  fishy  fin : 


Old  Earth's  original  Dragon ;  there  retired 
To  his  last  fastness ;  overthrown  by  few. 
Him  a  laborious  thrust  of  roadway  slew. 

Then  man  to  play  devorant  straight  was  fired. 


More  intimate  became  the  forest  fear 
While  pillared  darkness  hatched  malicious  life 
At  either  elbow,  wolf  or  gnome  or  knife. 

And  wary  slid  the  glance  from  ear  to  ear. 


In  chillness,  like  a  clouded  lantem-ray. 

The  forest's  heart  of  fog  on  mossed  morass, 
On  purple  pool  and  silky  cotton-grass. 

Revealed  where  lured  the  swallower  byway. 


dbyGoogle 


FOREST  HISTORY 


Dead  outlook,  flattened  back  with  hard  rebound 
Off  walls  of  distance,  left  each  mounted  height. 
It  seemed  a  giant  hag-fiend,  churning  spite 

Of  humble  human  being,  held  the  ground. 


Through  friendless  wastes,  through  treacherous  woodland. 

The  feet  sustained  by  track  of  feet  pursue<l 
Pained  steps,  and  found  the  common  brotherhood 
By  sign  of  Heaven  indifferent.  Nature  foe. 

VII 
Anon  a  mason's  work  amazed  the  sight. 

And  long-frocked  men,  called  Brothers,  there  abode. 

They  pointed  up,  bowed  head,  and  duR  and  sowed ; 
Whereof  was  shelter,  loaf,  and  warm  firelight. 

VIII 
What  words  they  taught  were  nails  to  scratch  the  head. 

Benignant  works  explained  the  chanting  brood. 

Their  monastery  lit  black  solitude. 
As  one  might  think  a  star  that  heavenward  led. 

Uprose  a  fairer  nest  for  weary  feet. 

Like  some  gold  flower  nightly  inward  curled. 
Where  gentle  maidens  fled  a  roaring  world, 

Or  played  with  it,  and  had  their  white  retreat. 


Into  big  books  of  metal  clasps  they  pored. 

They  governed,  even  as  men  ;  they  welcomed  lays. 

The  treasures  women  are  whose  aim  is  praise 
Was  shown  in  them :  the  Garden  half  restored. 


A  deluge  billow  scoured  the  land  off  seas. 
With  widened  jaws,  and  slaughter  was  its  foam. 
For  food,  for  clothing,  ambush,  refuge,  home, 

The  lesser  savage  offered  bogs  and  trees. 


dbyGoogle 


FOREST  HISTORY 


Whence  reverence  round  grey-haired  story  grew ; 
And  inmost  spots  of  ancient  horror  shone 
As  temples  under  beams  of  trials  bygone ; 

For  in  them  sang  brave  timea  with  God  in  view. 


Till  now  trim  homesteads  bordered  spaces  green. 
Like  night's  first  little  stars  through  clearing  showers. 
Was  rumoured  how  a  castle's  falcon  towers 

The  wilderness  commanded  with  fierce  mien. 


Therein  a  serious  Baron  stuck  his  lance ; 

For  minstrel  songs  a  beauteous  Dame  would  pout. 

Gay  knights  and  sombre,  felon  or  devout. 
Pricked  onward,  bound  for  their  unsung  romance. 


It  might  be  that  two  errant  lords  across 

The  block  of  each  came  edged,  and  at  sharp  cry 
They  charged  forthwith,  the  better  man  to  try. 

One  rode  his  way,  one  couched  on  quiet  moss. 


Perchance  a  lady  sweet,  whose  lord  lay  slain. 
The  robbers  into  gruesome  durance  drew. 
Swift  should  her  hero  come,  like  lightning's  blue ! 

She  prayed  for  him,  as  crackling  drought  for  rain ; 


As  we,  that  ere  the  worst  her  hero  ha[». 
Of  Angels  guided,  nigh  that  loathly  den : 
A  toady  cave  beside  an  ague  fen, 

Where  long  forlorn  the  lone  dog  whines  and  yaps. 


By  daylight  now  the  forest  fear  could  rend 
Itself,  and  at  new  wonders  chuckling  went. 
Straight  for  the  roebuck's  neck  the  bowman  s[>ent 

A  dart  that  laughed  at  distance  and  at  speed. 


dbyGoogle 


!  FOREST  HISTORY 

XIX 

Right  loud  the  bugle's  hallali  elate 
Rang  forth  of  merry  dingles  round  the  tors ; 
And  deftest  hand  was  he  from  foreign  wars. 

But  sooD  he  hailed  the  home-bred  yeoman  mate. 


Before  the  blackbird  pecked  the  turf  they  woke ; 

At  dawn  the  deer's  wet  nostrils  blew  their  last. 

To  forest,  haunt  of  runs  and  prime  repast, 
With  paying  blows,  the  yokel  strained  his  yoke. 


The  city  urchin  mooned  on  forest  air. 
On  grassy  sweeps  and  flying  arrows,  thick 
As  swallows  o'er  smooth  streams,  and  sighed  him  sick 

For  thinking  that  his  dearer  home  ^aa  there. 


Familiar,  still  unseized,  the  forest  sprang 
An  old-world  echo,  like  no  mortal  thing. 
The  hunter's  hom  might  wind  a  jocund  ring, 

But  held  in  ear  it  bad  a  chilly  clang. 


Some  shadow  lurked  aloof  of  ancient  time ; 
Some  warning  haunted  any  sound  prolonged. 
As  though  the  leagues  of  woodland  held  them  wronged 

To  hear  an  axe  and  see  a  township  climb. 


The  forest's  erewhile  emperor  at  eve 

Had  voice  when  lowered  heavens  drummed  for  gates. 

At  midnight  a  small  people  danced  the  dales. 
So  thin  that  they  might  dwindle  through  a  sieve. 


Ringed  mushrooms  told  of  them,  and  in  their  throats 
Old  wives  that  gathered  herbs  and  knew  too  much. 
The  pensioned  forester  beside  his  crutch 

Struck  showers  from  embers  at  those  bodeful  notes- 


dbyGoogle 


FOREST  HISTORY 


Came  then  the  one,  all  ear,  all  eye,  all  heart ; 

Devourer,  and  insensibly  devoured  ; 

In  whom  the  city  over  forest  flowered. 
The  forest  wreathed  the  city's  drama-mart. 


There  found  he  in  new  form  that  Dragon  old. 
From  tangled  solitudes  expelled ;  and  taught 
How  blindly  each  its  antidote  besought ; 

For  cither's  breath  the  needs  of  either  told. 

xxviii 

Now  deep  in  woods,  with  song  no  sermon's  drone. 
He  showed  what  charm  the  human  concourse  works : 
Amid  the  press  of  men,  what  virtue  lurks 

Where  bubble  sacred  wells  of  wildness  lone. 

XXIX 

Our  conquest  these :  if  haply  we  retain 
The  reverence  that  ne'er  will  overrun 
Due  boundaries  of  realms  from  Nature  won. 

Nor  let  the  poet's  awe  in  rapture  wane. 


FRAGMENTS  OF  THE  ILIAD  IN  ENGLISH 
HEXAMETER  VERSE 

Iliad,  i.  149 
THE  INVECTIVE  OF  ACHILLES 

'Heigh  mel  brazen  of  front,  thou  glutton  for  plunder,  how 

can  one. 
Servant  here  to  thy  mandates,  heed  thee  among  our  Achaians, 
Either  the  mission  hie  on  or  stoutly  do  flght  with  the  ff>emen  ? 
I,  not  hither  I  fared  on  account  of  the  spear-armM  Trojans, 
Pledged  to  the  combat ;  they  unto  me  have  in  nowise  a  harm 

done; 


dbyGoogle 


654  TRANSLATIONS  FROM  HOMER 

Never  have  they,  of  a  truth,  come  lifting  my  horses  or  oxen ; 

Never  in  deep-soiled  Phthia,  the  nurser  of  heroes,  my  harvests 

Ravaged,  they ;  for  between  us  is  numbered  full  many  a 
darksome 

Mountain,  ay,  therewith  too  the  stretch  of  the  windy  sea- 
waters, 

0  hugely  shameless  1  thee  did  we  follow  to  heaKen  thee, 

justice 
Pluck  from  the  Dardans  for  him,  Menelaos,  thee  too,  thou 

dog-eyed ! 
Whereof  little  thy  thought  is,  nought  whatever  thou  reckest. 
Worse,  it  is  thou  whose  threat  'tis  to  ravish  my  prize  from 

me,  portion 
Won  with  much  labour,  the  which  my  gjft  from  the  sons  of 

Achaia. 
Never,  in  sooth,  have  I  known  my  prize  equal  thine  when 

Achaians 
Gave  some  flourishing  populous  Trojan  town  up  to  pillage. 
Nay,  sure,  mine  were  the  hands  did  most  in  the  storm  of  the 

combat. 
Yet  when  came  pcradventure  share  of  the  booty  amongst  us. 
Bigger  to  thee  went  the  prize,  while  I  some  small  bless^l 

thing  bore 
Off  to  the  ships,  my  share  of  reward  for  my  toil  in  the  blood- 
shed 1 
So  now  go  I  to  Phthia,  for  better  by  much  it  beseems  me 
Homeward  go  with  my  beaked  ships  now,  and  I  hold  not  in 

prospect, 

1  being  outraged,  thou  mayest  gather  here  plunder  and  wealth- 

store.' 

i.  225 
'Bibber  besotted,  with  scowl  of  a  cur,  having  heart  of  a 

deer,  thou  1 
Never  to  join  to  tliy  warriors  armed  for  the  press  of  the 

conflict. 
Never  for  ambush  forth  with  the  princeliest  sons  of  Achaia 
Dared  thy  soul,  for  to  tliee  that  thing  would  have  looked  as  a 

death-stroke. 
Sooth,  more  easy  it  seems,  down  the  lengthened  array  of 


dbyGoogle 


TRANSLATIONS  FROM  HOMER  555 

Snatch  at  the  prize  of  the  one  whose  voice  has  been  lifted 

against  thee. 
Ravening  king  of  the  folk,  for  that  thou  hast  thy  rule  over 

abjects ; 
Else,  son  of  Atreus,  now  were  this  outrage  on  me  thy  last  one. 
Nay,  but  I  teli  thee,  and  I  do  swear  a  big  oath  on  it  hkewise : 
Yea,  by  the  sceptre  here,  and  it  surely  bears  branches  and 

leaf-buds 
Never  again,  since  first  it  was  lopped  from  its  trunk  on  the 

mountains. 
No  more  sprouting ;  for  round  it  all  clean  has  the  sharp  metal 

clipped  otT 
Leaves  and  the  bark ;  ay,  verily  now  do  the  sons  of  Achaia, 
Guardian  hands  of  the  counsels  of  Zeus,  pronouncing  the 

judgement. 
Hold  it  aloft ;  so  now  unto  thee  shall  the  oath  have  its  portent; 
Loud  will  the  cry  for  Achilles  burst  from  the  sons  of  Achaia 
Throughout  the  army,  and  thou  chafe  powerless,  though  in  an 

anguish. 
How  to  give  succour  when  vast  crops  down  under  man-slajing 

Hector 
Tumble  expiring;  and  thou  deep  in  thee  shalt  tear  at  thy 

heart-strings. 
Rage-wrung,  thou,  that  in  nought  thou  didst  honour  the 

flower  of  Achaians.' 

lUAD,  ii.  455 

MARSHALLING  OF  THE  ACHAIANS 

Like  as  a  terrible  fire  feeds  fast  on  a  forest  enormous. 

Up  on  a  mountain  height,  and  the  blaze  of  it  radiatios  round 

far. 
So  on  the  bright  blest  arms  of  the  host  in  their  march  did  the 

splendour 
Gleam  wide  round  through  the  circle  of  air  right  up  to  the 

sky-vault. 
They,  now,  as  when  swarm  thick  in  the  air  multitudinous 

winged  flocks, 
Be  it  of  geese  or  of  cranes  or  the  long-necked  troops  of  the 

wild-swans, 


dbyGoogle 


556  TRANSLATIONS  FROM  HOMER 

Off  that  Asian  mead,  by  the  flow  of  the  waters  of  Kustros ; 
Hither  and  yon  fly  they,  and  rejoicing  in  pride  of  their  pinions, 
CUmour,  shaped  to  their  ranks,  and  the  mead  all  about  them 

resoundeth ; 
So  those  numerous  tribes  from  their  ships  and  their  shelterings 

poured  forth 
On  that  plain  of  Scamander,  and  horrible  rumbled  beneath 

them 
Earth  to  the  quick-paced  feet  of  the  men  and  the  tramp  of 

the  horse-hooves. 
Stopped  they  then  on  the  fair-flower'd  field  of  Scamander, 

their  thousands 
Many  as  leaves  and  the  blossoms  bom  of  the  flowerf  ul  season. 
Even  as  countless  hot-pressed  flies  in  their  multitudes  traverse. 
Clouds  of  them,  under  some  herdsman's  wonning,  where  then 

are  the  milk-pails 
Also,  full  of  their  milk,  in  the  bountiful  season  of  spring-time ; 
Even  so  thickly  the  long-haired  sons  of  Achaia  the  plain  held. 
Prompt  for  the  dash  at  the  Trojan  host,  with  the  passion  to 

crush  them. 
Those,  likewise,  as  the  goatherds,  eyeing  their  vast  flocks  of 

goats,  know 
Easily  one  from  the  other  when  all  get  mixed  o'er  the  pasture. 
So  did  the  chieftains  rank  them  here  there  in  their  places  far 

onslaught. 
Hard  on  the  push  of  the  fray;   and   among   them   King 

Agamemnon, 
He,  for  his  eyes  and  his  head,  as  when  Zeus  glows  glad  in  his 

thunder. 
He  with  the  girdle  of  Ares,  he  with  the  breast  of  Poseidon. 

lUAD,  xi.  148 
AGAMEMNON  IN  THE  FIGHT 

These,  then,  he  left,  and  away  where  ranks  were  now  dashing 
the  thickest. 

Onward  rushed,  and  with  him  rushed  all  of  the  bright-greaved 
Achaians. 

Foot  then  footmen  slew,  that  were  flying  from  direful  com- 
pulsion. 


dbyGoogle 


TRANSLATIONS  FROM  HOMER  557 

Horse  at  the  horsemen  (up  from  off  under  them  mounted  the 
dust-cloud. 

Up  off  the  plain,  raised  up  cloud-thick  by  the  thundering 
horse-hooves) 

Hewed  with  the  sword's  sharp  edge ;  and  so  meanwhile  Lord 
Agamemnon 

Followed,  chasing  and  slaughtering  aye,  on-urgeing  the 
Arpves. 

Now,  as  when  Bre  voracious  catches  the  unclippM  woodland. 

This  way  bears  it  and  that  the  great  whirl  of  the  wind,  and 
the  scnibwood 

Stretches  uptom,  fiung  forward  alength  by  the  fire's  fury 
ragmg. 

So  beneath  Atreides  Agamemnon  heads  of  the  scattered 

Trojans  fell ;  and  in  numbers  amany  the  horses,  neck- 
stiffened, 

Rattled  their  vacant  cars  down  the  roadway  gaps  of  the  war- 
field, 

ACssing  the  blameless  charioteers,  but,  for  these,  they  were 
outstretched 

Flat  upon  earth,  far  clearer  to  vultures  than  to  their  home- 


PARIS  AND  DIOMEDES 

So  he,  with  a  clear  shout  of  laughter. 

Forth  of  his  ambush  leapt,  and  he  vaunted  him,  uttering 
thisnise : 

'Hit  thou  artl  not  in  vain  Sew  the  shaft;  how  by  rights  it 
had  pierced  thee 

Into  the  undermost  gut,  therewith  to  have  rived  thee  of  life- 
breath! 

Following  that  had  the  Trojans  plucked  a  new  breath  from 
their  direst. 

They  all  frighted  of  thee,  as  the  goats  bleat  in  flight  from  a 
lion.' 

Then  unto  him  untroubled  made  answer  stout  Diomedes : 

'Bow-puller,  jiber,  thy  bow  for  thy  glorying,  spyer  at  virgins  I 


dbyGoogle 


558  TRANSLATIONS  FROM  HOMER 

If  that  thou  dared'at  face  me  here  out  in  the  open  with 

weapons, 
Nothing  then  would  avail  thee  thy  bow  and  thy  thick  shot  of 

arrows. 
Now  thou  plumest  thee  vainly  because  of  a  graze  of  my  foot- 
Reck  I  as  were  that  stroke  from  a  woman  or  some  pettish 

infant. 
Aye  flics  blunted  the  dart  of  the  man  that  'a  emasculate, 

nought  worth ! 
Otherwise  hits,  forth  flying  from  me,  and  but  strikes  it  the 

slightest. 
My  keen  shaft,  and  it  numbers  a  man  of  the  dead  fallen 

straightway. 
Torn,  troth,  then  are  the  cheeks  of  the  wife  of  that  man  fallen 

slaughtered, 
Orphans  his  babes,  full  surely  he  reddens  the  earth  with  his 

blood-drops. 
Rotting,  round  hira  the  birds,  more  numerous  they  than  the 


luAD,  xiv.  283 

HYPNOS  ON  IDA 

Thet  then  to  fountain-abundant  Ida,  mother  of  wild  beasts. 
Came,  and  they  first  left  ocean  to  fare  over  mainland  at 

Lektos, 
Where  underneath  of  their  feet  waved  loftiest  growths  of  the 

woodland. 
There  hung  Hypnos  fast,  ere  the  vision  of  Zeus  was  obser\'ant. 
Mounted   upon   a   tall   pine-tree,    tallest  of  pines  that  on 

soil  for  the  shoot  up  aloft  into  aether, 
ivell-cloaked  by  the  wide-branched  pine  for 

1  his  form  like,  that  perched  high  up  in  the 

I  by  the  Gods,  hut  of  mortals  known  as 


dbyGoogle 


TRANSLATIONS  FROM  HOMER  559 

lUAD,  xiv.  394 

CLASH  IN  ARMS  OF  THE  ACHAIANS  AND 

TROJANS 

Not  the  sea-wave  so  bellows  abroad  when  it  bursts  upon 

Whipped  from  the  sea's  deeps  up  by  the  terrible  blast  of  the 
Northwind ; 

Nay,  nor  is  ever  the  roar  of  the  fierce  fire's  rush  ao  arousing, 

Down  along  mountain-glades,  when  it  surges  to  kindle  a 
woodland ; 

Nay,  nor  so  tOnant  thunders  the  stress  of  the  gale  in  the  oak- 
trees' 

Foliage-tresses  high,  when  it  rages  to  raveing  its  utmost ; 

As  rose  then  stupendous  the  Trojans'  cry  and  Achaians', 

Dread  upshouting  as  one  when  together  they  dashed  in  the 
conflict. 

lUAD,  xvii.  426 

THE  HORSES  OF  ACHILLES 

So  now  the  horses  of  Aiakides,  off  wide  of  the  war-ground. 
Wept,  since  first  they  were  ware  of  their  charioteer  over- 
thrown there. 
Cast  down  low  in  the  whirl  of  the  dust  under  man-slaying 

Hector, 
Sooth,    meanwhile,    then    did    Automedon,  brave   son   of 

DJores, 
Oft,  on  the  one  hand,  urge  them  with  flicks  of  the  swift  whip, 

and  oft,  too, 
Coax  entreatingly,  hurriedly ;  whiles  did  he  angrily  threaten. 
Vainly,  for  these  would  not  to  the  ships,  to  the  Hellespont 

spacious. 
Backward  turn,  nor  be  whipped  to  the  battle  among  the 

Achaians. 
Nay,  as  a  pillar  remains  immovable,  fixed  on  the  tombstone. 
Haply,  of  some  dead  man  or  it  may  be  a  woman  thereunder ; 
Even  like  hard  stood  they  there  attached  to  the  glorious 

war-car. 


dbyGoogle 


560  TRANSLATIONS  FROM  HOMER 

Earthward  bowed  with  their  heads ;  and  of  them  so  lamenting 
incessant 

Ran  the  hot  teardrops  downward  on  to  the  earth  from  their 
eyelids, 

Mourning  their  charioteer;  all  their  lustrous  manes  dusty- 
clotted. 

Right  side  and  left  of  the  yoke-ring  tossed,  to  the  breadth 
of  the  yoke-bow. 

Now  when  the  issue  of  Kronos  beheld  that  sorrow,  his 
head  shook 
Pitying  them  for  their  grief,  these  words  then  he  spake  in  his 

bosom; 
'  Why,  ye  hapless,  gave  we  to  Peleus  you,  to  a  mortal 
Master ;  ye  that  are  ageless  both,  ye  both  of  you  deathless  I 
Was  it  that  ye  among  men  most  wretched  should  come  to  have 

heart-grief? 
"Tia  most  true,  than  the  race  of  these  men  is  there  wretcheder 

nowhere 
Aught  over  earth's  range  found  that  is  ^ted  with  breath 

and  has  movement.' 


THE  MARES  OF  THE  CAMARGUE 

FBOM  THE  'MIREIO'   OF  UIBTRAL 

A  HUNDRED  mares,  all  white  1  their  manes 
Like  mace-reed  of  the  marshy  plains 
Thick-tufted,  wavy,  free  o'  the  shears : 
And  when  the  fiery  squadron  rears 
Bursting  at  speed,  each  mane  appears 


dbyGoogle 


THE  CRISIS  561 

And  on  a  day,  with  prompt  rebound. 
They  have  flung  their  riders  to  the  ground. 

And  at  a  single  gallop,  scouring  free. 

Wide  nostril'd  to  the  wind,  twice  ten 

Of  long  marsh-leagues  devour'd,  and  then, 

Back  to  the  Vacar^  again, 

After  ten  years  of  slavery  just  to  breathe  salt  sea. 

For  of  this  savage  race  unbent 

The  ocean  is  the  element. 
Of  old  escaped  from  Neptune's  car,  full  sure 

Still  with  the  white  foam  6eck'd  are  they. 

And  when  the  sea  puffs  black  from  grey. 

And  ships  part  cables,  loudly  neigh 
The  stalUons  of  Canmrgue,  all  joyful  in  the  roar ; 

And  keen  as  a  whip  they  lash  and  crack 
Their  tails  that  drag  the  dust,  and  back 

Scratch  up  the  earth,  and  feel,  entering  their  flesh,  where  he, 
The  God,  drives  deep  his  trident  teeth, 
^Vho  in  one  horror,  above,  beneath. 
Bids  storm  and  watery  d^uge  seethe. 

And  shatters  to  their  depths  the  abysses  of  the  sea. 

Cant.  iv. 

THE  CRISIS* 

Spirit  of  Russia,  now  has  come 

The  day  when  thou  canst  not  be  dumb. 

Around  thee  foams  the  torrent  tide. 

Above  thee  its  fell  fountain.  Pride. 

The  senseless  rock  awaits  thy  word 

To  crumble ;  shall  it  be  unheard  ? 

Already,  like  a  tempest-sun. 

That  shoots  the  flare  and  shuts  to  dun. 

Thy  land  'twixt  flame  and  darkness  heaves. 

Showing  the  blade  wherewith  Fate  cleaves, 

If  mortals  in  high  courage  fail 

At  the  one  breath  before  the  gale. 

Those  rulers  in  all  forms  of  lust. 

Who  trod  thy  children  down  to  dust 


dbyGoOgk 


,  THE  CRISIS 

On  the  red  Sunday,  know  right  well 

What  word  for  them  thy  voice  would  spell, 

What  quick  perdition  for  them  weave. 

Did  they  in  such  a  voice  believe. 

Not  thine  to  raise  the  avenger's  shriek, 

Nor  turn  to  them  a  Tolstoi  cheek; 

Nor  menace  him,  the  waverer  still, 

Man  of  much  heart  and  little  wilt. 

The  criminal  of  his  high  seat. 

Whose  plea  of  Guiltless  judges  it. 

For  him  thy  voice  shall  bring  to  hand 

Salvation,  and  to  thy  torn  land. 

Seen  on  the  breakers.     Now  has  come 

The  day  when  thou  canst  not  be  dumb. 

Spirit  of  Russia  l— those  who  bind 

Thy  limbs  and  iron-cap  thy  mind. 

Take  thee  for  quaking  flesh,  misdoubt 

That  thou  art  of  the  rabble  rout 

Which  cries  and  flees,  with  wljimpering  lip, 

From  reckless  gun  and  brutal  whip ; 

Sut  he  who  has  at  heart  the  deeds 

Of  thy  heroic  offspring  reads 

In  them  a  soul ;  not  given  to  shrink 

From  peril  on  the  abyss's  brink ; 

With  never  dread  of  murderous  power; 

With  view  beyond  the  crimson  hour ; 

Neither  an  instinct-driven  might. 

Nor  visionary  erudite ; 

A  soul ;  that  art  thou.     It  remains 

For  thee  to  stay  thy  children's  veuis. 

The  countertides  of  hate  arrest. 

Give  to  thy  sons  a  breathing  breast. 

And  Him  resembling,  in  His  sight. 

Say  to  thy  land.  Let  there  be  Ught. 

THE  CENTENARY  OP  GARIBALDI  • 

We  who  have  seen  Italia  in  the  throes, 
Half  risen  but  to  be  hurled  to  ground,  and  now 
Like  a  ripe  field  of  wheat  where  once  drove  plough 
All  bounteous  as  she  b  fair,  we  tbiok  of  those 


d  by  Google 


GARIBALDI  S 

l^lio  blev  the  breath  of  life  into  her  fratne : 
Cavour,  Mazzini,  Garibaldi :  Three : 
Her  Brain,  her  Soul,  her  Sword ;  and  set  her  free 
From  ruinous  discords,  with  one  lustrous  aim. 

That  aim,  albeit  they  were  of  minds  diverse, 
Conjoioed  them,  not  to  strive  without  surcease;' 
For  them  could  be  no  babblement  of  peace 
While  lay  their  country  under  Slavery's  curse. 

The  set  of  torn  Italia's  glorious  day 
Was  ever  sunrise  in  each  filial  breast. 
Of  eagle  beaks  by  righteousness  unblest 
They  felt  her  pulsing  body  made  the  prey. 

Wherefore  they  struck,  and  had  to  count  their  dead. 
With  bitter  smile  of  resolution  nerved 
To  try  new  issues,  holding  faith  unswerved. 
Promise  they  gathered  from  the  rich  blood  shed. 

In  them  Italia,  visible  to  us  then 

As  living,  rose ;  for  proof  that  huge  brute  Force 

Has  never  being  from  celestial  source. 

And  is  the  lord  of  cravens,  not  of  men. 

Now  breaking  up  the  crust  of  temporal  strife. 
Who  reads  their  acts  enshrined  in  History,  sees 
That  Tyrants  were  the  Revolutionaries, 
The  Rebels  men  heart-vowed  to  hallowed  life. 

Pure  as  the  Archangel's  cleaving  Darkness  thro'. 
The  Sword  he  sees,  the  keen  unwearied  Sword, 
A  single  blade  against  a  circling  horde. 
And  aye  for  Freedom  and  the  trampled  few. 

The  cry  of  Liberty  from  dungeon  cell. 
From  exile,  was  his  God's  command  to  smite. 
As  for  a  swim  in  sea  he  joined  the  fight, 
With  radiant  face,  full  sure  that  he  did  weU. 

Behold  a  warrior  dealing  mortal  strokes. 
Whose  nature  was  a  child's :  amid  his  foes 
A  wary  trickster :  at  the  battle's  close. 
No  gentler  friend  this  leopard  dashed  with  fox. 


dbyGoogle 


GARIBALDI 

Down  the  long  roll  of  History  will  run 
The  story  of  those  deeds,  and  speed  his  race 
Beneath  defeat  more  hotly  to  embrace 
The  noble  cause  and  trust  to  another  sun. 

And  lo,  that  aun  is  in  Italia's  skies 
This  day,  by  grace  of  his  good  sword  in  part. 
It  beckons  her  to  keep  a  warrior  heart 
For  guard  of  beauty,  all  too  sweet  a  prize. 

Earth  gave  him :  blessM  be  the  Earth  that  gave. 
Earth's  Master  crowned  his  honest  work  on  earth : 
Proudly  Italia  names  hb  place  of  birth : 
The  bosom  of  Humanity  his  grave. 


THE  WILD  ROSE 

High  climbs  June's  wild  rose. 
Her  bush  all  blooms  in  a  swarm ; 
And  swift  from  the  bud  she  blows. 
In  a  day  when  the  wooer  is  warm ; 
Frank  to  receive  and  give. 
Her  bosom  b  open  to  bee  and  sun : 
Pride  she  has  none. 
Nor  shame  she  knows ; 
Happy  to  live. 

Unlike  those  of  the  garden  ni^, 

Her  queenly  sisters  enthroned  by  art ; 

Loos«iing  petals  one  by  one 

To  the  fiery  Passion's  dart 

Superbly  shy. 

For  them  in  some  glory  of  hair. 

Or  nest  of  the  heaving  mounds  to  lie, 

Or  path  of  the  bride  bestrew. 

Ever  are  they  the  theme  for  song. 

But  nought  of  that  is  her  share. 

Hardly  from  wayfarers  tramping  along, 

A  glance  they  care  not  to  renew. 


dbyGoogle 


THE  WILD  ROSE 

And  she  at  a  word  of  the  claima  of  kin 

Shrinks  to  the  level  of  roads  and  meads : 

She  b  only  a  plsio  princess  of  the  weeds, 

As  an  outcast  witless  of  sin : 

Much  disregarded,  save  by  the  few 

Who  love  her,  that  has  not  a  spot  of  deceit. 

No  promise  of  sweet  beyond  sweet, 

Often  descending  to  sour. 

On  any  fair  breast  she  would  die  in  an  hour. 

Praises  she  scarce  could  bear, 
Were  any  wild  poet  to  praise. 
Her  aim  is  to  rise  into  light  and  air. 
One  of  the  darlings  of  Earth,  no  more. 
And  little  it  seems  in  the  dusty  ways. 
Unless  to  the  grasses  nodding  beneath ; 
The  bird  clapping  wings  to  soar. 
The  clouds  of  an  evetide's  wreath. 


THE  YEARS  HAD  WORN  THEIR  SEASONS'  BELT 

The  years  had  worn  their  seasons'  belt. 

From  bud  to  rosy  prime, 
Since  Nellie  by  the  larch-pole  knelt 

And  helped  the  hop  to  climb. 

Most  diligent  of  teachers  then. 

But  now  with  all  to  learn. 
She  breathed  beyond  a  thought  of  men. 

Though  formed  to  make  men  bum. 

She  dwelt  where  'twixt  low-beaten  thorns 

Two  mill-blades,  like  a  snail, 
Enormous,  with  inquiring  boms. 

Looked  down  on  half  the  vale. 

You  know  the  grey  of  dew  on  grass 

Ere  with  the  young  sun  fired. 
And  you  know  well  the  thirst  one  has 

For  the  coming  and  desired. 


dbyGoogle 


THE  YEARS  HAD  WORN 

Quick  in  our  ring  she  leapt,  and  gave 

Her  hand  to  left,  to  right. 
No  claim  on  her  had  any,  save 

To  feed  the  joy  of  sight. 
For  man  and  maid  a  laughing  word 

She  tossed,  in  notes  as  clear 
As  when  the  February  bird 

Sings  out  that  Spring  is  near. 
Of  what  befell  behind  that  scene. 

Let  none  who  knows  reveal. 
In  ballad  days  she  might  have  been 

A  heroine  rousing  steel. 

On  us  did  she  bestow  the  hour, 

And  fixed  it  firm  in  thought ; 
Her  spirit  like  a  meadow  flower 

That  gives,  and  asks  for  nought. 
She  seemed  to  make  the  sunlight  stay 

And  show  her  in  its  pride. 
O  she  was  fair  as  a  beech  in  May 

With  the  sun  on  the  yonder  side. 
There  was  more  life  than  breath  can  ^ve, 

In  the  looks  in  her  fair  form ; 
For  little  can  we  say  we  live 

Until  the  heart  is  warm. 


ON  COMO 

A  RAINLESS  darkness  drew  o'er  the  lake 

As  we  lay  in  our  boat  with  oars  unshipped. 

It  seemed  neither  cloud  nor  water  awake, 

And  forth  of  the  low  black  curtain  slipped 

Thunderiess  lightning.     Scoff  no  more 

At  angels  imagined  in  downward  flight 

For  the  daughters  of  earth  as  fabled  of  yore: 

Here  was  beauty  might  well  invite 

Dark  heavens  to  gleam  with  the  fire  of  a  sun 

Resurgent ;  here  the  exchanged  embrace 

Worthy  of  heaven  and  earth  made  one. 


dbjGoogle 


FRAGMENTS  « 

And  witness  it,  ye  of  the  privileged  space. 

Said  the  flash ;  and  the  mountains,  as  from  an  abyss 

For  quivering  seconds  leaped  up  to  attest 

That  given,  received,  renewed  was  the  kiss ; 

The  lips  to  lips  and  the  breast  to  breast; 

All  in  a  glory  of  ecstasy,  swift 

Aa  an  eagle  at  prey,  and  pure  as  the  prayer 

Of  an  infant  bidden  joined  hands  uplift 

To  be  guarded  through  darkness  by  spirits  of  air, 

Ere  setting  the  sails  of  sleep  till  day. 

Slowly  the  low  cloud  swung,  and  far 

It  panted  along  its  mirrored  way ; 

Above  loose  threads  one  sanctioning  star, 

The  wonder  of  what  had  been  witnessed,  sealed. 

And  with  me  still  as  in  crystal  glassed 

Are  the  depths  alight,  the  heavens  revealed, 

Where  on  to  the  Alps  the  muteness  passed. 


Open  horizons  round, 

O  mounting  mind,  to  scenes  unsung, 

Wherein  shall  walk  a  lusty  Time: 

Our  Earth  is  young ; 

Of  measure  without  bound ; 

Infinite  are  the  heights  to  climb, 

The  depths  to  sound. 


A  WILDING  little  stubble  flower 
The  sickle  scorned  which  cut  for  wheat. 
Such  was  our  hope  in  that  dark  hour 
When  nought  save  uses  held  the  street. 
And  daily  pleasures,  daily  needs. 
With  barren  vision,  looked  ahead. 
And  still  the  same  result  of  seeds 
Gave  likeness  'twixt  the  live  and  dead. 


dbyGoogle 


Frou  labours  through  the  night,  outworn. 
Above  the  hills  the  front  of  mora 
We  see,  whose  eyes  to  heights  are  raised. 
And  the  worid's  wise  may  deem  us  crazed. 
While  yet  her  lord  lies  under  seas, 
She  takes  us  as  the  wind  the  trees' 
Delighted  leafage;  all  in  song 
We  mount  to  her,  to  her  belong.* 


This  love  of  nature,  that  allures  to  take 
Irregularity  for  harmony 
Of  larger  scope  than  our  hard  measiues  make. 
Cherish  it  as  thy  school  for  when  on  thee 
The  ills  of  life  descend. 


EPITAPHS 

TO  A  FRIEND  LOST 

(tou  tatlor] 

When  I  remember,  friend,  whom  lost  I  call, 

Because  a  man  beloved  is  taken  hence. 

The  tender  humour  and  the  fire  of  sense 

In  your  good  eyes ;  how  full  of  heart  for  all, 

And  chie8y  for  the  weaker  by  the  wall. 

You  bore  that  lamp  of  sane  benevolence ; 

Then  see  1  round  you  Death  his  shadows  dense 

Divide,  and  at  your  feet  his  emblems  fall. 

For  surely  are  you  one  with  the  white  host, 

Spints,  whose  memory  ii  our  vital  air, 

Tiirough  the  great  love  of  Earth  they  had :  lo,  these, 

Uke  beams  that  throw  the  path  on  tossing  seas. 

Can  bid  us  feel  we  keep  them  in  the  ghost. 

Partakers  of  a  strife  they  joyed  to  share. 


dbyGoogle 


M.  M. 

(UARIE  MEREDITH] 

Who  call  her  Mother  and  who  calls  her  Wife 
Look  on  her  grave  and  see  not  Death  but  life. 

LADY  C.  M. 

[lADT  CAROUNE  MAXBE] 

To  them  that  knew  her,  there  is  vital  6ame 
Id  these  the  simple  letters  of  her  name. 
To  them  that  knew  her  not,  be  it  but  said. 
So  strong  a  spirit  is  not  of  the  dead. 

ON  THE  TOMBSTONE  OF 

JAMES  CHRISTOPHER  WILSON 
(d.  APRIL  11, 1884) 

IN  HBADLBT  CHDRCHTARD,   SURRET 

Thou  our  beloved  and  light  of  Earth  bast  crossed 
The  sea  of  darkness  to  the  yonder  shore. 
There  dost  thou  shine  a  light  transferred,  not  lost, 
Through  love  to  kindle  in  our  souls  the  more. 

GORDON  OF  KHARTOUM 

Of  men  he  would  have  raised  to  light  he  fell : 
In  soul  he  conquered  with  those  nerveless  hands. 
His  country's  pride  and  her  abasement  knell 
The  Man  of  England  circled  by  the  sands. 

J.  C.  M. 

[JAHEB  COTTER  MORISON] 

A  FOUNTAIN  of  our  sweetest,  quick  to  spring 
In  fellowship  abounding,  here  subsides : 
And  never  passage  of  a  cloud  on  wing 
To  gladden  blue  forgets  him ;  near  he  hides. 


dbyGoogle 


THE   EMPEROR  FREDERICK  OF  6UR  TIIVIE 

With  Alfred  and  St.  Louk  he  doth  win 
Grander  than  crowned  head's  mortuary  dome: 
His  gentle  heroic  manhood  enters  in 
The  ever-flowering  common  heart  for  home. 


'ISLET'  THE  DACHS 

Our  'Islet'  out  of  Helgoland,  dismissed 

From  his  quaint  tenement,  quits  hates  and  loves. 

There  lived  with  us  a  wagging  humourist 

In  that  hound's  arch  dwarf-legged  on  boxing-gloves. 


OX    HEARING   THE    NEWS    FROM   VENICE 

[the  death  of  ROBERT  BROWNING] 

Now  dumb  is  he  who  waked  the  world  to  speak. 

And  voiceless  hangs  the  world  beside  his  bier. 

Our  words  are  sol^  our  cry  of  praise  a  tear : 

We  are  the  smitten  mortal,  we  the  weak. 

We  see  a  spirit  on  Earth's  loftiest  peak 

Shine,  and  wing  hence  the  way  he  makes  more  clear: 

See  a  great  Tree  of  Life  that  never  sere 

Dropped  leaf  for  aught  that  age  or  storms  might  wTeak. 

Such  ending  is  not  Death :  such  living  shows 

What  wide  illumination  brightness  sheds 

From  one  big  heart,  to  conquer  man's  old  foes : 

The  coward,  and  the  tyrant,  and  the  force 

Of  all  those  weedy  monsters  raising  heads 

When  Song  is  murk  from  springs  of  turbid  source. 


dbyGoogle 


[on  the  death  or  oladstoxe) 

When  comes  the  lighted  day  for  men  to  read 
Life's  meaniag,  with  the  work  before  their  hands 
Till  this  pood  gift  of  breath  from  debt  is  freed, 
Earth  will  not  hear  her  children's  wailful  bands 
Deplore  the  chieftain  fall'n  in  sob  and  dirge ; 
Nor  they  look  where  is  darkness,  but  on  high. 
The  sun  that  dropped  down  our  horizon's  verge 
Illumes  his  labours  through  the  travelled  sky. 
Now  seen  in  sum,  most  glorious ;  and  'tis  known 
By  what  our  warrior  wrought  we  hold  him  fast. 
A  splendid  image  built  of  man  has  flown ; 
His  deeds  inspired  of  God  outstep  a  Past. 
Ours  the  great  privilt^  to  have  had  one 
Among  us  who  celestial  tasks  has  done. 


AT  THE  FU.\ERAL 

FEBRCAKT  2,  1901 

Heb  satred  body  bear:  the  tenement 

Of  that  strong  soul  now  ranked  with  GimI's  Elect 
Her  heart  upon  her  people's  heart  nhe  spent ; 

Hence  is  she  Royalty's  lodestar  U)  direct. 

The  peace  is  hen,  of  whom  all  lands  have  praised 

Majestic  virtues  ere  her  day  uaseen. 
Aloft  the  name  of  Womanhood  she  rai.snl. 

And  gave  new  readings  to  the  Title,  Queen. 


ANGELA  BUKDETT-COl'TTS 

Long  with  us,  now  she  l>^ves  un ;  she  has  rest 

Beneath  our  sscrei]  Mjd : 
A  woman  voved  to  Good,  whom  all  attetit. 

The  da}-ligbt  gift  of  God. 


dbyGoogle 


THE  YEAR'S  SHEDDINGS 

[dead  leaves] 

The  varied  coloura  are  a  fitful  heap : 
They  pass  in  constant  service  though  they  sleep ; 
The  self  gone  out  of  them,  therewith  the  piun : 
Read  that,  who  still  to  spell  our  earth  remain. 


YOUTH  IN  AGE 

Once  I  was  part  of  the  music  I  heard 
On  the  boughs  or  sweet  between  earth  aad  sky. 
For  joy  of  the  beating  of  wings  on  high 

My  heart  shot  into  the  breast  of  the  bird. 

I  hear  it  now  and  I  see  it  fly. 
And  a  life  in  wrinkles  again  is  stirred. 
My  heart  shoots  into  the  breast  of  the  bird. 

As  it  will  for  sheer  love  till  the  last  long  sigh. 


dbyGoogle 


APPENDIX 


LOVE  IN  THE  VALLEY 

[nitST  VERSION,   FROM   'POEUB,'    18Sl] 

Under  yonder  beech-tree  standing  on  the  green  sward, 

Couch'd  with  her  arma  behind  her  little  head. 
Her  knees  folded  up,  and  her  tresses  on  her  bosom, 

Ues  my  young  love  sleeping  in  the  shade. 
Had  I  the  heart  to  slide  one  arm  beneath  her  I 

Press  her  dreaming  lips  as  her  waist  I  folded  slow. 
Waking  on  the  instant  she  could  not  but  embrace  me — 

Ah  I  would  she  bold  me,  and  never  let  me  go  ? 

Shy  as  the  squirrel,  and  wayward  as  the  swallow ; 

Swift  as  the  swallow  when  athwart  the  western  flood 
Circleting  the  surface  he  meets  his  mirror'd  wioglets, — 

Is  that  dear  one  in  her  maiden  bud. 
Shy  as  the  squirrel  whose  nest  is  in  the  pine  tops ; 

Gentle — ah  1  that  she  were  jealous  as  the  dove  1 
Full  of  all  the  wildness  of  the  woodland  creatures, 

Happy  in  herself  is  the  maiden  that  I  love  1 

What  can  have  taught  her  distrust  of  all  I  tdl  herT 

Can  she  truly  doubt  me  when  looking  on  my  brows  T 
Nature  never  teaches  distrust  of  tender  love-tales. 

What  can  have  taught  her  distrust  of  all  my  vowsf 
No,  she  does  not  doubt  me !  on  a  dewy  eve-tide 

Whispering  together  beneath  the  listening  moon, 
I  pray'd  till  her  cheek  flush'd,  implored  till  she  faltered— 

Fluttered  to  my  bosom — ah  I  to  fly  away  so  soon ! 

When  her  mother  tends  her  before  the  laughing  mirror. 

Tying  up  her  laces,  looping  up  her  hair. 
Often  she  thinks— were  this  wild  thing  wedded, 

I  should  have  more  love,  and  much  less  care. 


>y  Google 


574  APPENDIX 

When  her  mother  tends  her  before  the  bashful  mirror, 
Loosening  her  lices,  combing  down  her  curls, 

Often  she  thinks — were  this  wild  thing  wedded, 
I  should  lose  but  one  for  so  many  boys  and  girls. 

Clambering  roses  peep  into  her  chamber. 

Jasmine  and  woodbine,  breathe  sweet,  sweet. 
White-necked  swallows  twittering  of  Summer, 

Fill  her  with  balm  and  nested  peace  from  head  to  feet. 
Ah  !  will  the  rose-bough  see  her  lying  lonely. 

When  the  petals  fall  and  fierce  bloom  is  on  the  leaves  ? 
Will  the  Autumn  gamers  see  her  still  ungathered. 

When  the  fickle  swallows  forsake  the  weeping  eaves  ? 

Comes  a  sudden  question — should  a  strange  hand  pluck  herl 

Oh  1  what  an  anguish  smites  me  at  the  thought. 
Should  some  idle  lordling  bribe  her  mind  with  jewels  I — 

Can  such  beauty  ever  thus  be  bought? 
Sometimes  the  huntsmen  prancing  down  the  valley 

Eye  the  village  lasses,  full  of  sprightly  mirth ; 
They  sec  as  I  see,  mine  is  the  fairest  I 

Would  she  were  older  and  could  read  my  worth  I 

Are  there  not  sweet  maidens  If  she  still  deny  met 

Show  the  bridal  Heavens  but  one  bright  star? 
Wherefore  thus  then  do  I  chase  a  shadow. 

Clattering  one  note  like  a  brown  eve-jarf 
So  I  rhyme  and  reason  till  she  darts  before  me — 

Thro'  the  milky  meadows  from  flower  to  flower  she  flies. 
Sunning  her  sweet  palms  to  shade  her  dazzled  eyelids 

From  the  golden  love  that  looks  too  eager  in  her  eyes. 

When  at  dawn  she  wakens,  and  her  fair  face  gazes 

Out  on  the  weather  thro'  the  window  panes. 
Beauteous  she  looks !  like  a  white  water-lily 

Bursting  out  of  bud  on  the  rippled  river  plains. 
When  from  bed  she  rises  clothed  from  neck  to  ankle 

In  her  long  nightgown,  sweet  as  boughs  of  May, 
Beauteous  she  looks  !  like  a  tall  garden  lily 

Pure  from  the  night  and  perfect  for  the  day  I 


dbyGoogle 


APPENDIX  575 

Happy,  happy  time,  when  the  grey  star  twinkles 

Over  the  fields  all  fresh  with  bloomy  dew ; 
When  the  cold-cheeked  dawn  grows  ruddy  up  the  twilight. 

And  the  gold  sun  wakes,  and  weda  her  in  the  blue. 
Then  when  my  darling  tempts  the  early  breezes. 

She  the  only  star  that  dies  not  with  the  dark  I 
Powerless  to  speak  all  the  ardour  o(  my  passion 

I  catch  her  little  hand  as  we  listen  to  the  lark. 

Shall  the  birds  in  vain  then  valentine  their  sweethearts. 

Season  after  season  tell  a  fruitless  tale? 
Will  not  the  virgin  listen  to  their  voices, 

Take  the  honeyed  meaning,  wear  the  bridal  veil  ? 
Fears  she  frost  of  winter,  fears  she  the  bare  branches  ? 

Waits  she  the  garlands  of  spring  for  her  dower? 
Is  she  a  nightingale  that  will  not  be  nested 

Till  the  April  woodland  has  built  her  bridal  bower? 

Then  come  merry  April  with  all  thy  birds  and  beauties ! 

With  thy  crescent  brows  and  thy  flowery,  showery  glee: 
With  thy  budding  leafage  and  fresh  green  pastures ; 

And  may  thy  lustrous  crescent  grow  a  honeymoon  for  met 
Come  merry  month  of  the  cuckoo  and  the  violet ! 

Come  weeping  Loveliness  in  all  thy  blue  delight  1 
Lo !  the  nest  is  ready,  let  me  not  languish  longer  I 

Bring  her  to  my  arms  on  the  first  May  night. 


POEMS  SELECTED  FROM  THE  NOVELS 
SONG  OF  RUARK  TO  BHANAVAR  THE  BEAUTIFUL 

[from   'the  3HAVIN0  OF  SHAGPAT*]- 

Shall  I  counsel  the  moon  in  her  ascending? 
Stay  under  that  tall  palm-tree  through  the  night ; 

Rest  on  the  mountain-slope 

By  the  couching  antelope, 
O  thou  enthroned  supremacy  of  light  I 


dbyGoogle 


576  APPENDIX 

And  for  ever  the  lustre  thou  art  lending. 
Lean  on  the  fair  long  brook  that  leaps  and  leaps, — 
Silvery  leaps  and  falls. 
Hang  by  the  mountain  walls. 
Moon  I  and  arise  no  more  to  crown  the  steeps. 
For  a  danger  and  dolour  is  thy  wending ! 

THE  TEACHING  OF  THE  BLOWS  OF  FORTUNE 
[from  'the  bhavino  op  shacpat'] 

Ye  that  nourish  hopes  of  fame  ! 

Ye  who  would  be  known  in  song ! 
Fonder  old  history,  and  duly  frame 
Your  souls  to  meek  acceptance  of  the  thong. 

Lo  1  of  hmidreds  who  aspire, 

Eighties  perish — nineties  tire ! 
They  who  bear  up,  in  spite  of  wrecks  and  wracks. 
Were  season'd  by  celestial  hail  of  thwacks. 

Fortune  in  this  mortal  race 

Builds  on  thwackings  for  its  base; 
Thus  the  All-Wise  doth  make  a  flail  a  staff. 
And  separates  his  heavenly  com  from  chaS. 

Think  ye,  had  he  never  known 

Nooroa  a  belabouring  crone, 
Shibli  Bagarag  would  have  shaved  Shagp£t7 
The  unthwack'd  lives  in  chronicle  a  rat  1 

'Tis  the  thwacking  in  this  den 

Maketh  lions  of  true  men ! 
So  are  we  nerved  to  break  the  clinging  mesh 
Which  tames  the  noblest  efforts  of  poor  flesh. 

THE  OPERA  OF  CAMILLA 

[from  'vittobia'] 
r.mitii.    H,n».w^  ly  Camilm) 

not  hard  to  bear, 
iks  up  my  blood  so  fast 
breads  of  my  own  hair 
the  one  I  cast 


dbyGoogle 


APPENDIX  t 

That  midnight  from  my  window,  when  you  stood 
AJooe,  and  heaven  seemed  to  love  you  so  I 
I  did  not  think  to  wet  it  with  my  blood 
When  next  I  tossed  it  to  my  love  below. 

Cauillo  (cherishing  her) 
iCamilla,  pity !  say  you  will  not  die. 
Your  voice  is  like  a  soul  lost  in  the  sky. 

Camilla. 
I  know  not  if  my  soul  has  flown ;  I  know 
My  body  is  a  weight  I  cannot  raise : 
My  voice  between  them  issues,  and  I  go 
Upon  a  journey  of  uncounted  days. 
Forgetfulness  is  like  a  closing  sea ; 
But  you  are  very  bright  above  me  still. 
My  life  I  give  as  it  was  given  to  me : 
I  enter  on  a  darkness  wide  and  chilL 

Camillo 

0  noble  heart  I  a  million  fires  consume 

The  hateful  hand  that  sends  you  to  your  doom. 
Camilla 
There  b  an  end  to  joy :  there  is  no  end 
To  striving ;  therefore  ever  let  U3  strive 
In  purity  that  shall  the  toil  befriend. 
And  keep  our  poor  mortality  alive. 
I  hang  upon  the  boundaries  like  light 
Along  the  hills  when  downward  goes  the  day ; 
I  feel  the  silent  creeping  up  of  night. 
For  you,  my  husband,  lies  a  flaming  way. 

Camillo 

1  lose  yoiir  eyes :  I  lose  your  voice :  'tis  faint. 
Ah,  Christ !  see  the  fallen  eyelids  of  a  saint. 

Camilla 
Our  life  is  but  a  little  holding,  lent 
To  do  a  mighty  labour :  we  are  one 
With  heaven  and  the  stars  when  it  is  spent 
To  serve  God's  aim :  else  die  we  with  Uie  sun. 


Digitized  byGOOgle 


VITTORIA'S  DYING  SONG  IN  THE  OPERA  OF 
CAMILLA,  MILAN,  1847 

I  CANNOT  count  the  years, 

That  you  will  drinJc,  like  me. 
The  cup  of  blood  and  tean. 
Ere  she  to  you  appears : — 
Italia,  Italia  shall  be  free! 

You  dedicate  your  Uvea 

To  her,  and  you  will  be 
The  food  on  which  she  thrives, 
"nil  her  great  day  arrivea : — 
Italia,  Italia  shall  be  free! 

She  asks  you  but  for  faith  T 

Your  faith  in  her  takes  she 
As  draughts  of  heaven's  breath. 
Amid  defeat  and  death : — 
Italia,  Italia  shall  be  free! 

I  enter  the  black  boat 

Upon  the  wide  grey  sea. 
Where  all  her  set  suns  float ; 
Thence  hear  my  voice  remote : — 
Italia,  Italia  shall  be  free! 


dbyGOOgIt 


CHILLIANWALLAH,  pp.  1-2. 

Meredith's  Ant  eztaiit  poem,  written  uid  publlsbed  br  blm  at  the 

*ge  or  twentj-one.  The  battle  of  ChlUlanwallkh.  ooe  of  the  moat 
Banguloari'  la  the  Sikh  wan.  wu  fought  oD  Juioar;  13.  1S49.  The 
poem  appeared  Id  Chambert'  SiKnfrureft  Journal  on  July  7  of  that  rear. 

THE  FLOWER  OF  THE  RUINS,  pp.  19-22. 

Thta  last  dBUgbl«r  of  a  Unglr  vanlahed  race,  alnglng  In  the  rulna. 
and  alDging  not  only  of  Autumn  but  of  Spring,  embodies  the  spirit 
that  sorrows  for  the  loat  and  gone,  and  ret  will  not  nurse  Mnrow  to 
Its  own  destruction,  but  ever  goes  forward  without  being  parali'sed 
by  the  tragedy  of  the  past. 

SOUTH-WEST  WIND  IN  THE  WOODLAND,  pp.  2M. 

This  youthful  poem,  published  In  IBSl,  sbonld  be  compared  to 
the  'Ode  to  the  Spirit  of  Earth  hi  Autumn'  (1862).  pp.  172-8,  which 
appears  to  have  grown  out  of  It. 

■  *  Long  w^ted  there,'  etc. 

The  south-west  wind  has  been  long  expected  In  the  woods,  bo- 
cause  the  aspens,  more  sensitive  than  the  other  trees,  have  felt  early 
premonitions  of  his  coming. 


DAPHNE,  pp.  35-42. 

Daphne  is  loved  by  Apollo,  the  sun-god,  who  woos  her  Qrat  In 
the  form  of  the  waters  of  the  river  Peneus.  then  In  human  shape. 
When  she  is  yielding  to  him  she  la  warned  by  a  severe  look  from 
DIan,  godden  of  chastity  and  oT  the  moon,  who  Is  vanishing  at  the 
coming  of  the  sun-god.  Thus  warned.  Daphne  flees  from  his  embraces, 
but  is  overtaken  by  him  in  the  forast,  and  It  delivered  from  him  only 
by  being  transformed  into  a  laurel-tree. 

<  Cytherea' Aphrodite  (Venus),  Greek  goddess  of  love  and  beauty. 
She  possessed  a  magic  girdle  which  bad  tb«  power  of  inspiring  love 
and  dedre  for  those  who  wore  it. 


dbjGoogle 


PASTORAI£  01),  pp.  48-60. 

<  Triptclemua  vu  the  young  legendary  hero  vbo  waa  ungbl  tlia 
arts  of  ssriculture  by  Cem  (Demeter). 

■  Demeter'i  daugbMr  Proaerplne  «m  Ckrrled  off  by  Pluto,  god  of 
the  nnderw<Hid. 

SORROWS  AND  JOYS,  pp.  56-7. 

' '  Both '  =  the  tarraai  that  have  riwn  to  the  sky  above  and  become 
starry  aplrits  (no  longer  'the  uhen  fruit  of  bId'  which  they  onoe  were) 
— and  the  tayi  that  are  QoTarlng  'children  of  earth'  below. 

ANTIGONE,  pp.  58-9. 

Antigone  had  two  brotben.  Etaoclee  and  Polyneloea.  Tbe  latter, 
having  been  expelled  from  Thebes  by  the  former,  marched  agalnat  the 
dly,  In  the  war  of  'Seven  agaloBt  Thebes."  The  two  brothen  fell  In 
the  battle,  aod  Creon.  »bo  had  succeeded  to  the  throne,  tsmed  an 
edict  forbidding  the  burial  of  the  bodlea.  under  penalty  of  death. 
ADtlgone.  notwithstandlDg.  burled  her  brother  Polyneloes.  and  waa 
therefore   'led   forth'   to   execution,   aa   the   laat   tine   of   this  poem 


THE  SHIPWRECK  OF  IDOMENEUS,  pp,  65-74. 

When  the  Oreeka  ealled  to  tbeir  bomee  after  the  aack  of  Troy, 
PoMldOD,  tb«  sea-god.  waa  wroth,  and  aenC  a  tempest  to  acatter  them. 
Idomeneus  of  Crete  vowed  to  Poseldoo  to  aacrlBce  whatever  he  should 
first  meet  on  hia  landing.  If  the  god  would  grant  bin  safe  return. 
The  atorm  abaMd.  but  the  flrat  person  he  met  on  landing  was  his  own 
son.     He  sacrificed  him ;   aod  the  Ct«taiu  In  anger  drove  Idomoieus 

PICTURES  OF  THE  RHINE,  pp.  8(k2. 

'Terae  it  refsra  to  the  'little  Isle'  of  Nonoenwertb  in  the  Bliine 
between  Bonn  and  LIni.  On  the  west  bank  of  Che  river,  over  agalnat 
the  Island,  rise*  the  hill  and  ruined  caatle  of  RolaDdsecli,  aald  Co  have 
been  built  by  ChBTlemagne*!  paladin  Roland  aa  his  place  of  retire- 
ment, when  be  found  that  his  lady-love  Hlldegard  had  become  a  nun 
under  the  mistaken  beUef  that  he  had  perished  In  war  with  the 
lafldels. 

TO  ALEX.  SMITH,  THE  'GLASGOW  POET,'  p.  83. 

This  sonnet  appeared  In  The  Leeitr,  Deoember  30,  1861.  The 
brother-poet  to  whom  It  waa  addressed  was  not  at  that  time  twenty- 
one  years  of  age.  and  his  work  had  scarcely  begun  to  gain  general 
attention.  He  lived  until  1807,  and  his  poems  eventually  attracted 
serious  notice  from  the  public  and  from  Matthew  Arnold  and  Clough: 
the  latter  called  him  '  the  latest  diMiple  of  the  school  of  Eeata.' 


dbjGooglt 


THE  HEAD  OF  BRAN  THE  BLEST,  pp.  lOft-2. 

Bmi,  BOD  of  LI;t.  was  (bs  lesendarr  hero  of  the  Welih  M&binogl 
of  Bnuwen.  Many  curlou*  legend*,  ot  pre-CbrlstUo  origlD.  grew 
round  the  naine  of  Brui  In  primitive  timea.  One  of  tbeae  here  4ppekn 
In  k  ChriaU&n  and  >  Utenur  form. 

■  A  'torque'  la  a  twisted  collar  of  annlet  of  gold,  •adeotlT  worn 
by  the  Gallic,  Celtic,  and  klodred  racea. 

BY  THE  ROSANNA,  pp.  107-12. 

■  The  marriage  of  the  splrll  of  the  Alpine  rainbow  to  the  London 
cabman  U  a  humorou*  exprotdon  of  a  rundamentsl  conviction  of  the 
poet's;  the  spirit  of  Nature  at  her  lonelleM  and  moat  'poeUe' — 'the 
Nrmph' — miut  be  united  to  the  spirit  ot  everydair  humanity  at  lU 
conunoneat.  until  we  can  feel  Chat  the  aame  eaaence  stirs  both. 

•The  poem  was  addressed  to  'A  Friend — V.  M,.'  tIi.  Captain  (after- 
wards Admiral)  Maiae,  R.  N,.  who  had  fought  In  the  Crimean  War 
by  the  'Euilne,'  as  readers  of  SraueAamp  will  remeinber. 


PHANTASY,  pp.  112-16. 

The  poet  Is  starting  on  a  Journer  to  the  Rhine  and  Alps  <iii) 
with  'cynical  Adrian' — a  name  perbapa  choaen  in  reminiscence  of 
'the  wise  youth'  in  Richard  Fewerel,  which  waa  published  only  two 
jean  befon  this  poem.  Before  leaTlng  London  be  has  watched  the 
danoer  'Will'  twirling  In  the  opera  house,  the  'Temple  of  the  Toes.' 
but  he  itUl  sighs  for  bis  village  maiden  (i).  At  Bruges,  tbe  'old 
dMtd  dty  with  the  bmous  chimes  In  the  belfry  ot  the  Bailee  (ii). 
he  haa  a  nightmare  which  forms  the  aublect  ot  the  poem.  He  dreams 
that  he  Is  being  married  to  the  opera  dancer  In  a  gbaatly.  monldsb 
bridal  (r-xvi).  and  then  that  he  la  lured  to  watery  destruction  by 
siren*  (xvii-xxii),  and  at  last  Just  saved  by  the  sudden  vision  ot  his 
true  love,  his  'village  lUy'  (xiiti-xxix).  In  xxi  'Adrian'  wakens 
tbe  poet  from  bl*  dream  by  throwing  water  over  him. 

THE  PROMISE  IN  DISTURBANCE,  p.  133. 

Tbe  'Promise  in  Disturbance'  Is  an  Introduction  t«  'Modem  Love.' 
written  many  years  after  the  poem  Itaelf.  The  'primal  thunder'  In 
line  a  Is  the  thunder  beard  In  heaven  on  tbe  tall  of  Ludter  and  his 


MODERN  LOVE,  pp.  133-SS. 

I.  'He'  and  'she'  are  the  busband  and  wife,  who  loved  each  other 
once,  but  whose  love  haa  long  been  dying.  They  are  lying  awake  at 
midnight,  side  by  side,  but  divided  In  heart.  The  years  past  are 
Imagined  (U.  13-lS)  as  forming  a  dreary  calendar  written  by  the  band 
of  Regret  oo  tbe  wall  hdng  them  as  they  lie. 


dbjGoogle 


582  NOTES 

III.  This  la  the  flrat  ot  the  looaetat  lo  which  the  faiubuid  (peiJcs  In 
his  own  peraon — u  'I.'  'The  m&n'  In  line  1  (referred  to  In  the  rest 
of  the  ■unnet  u  'he'  or  'him')  Is  the  other  man,  on  vhom  the  wife  la 
beslaalDg  to  look  with  fSTOur. 

IV.  r.  'He'  is  now  ac&iD  the  hnsbutd.  In  v  (I.  14)  the  'erea 
nurtured  to  be  looked  at'  Instead  of  to  look,  are  his  wife's  ejrea.  which 
bll  to  see  taow  near  he  still  is  u>  loving  her  poulonatdy. 

VI.  In  the  Drtt  two  and  last  two  Unea  of  vi.  the  poet  Is  speaking, 
but  in  all  the  middle  part  of  the  sonnet  the  husband  Is  speaking  in  bia 
own  penon.  He  calls  himseir  a  'tender  fool'  to  believe  any  longer 
tbat  she  loves  him.  He  sa;s  that  love  Is  not  dead  in  her,  but  has 
been  transferred  by  her  to  another  object;  he  knows  this  since  lie 
heard  her  panlanate  sobbing  at  midnight.  He  Is  tempted  to  fling  at 
ber  the  hardest  of  all  names  for  a  woman. 

Tii,  VIII.  The  husband  la  spealclDg. 

II.  The  poet  Is  speaking,  and  'be'  Is  the  husband.  But  In  the  last 
four  lines  of  ii  the  husband  speaks,  and  continues  to  do  so  from 
X  to  XL VIII  inclusive. 

X.  This  sonnet  suggests  the  original  eauw  of  the  division :  when 
the  first  rush  of  their  love-passion  had  calmed  down,  and  other 
interests  called  to  the  husband,  the  wife  resented  hla  caring  for 
anything  save  their  lovers'  ■alBshneas  i  dtui.  3he  looked  to  him  to 
be  always  her  '  Fairy  Prince,'  bringing  her  nothing  but  the  joys  of  love, 
rather  than  to  become  a  comrade  in  work  for  the  world.  Cf.  lines  7-S 
of  sonnet  i.  and  last. 

iiii.  The  husband  tries  vainly  to  persuade  hlmaelf  that  it  is  the 
law  of  Nature,  and  should  be  the  law  of  mortal  men,  that  everjitbing, 
including  love,  has  its  season  and  muat  pass.  In  the  last  line 
'for  ever'  is  a  noun  and  the  subject  of  'whirls,'  to  which  'life'  Is 
the  object. 

XIV.  In  lines  d-8  ws  have  the  Dnt  mention  of  the  'Lady,'  gold- 
haired  and  witty,  with  whom  the  husband  seeks  distraction  laler 
on  (iivii.  nil).  His  wife.  'Madam.'  thinks  tbat  he  Is  attractml 
by  the  'Lady'  and  Is  Jealous.  The  husband  says  tiiat  If  liis  wife  tries 
to  win  bim  back  to  her  while  at  the  same  time  playing  with  the  other 
man  herself,  he  would  feel  for  her  a  contempt  that  would  kill  hla 
present  sufferliig, '  the  nobler  agony.' 

XV.  He  ahows  his  wife  two  love-letters,  one  which  she  wrote  to 
him  In  the  old  days,  and  one  which  she  has  written  now  to  the  other 

XVIII.  I.  11.  Amphioa  was  a  legendary  singer  of  Greece,  who,  like 
Orplieus,  charmed  the  trees  Into  movemeat.  The  tall  dancing 
country  lass  seemed  to  the  lad's  fancy  like  an  oak-tree  moving  to 

XXVII.  He  seeks  'distraction'  by  phllnndering  with  the  'golden 
liead'  with  'wit  in  It*  (xiv  and  xxxi).  This  personage  In  the  poem 
Is  always  called  'Lady'  or  'my  Lady.'  while  the  wife  la  '  Madam.' 

I  Swinburne  wrote  of  them  as '  sonnela,'  though  tbey  have  sixteen  lines  each. 


dbjGoogle 


NOTES  583 

x*x.  A*  tbe  two  praeedlng  wnineta  have  ilioirn,  tbe  hiubvtd  ti 
XBttlns  llule  saUafacHon.  save  to  hla  vanJCr.  out  or  b[B  neir  amour. 
Thla  ■onnet  <iii)  opeiu  with  sU  noble  llnea  on  the  triumph  Of  Love 
over  the  fear  of  Death.  But  from  line  9  to  the  end  the  huiband'a 
CTnlcal  mood  And*  expreolon :  he  says  that  Nature  Is  a  decepUve 
anil  cruel  mother;  the  young,  In  the  purity  and  joy  of  their  Bnt  lore, 
seem  to  be  her  bappleat  children  and  cloae  to  her.  but  they  do  not 
know  ber,  or  realise  that  her  law  Is  that  Love  should  be  only  for  tbe 
day  (cf.  Till).  She  t«achea  them  by  tbe  torture  of  loss  to  live  for 
the  day  only,  and  to  study  themselves  sclentUICBlly  aa  animals  with 
111111111  devlra. 

xvxiii  refers  to  Bapbael's  picture  of  the  spruce  and  comfortable 
youns  archangel  slayias  the  Bend.  He  look*  'too  serene'  for  hard 
flshtlns.  like  the  young  Roman  dandles  at  the  battle  of  Pharaalla. 
In  the  real  itroBgle  of  men  and  devil,  men  become  'halt  serpent,' 
and  It  Is  lucky  If  the  Bend  irows  half  human. 

xiziv.  His  wttO  b  drawing  nearer  to  blm  once  more,  and  make* 
•dvancea  towards  an  explanation.  He  freezes  her  with  polite  banter. 
It  Is  his  worst  crime,  and  be  soon  pays  the  penalty  (iut). 

xixviii.  He  asks  'my  Lady'  to  give  him  an  Ideal  love,  tbe  only 
alternative  to  more  carnal  appetite — 'vUeness.'  For,  as  to  his  wife, 
be  aax  no  longer  even  pity  her,  who  slew  tbe  love  that  was  between 
him  and  her,  and  who,  how  that  It  Is  dead.  senUmraitally  prliea  It. 
Tharetore  he  insists  oo  being  allowed  to  love  'my  Lady,'  or  he  will 


zziix.  'My  Lady'  has  conceded  his  request  of  the  previous  sonnet. 
Tbe  sUent  moon,  as  eiquWte  as  music,  seems  to  him  a  symbol  of  his 
'Lady,'  and  the  sound  of  tbe  moonlit  stream  like  a  song  from  ber. 
Suddenly  his  wife  appears  with  the  other  man. 

XL.  In  a  revulsion  of  feeling  he  has  to  ask  himself  whether  he  can 
be  Jealous  of  his  wife  while  loving  'my  Lady.'  Tbe  shock  of  the  scene 
In  the  wood  has  effected  a  change  In  his  attitude  towards  bis  wife. 
Tbe  note  of  cynicism  that  marked  the  middle  of  the  poem,  disappears 
entirely  from  tbe  husband's  solUoqulss. 

lu.  Husband  and  wife  agree  to  forgive  each  other  and  renew  their 
love,  though  not  without  misgivings  tbat  tbey  are  talflog  up  'a  Uto- 
leM  TOW  to  rob  a  living  passion.' 

iLii,  IL1I1.  Tbe  renewal  ot  perfect  love  between  husband  and  wife 
Is  Impossible.  They  seeii  reruge  from  this  truth  In  each  other'*  arms : 
but  there  the  barren  fact  Is  all  tbe  more  apparent. 

Their  kisses  being  'unbleat'  by  love,  only  serve  to  separate  tbem. 
He  learn*  this,  and  next  morning  wanders  disconsolate  by  the  sea- 

XLiv.  II.  T-IO.  Had  she.  In  tbe  early  days  ot  their  division,  only 
made  Mm  suffer  and  not  estranged  him.  It  might  have  been  possible 
for  him  to  meet  her  heart  now  with  no  shadow  Of  hypocrisy  In  bis 
own.  LI.  II-IQ:  as  It  Is.  she  detects  that  bis  restored  affection  Is  more 
pity  than  love,  and  will  have  none  ot  It. 


dbjGoogle 


684  NOTES 

ZLT.  Id  the  night  of  this  misery,  he  rememben  bla  drekm  of  lora 
wtth  the  'IdUJy.'  Etla  wife  dlBCenu  tbU,  from  the  incident  of  the 
rose,  and  haa  an  agoDlsIng  Bt  of  Jealousy. 

XLTi.  She  seeks  an  Interview  with  tiie  otiicr  man.  courtooiuly 
Interruptied  by  her  husband.  Before  she  CAn  speak  he  assurea  her 
tiiat  he  has  no  base  suspicions. 

XLTiii.  After  a  real  explanation,  from  wiiich  lie  vainly  hoped  tbat 
a  settled  relationship  would  emerse.  Ills  wife  flies,  with  tlie  quixotic 
desire  to  leave  him  free  to  return  to  his  'Lady.'  He  knows  that  such 
is  lier  motive,  but  fears  the  world  will  attribute  to  her  a  worse  one. 

lui.  la  the  last  two  sonaets  of  the  sequence,  the  poet  speaks,  and 
'he'  onca  more  means  the  husband.  He  follows  his  wife  and  flods 
Iter  by  tbe  sea.  She  thinks  his  love  for  her  has  returned,  and  allows 
herself  to  dream  that  their  old  mutual  relatloos  are  restored.  But 
she  knows  her  own  heart  well  enough  to  be  aware  that  this  Is  ■  dream, 
and  to  forestall  the  awakening  she  eommlls  suldde — the  'strength'  of 
tbe  'desperate  weak.'  (Meredith  told  the  writer  of  these  notes  that 
he  meant  tbat  she  killed  herself.) 


THE  PATRIOT  ENGINEER,  pp.  155-9. 

Tbe  young  poet  and  bis  companion,  on  a  pleasure  tour  that  talcea 
them  to  the  Alps,  fail  in  with  an  English  engineer,  on  board  a  Meuse 
steamer.  He  is  returning  home  to  Englaod.  having  thrown  up  Ills 
employment  In  Hungary,  out  of  disgust  with  the  Austrian  tyrannr 
over  tbe  brave  Magyar  patriots,  which  he  can  no  longer  endure  to 
witness  In  silence.     Tbe  historical  events  referred  to  are  Uiose  of  164B. 

■The  'traitor'  refers  to  OArgel.  the  general  who  effected  tiie  sur- 
render of  the  Magyar  army  at  VUagAs  on  Aug.  13.  1S49.  The  'two 
despots'  were  Russia  and  Austria.  Their  combined  torcea  rendered 
the  suhmlssloQ  at  Vllagfis  necessary  In  the  eyes  of  Gbrgei.  who  was 
therefore  long  regarded  oa  a  traitor  by  hia  countrymen — unjustly,  as 
Meredith  himself  thought  In  later  years  when  he  had  read  tbe  history. 

'  Following  on  the  surrender  of  VUagAs.  the  Austrians  shot  tour 
and  hanged  nine  of  the  lurrendered  Magyar  generals. 

•  The  'Double-Head'  Is  the  two-headed  Austrian  eagle,  the  'beastly 
Bird'  of  the  next  ■tania. 


CASSANDRA,  pp.  159-62. 
.  daughter  ot  Priam  of  Troy,  was  loved  by  ApoUo.  tbe 
sun-god.  who  taught  her  tbe  secrets  of  prophecy :  hut  Dndlng  his  love 
unrequited,  he  laid  upon  iier  tliB  curse  that  no  ooe  should  believe  ber. 
When  therefore  she  foretold  tbe  evil  coming  on  Troy  (lUon).  tier 
brethren  thought  ber  mad.  'When  this  poem  opens,  the  doom  liaa 
already  fallen  on  Illon.  which  has  been  burnt  by  the  O reeks 
(Argtvee)  after  the  'Ten-Years'  TbIb'  of  the  siege.  Cassandra's  hero 
lirethren  are  all  slain,  and  glimmer  as  ghosts  that  iiave  passed  the 
stream  of  ocean  to  Hades.     She  herself  is  lielDg  led  captive  In  the 


dbjGoogle 


NOTES  685 

tllen  ahlps  b]r  Ajtamemnon.  king  of  men.  In  verae  it  he  reaches  his 
home  In  Argos,  In  hla  canqlieror'a  car,  with  Caanuidrti,  'bi<  Aalaa 
tempeBt-atu,'  captive  at  hla  aide.  HU  wire  Clytemneatra,  'the 
purple  Queen.'  cornea  to  welcome  him  Into  hli  iiaiace:  but.  aa  he 
paaaea  Into  the  fatal  houae,  Caaaandra.  In  a,  laat  atrugile  and  apaam 
or  prophecy  (iiv-xv),  toreaeea  that  Clytemneetnt  la  about  to  commit  the 
'deed  that  abame*  the  sky' — the  murder  of  her  huaband  Aiamemnon 
(iviii).  Caasaodra  ahares  Asamemiion'R  rai«  (xix).  In  xt  '  Helios'  la 
the  sun  (Apollo). 


ODE  TO  THE  SPIRIT  OF  EARTH  IN  AUTUMN, 
pp.  172-S. 

Compara  the  early  poem  'South-Wen  Wind  In  the  Woodland' 
(1S61),  pp.  23-6,  where  some  of  the  Ideas,  phraseology,  and  spirit  of  this 
■  Ode '  may  be  foimd  In  embryo. 


Hark  to  her  laughter  I    And  would  you  wondf 
To  hear  amazing  laughter  thunder 
From  one  who  contemplateth  man? — 
Knowing  the  plan  1 
The  great  procession  of  the  Comedy, 
Paaaes  before  her.     Let  tha  curtain  down  1 
For  she  must  laugh  to  shake  her  alairy  crown. 
To  mark  the  strange  perversions  that  are  we ; 
Who  boUt  our  ihoulden  confldenc  of  wings. 
When  we  have  named  her  Ashes,  dug  her  ditch : 
Who  do  regard  her  as  a  damned  witch. 
Fair  to  the  eye.  but  full  of  foulest  things. 
We.  pious  humpback  mountebanks  meanwhile. 
Break  off  our  antics  to  stand  forth,  «hll«-eyed, 
And  tOndly  hope  for  our  Creator's  smile. 
By  tdllng  him  that  his  prime  work  Is  vile. 
Whom,  through  our  no«B,  we  've  renounced,  dcnl 

Good  fHtnds  of  mine,  who  love  b«r. 

And  would  not  see  ber  bleeding : 

The  Uibt  that  Is  above  her. 

From  eyesight  la  receding, 

A«  ever  we  grow  older. 

And  blood  is  waxing  odder. 

But  grasp  tn  spirit  tightly. 

That  ahe  Is  no  pretendtt. 

While  Mill  the  aye  eeee  brightly.— 

Then  darkness  knows  her  spkudour. 

And  coldDesa  feels  her  glory. 

As  In  yon  cloud-acud  hoary. 

From  gloom  to  gloom  swlTt  winging. 

The  sunset  l»am>  have  found  mo  : 

111  this  blank  roar  around  me  I 


dbjGoogle 


NOTES 

Friendil  we  an  ret  In  the  mnnth  of  our  blood 
And  awlfl  ma  the  tidea  upm  which  we  Are  bome 
There  '■  a  long  blue  rift  In  the  apeedliig  acud. 
That  shews  like  a  boat  oo  a  lea  forlorn. 
With  stars  to  mau  It  I    That  boat  Is  ours. 
And  we  are  the  martDen  of  the  sreat  flood 
Of  the  shlftlikg  slopes  and  the  drtttloE  flowers. 
That  oar  uarestliiB  towards  the  mom  t 
Aod  are  we  the  children  of  Heaven  and  earth. 
We  11  be  true  to  the  mother  with  whom  we  are, 
So  to  be  worth)'  of  Him  who  afar, 
Beckma  us  on  to  a  brishler  birth. 


'LUCIFER  IN  STARLIGHT/  pp.  181-2. 

>  The  scan  forniorly  reccdved  bj  Ludfer  durlns  '  the  old  revolt 
from  Awe'  were  those  of  Mb  battle  with  the  angels  and  his  fall  throimh 
the  resloiia  of  all  with  his  rebel  hosts. 


THE  STAR  8IRIUS,  p.  182. 


SENSE  AND  SPHUT,  p.  182. 

The  secret  of  Earth  (Nature)  Will  never  be  read  by  those  who. 
allowing  their  senses  to  enslave  thdr  Intellect,  spin  supersUtlons 
dictated  by  their  fears,  hoping  to  find  In  Earth  enduring  satisfaction. 
rtthoT  of  the  senses  or  of  the  aspirations.  There  Is  salvation  only  In 
the  conception  that  she  has  a  living  Spirit,  which  prompts  us.  her 
children,  to  heroic  life.  Cf.  the  last  three  lines  of  the  flrat  sonnet  oa 
'My  Theme.'  p.  ISO. 

GRACE  AND  LOVE,  pp.  183-4, 

The  'two  vaaea'  are  CD  the  literal  varc  In  wblcb  the  lady  arranges 
the  flowers,  and  (2)  the  cup  oT  the  lover's  soul  Into  which  she  pours 
the  'Image  of  herwlf,'  though  unn^dful  that  she  Is  doing  so.  Her 
grace  and  his  love  'unite.'  even  If  the  'strange  fates'  withhold  from 
him  the  'starry  more'  which  would  be  realised  If  she  rewarded  his 
love  with  her  own. 


THE  WORLD'S  ADVANCE,  p.  186. 

I'ThBt  flgura  on  a  flat':  vii..  Just  as  spiritually  the  mind's  aaoont 
is  In  changing  directions  but  always  upwards  ('spiral'),  so  histori- 
cally the  progreaa  of  the  world  is  from  side  to  side  but  alwaj-a  forwards 
(slg-zag).     The    'memorable    Lady'    who    called    'our    mind's  ascent' 


dbjGoogle 


■  What  la  art 
But  life  upon  the  larger  scale,  the  higber. 
Whea,  BraduaUng  up  in  a  splraJ  lino 
Of  mm  aipBndlng  and  uceadlng  gyres. 
It  pusbes  towards  the  Intense  sigalflcance 
Of  all  thlnga.  hungry  for  the  InQnlte? 
Art'i  Ufe, — ^aod  were  we  live  we  aulTer  and  toll.' 


CAMELUS  SALTAT,  (2  SonneU),  pp.  188-9. 

Wlieii  a  'camel  dances'  It  la  doing  what  it  wri  not  meant  to  do 
b7  nature.  Uke  thli  critic,  formerly  the  thunderoua  slaughterer  of  tbe 
■mall  fllee  or  literature,  but  now  turned  author  on  his  own  account. 
Sla  book  la  DOW  criticised  and  pilloried  by  the  public,  whoae  tsate 
be  bad  formerly  helped  to  ruin  by  his  bad  criticism,  much  as  the 
captain  In  tbe  story  (2nd  sonnet)  ruined  the  body  and  aoul  of  tbe 
pilot  by  awUlIng  htm  with  amall  beer,  which  he  preferred  to  rations 
of  betto"  flavour.  Such  at  least  would  seem  to  bo  the  meaning  of  this 
obtcure  paisage. 


MY  THEME,  (2  Sonnets),  pp,  139-» 


The  poet  nyi  that  bta  gladness  can  be  overcoat,  but  hla  philosophy 
cannot  be  shaken  by  any  blow  of  fortune.  Nevertheless  (line  9). 
Fortune  strike*  at  random,  and  can  be  hard  on  people  like  himself, 
and  not  merely  on  those  devotees  of  bers  to  whom  she  deals  her  Uows 
or  favoim.  His  'theme'  Is  deHned  in  the  last  three  llnea  of  the 
sonnet :  cf.  note  to  'Sense  and  Spirit'  above. 


In  this  second  sonnet  be  says  his  tbeme  Is  better  understood  by  tba 
Idlaa,  'the  summer  aiea'  of  muiklnd.  than  by  the  Pblllstlnes,  'the 
soiks  of  facta.'  'tbe  swlniab  grunters.'  whom  Nature  proclaims  more 
dead  than  tbe  Idlers  ;   but  'much  life  have  oeltbw.' 


TO  CHILDREN:  FOR  TYRANTS,  pp.  19(>-2. 

Bruno  ranges  hunting  and  comes  back  to  heel ;  whereupon  the 
other  dog,  Kobidd,  eidted  by  witnessing  Bruno's  feats,  'part  sympa- 
thetic, and  part  Imitative.'  flies  at  Bruno  and  worries  him.  The  poet 
thereon  beats  Bruno,  and  afterwards  writes  this  poem  of  repentance. 
Verses  xi.  iii  retell  the  Inddent  already  told  in  verses  i-iii.  In 
verse  IV.  Kobold'a  unnecessarily  humble  air  Of  having  done  wrong 
makes  the  poet  conscious  that  It  la  he  and  not  Kobold  who  la  really  to 
blame,  and  makes  hlra  feel  remorse  like  that  of  Prince  Uewellyn  after 
he  had  slain  the  dog  that  bad  saved  his  child. 


dbjGoogle 


THE  WOODS  OF  WESTERMAIN,  pp.  193-205. 

The  woods  oT  WeMermaln  &re  the  myvlerlotu  woods  of  Nstnre. 
wbose  spirit  no  dud  e»a  iDlerpret  unless  ba  enter  cbe  woods  with 
courage  and  love.  Nature  turns  borrible  to  those  who  fear  or  carp 
At  her. 

I  In  the  dull,  patient,  prtmsval  stare  of  cattle  70U  can  read  tha 
spirit  of  the  prehistoric  aces,  before  mind  bad  deTelaped :  when  crea- 
tion slowly  evolved  through  jreara  and  boun  that  were  uncounted  1 
when  earth  was  a  slliiiir  ridge  emerging  out  of  the  waters:  when 
heaven  was  merely  a  iiiace  through  which  were  whirled  the  lumps  of 

■ '  She '  thmuBbout  this  poem,  as  In  so  many  others,  mean*  our 
Mother  Earth  (Nature),  conceived  as  a  spirit  somehow  preaent  In  the 
woods  and  the  sky  and  wild  animals,  and  In  body  and  mind  oT  man. 
The  fullest  exposition  of  the  theme  will  be  found  In  the  poem  'Sarth 
and  Man.'  p.  240  above. 

■'The  white  Foam-bom'  Is  Aphrodite,  the  Oreek  goddess  of  loT« 
and  beauty,  who  roM  BrsC  out  of  the  sea.  She.  and  the  other  goda 
of  the  classical  pantheon.  Phoebus.  Diana  (Phoebe)  and  Pan.  may  still 
have  their  place,  says  tbe  poet.  In  any  true  modern  reading  ot  Earth, 
because  they  were  conceived  tmai  deep  knowledBe  of  nature. 

'  Tbe  proper  relation  of  men  and  women  Is  discussed.  If  man 
plays  the  tyrant,  and,  to  Satler  bis  own  pride,  will  not  let  the  woman 
show  and  cultivate  her  mind,  tbe  woman  grows  trickster.  Tragedlee 
have  come  from  this,  and  tbe  relation  of  man  and  woman,  as  the 
poet  says  a  tew  lines  further  down,  beeomea  like  •  battle  of  tiger  and 
snake.  They  may  In  this  fashion  people  the  world,  but  It  will  only 
be  in  'snarling  plight.' 

,  'The  'Dragon'  or  'Dragon-fowl'  Is  self,  egoism.  Savage  and  cruel 
as  he  Is  before  ha  Is  tamed,  it  Is  an  error  to  attempt  to  kill  him. 
He  must  be  constrained  and  set  to  sociable  uses,  when  he  win  prove 
a  servant  of  great  power.  But  this  is  only  ponlble  by  possliig  through 
a  series  of  changes  :  so  Change  must  not  be  feared. 

■'The  Fount  and  Lure  o'  the  chase'  Is  Love:  It  la  symbolised  as  a 
fount  of  'water  hued  as  wine.' 

'  Even  In  tbe  heart  that  Is  under  the  purifying  and  altruistic  In- 
fluence of  Love,  you  may  discern  tbe  semblance  ot  the  Dragon  of 
Self,  though  reduced  to  his  proper  place  and  dimensions — just  as 
according  to  old  country  tradition  you  may  see  the  diminutive  sem- 
blance of  an  oak  In  the  section  of  a  bracken  stem. 

■She  'who  food  for  all  provides'  la  Earth  or  Nature,  who  works 
through  Death  as  well  as  through  Life. 

•The  'Triad'  la  'blood,  brain  and  spirit.'  or  tbe  body,  tbe  mind, 
and  the  soul.  Tbe  three  must  all  work  together  for  any  great  object. 
or  there  will  be  disaster.  The  mere  athlete,  the  mere  Intellectual, 
the  mere  emotionalist  are  all  astray  (cf.  '  Rose  In  brain  from  rose  la 
blood'  In  IT  above).     'Glasslog,'  three  lines  below —  ' reflecting. ' 

"  Those  who  have  explored  the  depths  of  tbe  meaning  of  Earth, 
con  wield  Life,  'the  chisel,  oie  and  sword.'  And  for  them  (continues 
the  poet  In  tbe  following  couplets)  Life  shnll  hold  prophetic  dreams: 
shall  re-echo  In  Itself  on  answer  to  Its  quaatlon  as  to  what  It  Is  for ; 


dbjGoogle 


NOTES  589 

■hall  thrfU  to  be  ctumged  [rom  the  runpant  dragon  or  egolnn,  and 
■tamped  for  aerrlce  to  otben :  and  sball  suggeBt  oonietlilng  that  shaD 
always  conquer  the  f«ar  o(  dsath. 

"  Vli. :  If  with  the  brood  ot  the  monster  Self,  you  doubt  every- 
thing wblch  SelTB  narrow  orbit  excludes,  if  you  are  ot  the  BttlT,  etc. 
.  ■  .  ir  yon  hate  at  all.  then  you  are  lost  In  Weeterm^n. 

'•'One  whose  eya  ore  ouC  la  Death — the  skeleton,  Meredith  told    . 
the  writer  ot  these  notes. 

THE  DAY  OF  THE  DAUGHTER  OF  HADES,  pp.  20&-20. 

This  tale  ot  CaUlstas  and  Sklftgeneia  Is  tbe  inventloD  ot  the  poet, 
baaed  on  the  old  myth  of  Pluto  and  Persephone.  Tbe  scene  Is  laid  In 
tbe  flower;  vale  of  Enna  Id  Sicily,  whitber  Pluto  (Had«),  the  god 
of  death  had  formerly  come  up  in  a  chariot  to  carry  off  to  bis  kingdom 
of  Darkness  tbe  Maid  of  Enno — Persepbone.  the  daughter  ot  Demeter. 
tbe  eartb-goddeas.  Demeter  cursed  the  scene  of  the  rape,  and  the 
green  valley  withered.  But  now  again  It  blooms  at  sprlng-Ume.  And 
in  tbe  twilight  before  dawn  CalllBtes  goes  out  to  wait  for  the 
■nn  to  rise  over  tbe  bills  that  siuround  tbe  sacred  valley  and  lis 
lake  (ii).  But  before  the  colours  of  dawn  wave  In  the  iky  their 
signal  to  the  colours  ot  earth,  tbe  rock  is  rent  and  a  chariot  bursts 
out.  It  carries  Persephone,  coming  up  from  her  kingdom  of  Dark- 
ness, to  visit  her  mother  Demeter  In;  the  light  of  the  ran.  Such 
was  the  myth  Into  wblch  tbe  Greeks  translated  the  yeariy  spring- 
ing ot  the  com.  Cailiaus  thus  chancea  to  witness  the  meeting  ot 
'the  Twain' — Demeter,  the  'great  Mother,'  'our  Lady  of  tbe 
■heaves.'  and  her  daughter  Persephone,  the  'Lily  of  Hades.'  the 
'mate  of  the  Raylees.'  Persephone  has  brought  trom  her  dim  under- 
world a  grave  smile,  a  smile  like  Steep  that  purifles  us  from  our 
cravings  (iii). 

When  the  vision  of  'the  Twain'  has  gone  by,  Calllstes  recover*  his 
senses  and  bis  memory,  and  sees  standing  near  blm  a  maiden  who 
had  'slipped  from  tbe  car'  (v).  Sbe  is  Skitgenda,  the  shadow-bom 
child  ot  Persephone  and  Pluto :  she  Is  the  Daughler  of  Bada. 

The  rest  ot  the  poem  denaibes  her  'day  upon  earth,'  which  she 
passes  In  company  with  Calllstes,  Her  Drst  song  to  Helios,  tbe  sun- 
god,  Is  answered  by  a  hollow  roar  from  underground,  like  the  vtdce 
of  the  Hundred-headed  Titan  bound  under  Mount  Aetna  banl  by: 
It  is  really  the  voice  of  her  father  Pluto  calling  after  her.  She  con- 
tinues ail  day  to  rejoice  In  tbe  sight  of  tbe  fecundity  ot  earth  (vi). 

Finally  her  song  of  Joy  in  all  things,  uttered  from  the  mountain- 
top  (Tin),  betrays  her  whereabouts  to  her  tather  Pluto,  who  comes  up 
In  his  terrible  chariot  to  fetch  her.  Day  turns  to  night  as  In  eclipse, 
while  Callistes  and  tbe  maiden  hurry  down  off  the  mountain,  and  stand 
shuddering  by  the  shore  of  the  lake  of  Enna  (ix).  The  dark  driver 
•ees  them,  and  tears  bis  way  through  tbe  waters  of  the  lake  to  seise 
her  <i).  Callistes  Is  left  alone  with  her  name  and  her  cry  In  his  ears 
<xi).  to  long  for  her  till  he  dies  (xii). 

The  central  thought  of  the  poem  is  the  strange  link  between  Lite  and 
Death  In  spite  of  their  opposition.  Just  because  SUigenda  is  bom 
from  the   Darkness  as   well   as  ttom   the  spirit  of  Spring,   she  can 


dbjGoogle 


590  NOTES 

undenUnd  tb«  secrvU  of  Bartb  Mid  Pao  (tit)  better  tbui  the  humui 
children  of  Butb.  She  bu  an  loanlte  thirst  Tor  life,  ble^ng  tbe 
rmitrulneu  of  men  &nd  Kbunnliig  their  wanton  destructlvene«  M  Id 
war  (vii| :  but  she  knowa  she  miut  return  to  the  Darknen.  and  when 
she  goea  It  la  not  without  Joy  In  her  heart  aa  well  as  oorrow.  She 
baa  made  tbe  most  or  her  'day  upon  Earth,'  Inilead  of  uaeleasly 
replnloB  because  It  was  so  brief. 

<  (n)  The  hair  of  the  dying  was  cut  for  Ferseiihone,  by  an  andeot 
QrsBk  custom.  'The  Beneflcent.'  mentioned  a  tew  lines  before,  la 
Demeter.     '  Both '  =  Demeter  and  Persephone. 

>  (ix)  'The  Three '•  Demeter.  Peraepbone,  and  Pluto. 


PHOEBUS  WITH  ADMETUS,  pp.  224-6. 

Pboebo*  Apollo,  the  sun-god.  having  slatn  the  Cyclops,  was 
senWnced  by  Zeua  to  aerre  a  mortal  for  one  year.  His  arrival  at  the 
farm  of  'the  master'  Admetus  Is  described  In  verse  ii.  The  water 
welcomes  him  (iii).  and  prosperity  cornea  to  the  farm  where  he  lealdea 
(IV).  We  are  then  told  of  the  arts  and  crafts  irblcb  be  taught 
monklDd  during  this  sojourn — trapping  beasts  and  abooUng  birds 
of  prey  (v).  story-telling  and  dancing  (ti).  woodland  pharmacy 
and  tbe  music  c^  the  lyre  (tii).  In  the  last  verse  the  shepherds 
call  on  animate  and  Inanimate  nature,  the  beasU  of  the  farm  and 
the  branches  In  woodland  and  rocky  stream,  to  remember  the  god 
who  had  been  their  fellow. 

■  Phoebus  being  tbe  aun-god.  the  moon  Is  his  sister  sphere.  The 
farm-serranta.  when  Pboebua  baa  ceased  to  be  one  of  them,  remember 
how  be  played   on   bis  flute  at  evening,   till  the  moon  sHvered  and 

MELAMPU8,  pp.  227-30. 

The  Greek  legend  that  the  physician  Mdampu*  obtained  tbe 
power  of  tmderstanding  the  language  of  birds,  after  his  ears  had  been 
licked  by  some  young  snakes  which  be  had  preserved  from  death,  Is 
tised  to  Illustrate  the  proper  relation  of  the  highest  human  life  to  the 
life  of  animals  and  Insects,  and  of  nature  In  general.  Melampus.  as 
we  are  told  In  tbe  first  and  last  lines  of  the  poem,  has  that  love  which 
adds  wisdom  and  Insight  to  almple  affection,  and  so  leams  Rvm 
nature  a  barmon;  of  healing  as  profound  aa  the  harmony  of  aong. 

I  The  Pleridea  were  tbe  Nine  Muses,  They  were  the  chorus  of 
Phoebus  Apollo  ('his  own  chorus'),  god  of  tbe  sun,  of  poetry,  and 


THE  THREE  SINGERS  TO  YOUNG  BLOOD,  pp.  23M. 

Three  vlewa  of  love.  Flnl.  gentle  young  love,  heedlen  of  all 
but  nature's  promptings.  Secondlv.  the  warnings  of  worldly  calcula- 
Uon.     TMrilii.  the  irrealatlble  cry  of  passion. 


dbjGoogle 


THE  ORCHARD  AND  THE  HEATH,  pp.  238-9. 
Tba  contrast  1b  between  the  farmer'!  children  of  the  rich  orcbard 
land  and  the  glpa;  children  encamped  on  the  moor. 

EARTH  AND  MAN,  pp.  240-6. 

1  Thli  poem  (which  containa  the  fullest  expraasloD  of  Meredlth'i 
doctrine  of  Earth  our  Mother  and  her  relation  to  ua).  opeoa  with  the 
Ogure  of  Earth  feeding  her  offspring  Man  at  her  breast. 

■'The  Invisible'  Is  used  throughout  this  poem  (asafo  la  vemM  ix 
«t  seg.)  to  mean  the  supernatural  God  as  conceived  by  superstition,  bjr 
Man  dealrlns  to  escape  from  and  deny  his  Mother  Earth  (Nature). 

•  Earth's  'cherishing  of  her  best-endowed'  Is  the  suniTal  of  the 
Attest,  which,  though  It  seems  to  Man  a  'wanton's  choice,'  has  yet 
proved  the  path  ot  progren  (ivi)- 

•'Her  ]ust  Lord'  Is  the  true  Ood,  whom  Man  can  only  attain  to 
see  when  he  bos  already  understood  hit  Mother  Earth.  This,  says 
the  poet.  Is  the  true  conception  of  Ood,  as  opposed  to  the  mlracle- 
mongertng  'Invisible'  of  verses  viii  and  xx,  Man  must  attain  to 
the  spiritual  through  the  natural,  not  through  the  supernatural. 
Meredith  again  and  again  In  his  poems  reverts  to  the  idea  oT  the  ■ 
ultimate  sttalnmBnt  to  God  throuffli  Earth  (see  end  of  'A  Faith  on 
Trial') — or  a  marriage  of  earth  and  heaven — e.t.  'wing  our  green  to 
wed  our  blue'  In  'Wind  oo  the  Lyre.' 

A  BALLAD  OF  FAIR  LADIES  IN  REVOLT,  pp,  24M5. 

A  debate  on  'woman's  rights.'  In  the  form  of  a  dialogue  between 
the  fair  ladles  In  revolt  on  the  one  hand,  and  a  male  champion  ot 
the  old  order  on  the  other.  The  conservative  spokesman  has  brought 
with  him  a  'friend,'  who  never  tpealu,  but  la  throughout  regarded  as 
umpire  of  the  debate.  Finally,  between  lines  4  and  E  of  ill  both  of 
which  are  spoken  by  the  conservattve  pleader,  the  umpire  gives  judg- 
ment tor  the  rebels,  and  Is  carried  off  by  them  in  triumph.  Verses 
1  and  xLv-xLviii  are  the  words  ot  the  namtor-poet,  but  all  the  rest 
fs  dialogue  between  the  Fair  Ladies  and  their  antagonist. 

THE  TWO  MASKS,  p.  256. 
Melpomene  is  the  Tragic  Muse,  Tlialela  the  Oomlft 

ARCHDUCHESS  ANNE,  pp.  256-68. 


ArcbdnclMSS  Anne,  a  married  woman,  loves  Count  Louis,  chief- 
tain of  the  warrior  tribes  Often  in  revolt  against  her  royal  power  (iv). 
He  returns  her  love  and  'rules'  lier,  till  at  length  he  turns  his 
Bdectlons  elsewhere  (v).  At  sight  of  Mm  with  his  new  bride,  the 
Archduchess  pots  her  band  to  her  heart,  and  her  taltbtui  savage  old 


dbjGoogle 


wurlor  KrkkeD  Bess  the  motjcm  and  g 
deMrmlDM  to  wuh  out  her  dishonour  In  Count  Louli'  blood.  Shortly 
afterwards,  in  a  war  witb  the  rebels  headed  by  Count  Louis,  Kiaken 
captures  him  br  treachery. 


Archduchess  Anne  holds  det»t«  with  henelT  whether  U 
executed  as  a  rebel  or  not.     Hate  and  love  for  t 
heart.      Suddenly  Louis'  wife  appeiin  to  plead  for  blm  h 


wardly.  being  too  proud  to  confena  her  love  For  Louis,  b 
trust  In  the  young  wife's  heart  touches  the  generoalty  li 
Uiough  not  enough  to  make  her  do  right. 


She  wrlt«s  to  Krakeu.  wtshlng  him  to  spare  Comit  Louis,  but  her 
pride  will  not  let  ber  give  deSnlte  orders  for  forglverms.  She  oaly 
■peaks  vaguely  of  mercy  (i-vi).  Kraken  la  convinced  that  forstve- 
ness  will  be  taken  aa  a  sign  of  her  infatuation  for  Louis,  and  cboossa 
to  undorstand  'mercy'  as  meaning  that  Louis  Is  to  be  shot  Instead  of 
hanged  (vii-i).  The  Archduchees  hates  Kraken  for  the  deed,  for 
which  her  own  pride,  not  her  will,  was  In  part  responsible.  A  popular 
rising  onauas  (iix).  After  a  cfvll  war  (xx)  Kraken  flies  the  land 
(xxvi).  The  power  of  the  Crown  barely  survives  the  struggle,  and 
OD  with  a  broken  heart  (zxr). 


THE  SONO  OF  THEODOLINDA,  pp.  268-72. 

Meredith's  own  not«  to  this  poem  was — 'The  legend  of  the  Iron 
Crown  of  Lombardy,  formed  of  a  nail  of  the  true  Cross  by  order  of 
the  devout  Quoen  TheodoUnda.  Is  well  known.  In  This  dramatic  song 
■he  li  seen  passing  through  one  of  the  higher  temptations  ot  the 
believing  Christian.'  [The  'temptation.'  presumably,  was  that  of 
qilritual  pride.  When  the  nail  is  white  hot  in  the  Are,  Theodollnda 
has  it  laid  on  her  breast  (vii-i).  sjid  then  hammered  Into  the  Crown 
(iii-iiii)  by  'brown-cowled'  monks  (iii)J. 


A  PREACHING  FROM  A  SPANISH  BALLAD,  pp,  272-6. 

The  faithless  husband  considers  himself  the  Just  executioner  oT  his 
unfaithful  wife.  The  poet  in  bis  comment  (nv-iiii)  uses  'nature'  In 
4  sense  inferior  to  that  In  which  he  often  uses  the  word. — to  mean  the 
mere  Impulse  towards  personal  satisfaction  causing  woman  to  dote  on 
man  and  man  to  be  unlust  to  woman.  Until  nature  grows  Into  some- 
thing more  than  that,  until  '  the  bead '  helps  '  the  heart '  (  it)  , 
physical  force  will  always  have  the  last  word  in  any  struggle  between 
the  sexes.  In  ivm-xxi  the  poet  Is  speaking  to  women  ('you'} :  'the' 
is  nature:  'he'  Is  man  ('the  child  which  grows'):  the  'OodUke  orsr- 
mat«h'  or  brute  force  la  Reason. 


dbjGoogle 


3  YOUNG  PRINCESS,  pp.  27fW2. 


At  lut  lion]  Dualote.  preMndlng  to  h&ve  been  wounded  to  death 
In  flgbtlDg  tor  her  honour,  obtains  her  troth,  which  ahe  glvea  Mm 
M  to  a  d;ltig  man.  In  pit;  and  gratitude. 

Not  darfng  to  face  her  b;  dafltght,  be  letves  the  court.  After  a 
year  be  returns  to  cialm  her,  when  she  Is  being  married  to  wiotber; 
but  (he  treat!  him  oi  if  be  were  »  ghoat  returning. 

At  midnight  In  the  garden  Lord  Dualote'a  squire  waits  under  the 
orange  boughs  tor  the  return  ot  his  master,  who  has  gone  In  to  claim 
the  Princess  as  hla  ananced  bride.  He  returns — dead,  borne  on  the 
shoulders  ot  the  otlier  lords,  who  have  made  him  'a  ghost'  Indeed. 


KING  HARALD'S  TRANCE,  pp.  283-5. 
King  Harald,  after  excessive  exertions  In  battle  and  feasting,  falls 
into  a  trance.  Awaking  from  It,  but  slUl  unable  to  move  or  speak, 
he  lies  sUent  and  hears  treason  talked  at  the  side  of  his  couch  by  bis 
wife  and  a  warrior.  With  a  final  effort  be  bursts  the  bands  of  his 
trance  enough  to  j:ut  down  his  wife  dead.  (The  words  'the  blow 
clove  two'  in  xvi  U  explained  by  the  last  two  lines  of  ix.)  Then  his 
life-force  maps  and  he  falls  dead  before  ha  can  alay  'the  third,'  her 

MANFRED,  pp.  286-7. 
Byron's  play  Manfred  Is  here  mocked  for  a  piece  of  egoistic  melan- 
choly posed  before  the  footlights.  Manfred,  successor  of  'Childe' 
Harold,  goes  up  Alpioe  heights  to  soliloquise  tbere  on  bis  own 
superior  Inability  to  love  either  man  or  nature — but  with  one  eye 
turned  down  at  '  tha  world  of  aphuterdom  and  clergy,'  whose  shocked 
attention  It  Is  his  object  to  concentrate  on  himself.  It  Is  here  sug- 
gested tbat  If  Manfred  had  really  climbed  tlie  Alps.  'liieddlng  rascal 
sweat.'  he  would  have  felt  better  for  the  eierdse  when  he  reached  the 
lop.     Spiritual  indigestion  Is  bred  In  dtlea,  not  on  mouotaliu. 

HERNANI,  p.  287. 

In  Victor  Hugo's  tragedy.   HemanI  wins  Ms  bride,   to   whom   he 

bad  not  a  perfect  right,  on  condition  tlut  he  will  kill  blmnelf  whenever 


dbjGoogle 


594  NOTES 

be  hesTB  the  old  gentleman,  her  former  pnimfiiiii .  blov  tala  honi.  Ae 
tnight  be  expected  In  »  romanUc  trmsody.  the  born  soundi  at  a  highlT 
Inconvenient  moment.  The  poet  here  laughi  at  the  ■entlment  of  the 
place,  but  ends  hj  pointing  out  Its  true  moral— a  eeiiona  one,  but 
even  ao  not  quite  dlvorceO  from  the  Comic  Mum. 


THE  NUPTIALS  OF  ATTILA,  pp.  287-301. 

Attlla  the  Hun  la  camped  near  the  Danube,  tlrad  Tor  a  wMle  of 
woiid-destructlon.  'Scorn  of  conquest'  flUi  him,  and  he  turns  to 
tboughts  of  love.  'The  damsel  Ildlco'  Is  his  cboaen  bride.  Her  dumb 
horror  of  him  Is  hlnl«d,  irhUe  tala  warriors  dislike  his  strange  effeminacy 
and  clamour  to  be  led  to  trash  conquests.  Throughout  the  nunJage  feast 
the  bride  neither  speaks  nor  smiles.  At  last  AttUa  rises  to  go  forth 
to  the  bridsJ  chamber  (it),  when  some  one  cries  out  'Vale'  ('fare- 
well') In  the  tongue  of  Rome,  and  be  answers  with  a  look  of  terrible 
radiance,  'Rome'  (xti).  The  warriors  sbout  witb  iaj  at  this  promise 
or  fresh  war  on  Rome  (xvn).  Next  morning  they  surge  round  the 
bridal  chamber  shouting  to  be  led  against  the  Cllr,  but  all  day  there 
la  no  sign  of  life  fram  their  Idng.  Next  day,  at  sunaet,  he  la  found 
dead  on  the  marriage  bed  (xxi).  The  Huna  do  not  know,  any  more 
than  posterity  knows,  whether  he  died  by  Ildleo'a  hand  or  by  Uie 
bursting  of  a  blood-vessel ;  Ildlco  Is  found  speechless  and  mad  tn  k 
corner  of  the  room  (iii>ixt).  They  honour  him  In  death  by  ktlUng 
those  who  dug  his  grave,  so  that  no  man  may  know  where  be  Ilea 
(xxvii-xxTiii).  The  army  of  foolish  giants  breaks  up  la  bewilder- 
ment, wretb.  and  mutual  suspicion  (xiii). 

<{xvi)  A  few  months  before  his  fatal  'nuptials'  beside  the  Danube, 
Attlla  had  advanced  on  Rome,  and  been  turned  back  by  'the  prea- 
sing  eloquence  of  (Pope)  Leo.  his  majestic  aspect,  and  sacerdotal 
robes.'  and.  as  legend  narrates,  by  'tbe  apparition  of  the  two  apostles. 
St.  Peter  and  at.  Paul.'— aibbon.  chap.  iixt. 

MEN  AND  MAN,  p.  302. 

In  the  Srst  line.  'Men'  Is  the  object  of  the  verb,  and  'Angela'  la 
the  subject;  similarly  tn  the  second  verse.  Ibie  l.  'Man'  is  tbe 
object.  The  Angels  do  not  admire  the  ways  ot  'Men'  coUectlvely. 
till  they  see  them  united  In  the  peace  of  the  churchyard.  The  In- 
dividual 'Man'  is  the  hero  preferred. 

THE  LAST  CONTENTION,'  pp.  302-4. 

An  old  man  is  In  love  with  a  young  woman,  and  is  warned  by  the 
poet  not  to  marry  her.  His  young  spirit  Is  captain  oT  an  old  body — 
'a  crazy  bark'  (i).  Hie  'planks' — If  he  will  'consult  them'  (iii)— be 
will  flod  not  seaworthy.  His  'very  virtue'  (v),  that  Is  what  he  has 
of  manhood  and  vigour  left  In  him  now  tempts  to  mislead  him.  He 
may  'worship,'  but  only  tbe  young  may  'embrace'  her  (x). 


dbjGoogle 


rERlANDER,  pp.  304-8. 

Periuider,  Trrant  of  Corinth  (c&lled  in  tbe  poem  'the  prince') 
In  a  rage  slew  hla  wife  MelUu.  His  bod,  LycophroD,  Brieved  for 
bar,  *o  Feri&nder  turned  him  out  at  doon  and  forbade  any  one  u> 
succour  or  even  to  apeak  to  hlra  (i).  The  hoy  remained  Brm,  and  the 
father  knowing  be  «a<  the  only  one  of  his  eons  fit  to  succeed  bim- 
(tii-tiii)  sought  bim  out  to  parley  with  him.  But  Lycophron  only 
replied  that  bis  father  had  broken  hli  own  edict  in  spealdni  to  him 
(ix).  Periander  thereupon  banished  him  to  the  Island  of  Ooreyra. 
Many  years  later.  Periander  grew  weary  of  governing  Corinth,  and 
recalled  Lycophron  to  take  Mb  place.  He  lends  his  fleet  to  Corcyra 
to  fetch  his  son  borne  to  Corinth :  but  It  retmms  to  him  bearing 
Lycophron's  corpse,  for  the  'Ine  Ulanders'  of  Corcyra.  In  their  dread 
of  Perlander's  interference  with  them,  hare  slain  Lyoophron.  Peri- 
ander determines  to  take  vengeance  on  them. 

>  Firene  (v)  Is  the  fountain  at  Corinth. 

SOLON,  pp.  308-10. 

Feislslratiu.  couslti  and  forma-  friend  of  Solon  the  Lawgiver, 
towards  the  end  of  Solon's  Ufe  made  hlinseir  Tyrant  at  Athena. 
During  this  usurpation  by  one  man  of  the  power  which  Solon's  laws 
had  divided  among  the  dassea  of  the  people.  'Solon's  work'  lay 
buried  'aa  under  Boa.'  though  deatlned  later  to  reappear  when  the 
waters  of  tyranny  receded. 

BELLEROPHON,  pp.  310-11. 

Bellerophon,  mounted  oa  the  winged  horse  Pegasus,  slew  the 
monster  Chimaera.  There  la  another  tradition,  the  basis  of  this 
poem,  that  be  afterwards  attempted  to  rise  with  Pegasus  to  the 
home  of  the  goda  on  Olympus,  but  that  Zeus  sent  a  gadfly  which 
atuog  Pegasus,  so  that  he  tbrew  Bellerophon,  who.  thus  falling  from 
on  high  to  earth,  was  lamed  and  blinded.  His  pitiable  latter  state  Is 
here  deecribad  :  hla  attempts  to  tell  his  own  story  are  regarded  as  the 
babble  of  an  old  bsKgar.  whom  no  one  connects  with  the  famous  rider 
of  Pegasus. 

'  HfppDcrMM.  Pegasus  with  hla  hoof  stamped  forth  the  Mnses' 
well  of  HIppocrene  on  Mount  Paruasiua.  whence  flow  the  Inspirations 
of  poetry.  The  old  beggar  does  not  seem  a  at  theme  for  poetry — be 
Is  'spumed  of  the  hoof  that  sprang  the  HIppocrene' — for  no  one 
guesses  tbat  be  was  in  fact  the  rider  of  Pegaatu. 

PHAETHON,  pp.  312-16. 

Fhaethon.  son  of  Helios  (Phoebus  Apollo)  the  sun-god,  won  leave 
of  his  father  to  drive  the  chariot  of  the  sun  for  one  day.  Aa  he  failed 
to  manage  the  steeds,  earth  was  In  danger  of  being  burned,  till  Zeua 
struck  Pbaethon  dead.     The  last  four  lines  of  the  poem  refer  to  the 


dbjGoogle 


596  NOTES 

tndltlon  that  be  fell  Into  the  Fo.  ftnd  waa  chuiged  iaU>  a  cydiamao, 
and  that  bli  iliMn  were  changed  Into  poplan. 

Meredith's  own  note  on  the  galllamblc  meamre,  the  metre  of  thb 
poem,  Is  M  follow! : — 

'Hermann  (Eltmtnta  Doctrtnae  Afetrtcat).  after  dUng  lines  from  the 
Tragic  poet  Pbrynlcbus  and  from  the  Comic,  obeerree : 

'  Dill  supra.  Phrynlehoram  venua  vldert  puros  lontoos  eaae.  Id  d 
vemm  eat,  QalllamU  non  alia  re  ab  hli  dlffarunt.  quam  quod  aa  aclaalm, 
CDDtractioneeque  et  solutlones  redplunt.  Itaque  versus  Qalllamblcna 
ex  duobus  veralbua  Anacreontels  conatat,  quomm  wcundus  cataJectlcua 
est.  bac  forma : 

"The  wonderfnl  AtHi  of  Oatnlltu  Is  the  one  danlc  wunple.  A  few 
lines  haTC  been  gathered  elsewhere.  Lord  Tennyson's  Boadiaa  rides 
over  many  difllcultles  and  Is  a  noble  poem.  Catullus  makes  general 
use  of  the  variant  second  of  the  above  metrical  forms : 

'Mihi  JaniuM  frequenUa,  mlftf  Ifmlna  upUc: 

'With  stress  on  the  emotion: 

'Jam.  }am  dolet  fuod  egt.  jam  lamipu  pomffcl. 

'  A  perfect  conquest  of  the  measure  Is  not  possible  In  our  tongue. 
For  the  sake  of  an  occasional  succasB  In  the  velocity,  sweep,  volume 
of  the  line.  It  seems  worth  an  effort :  and.  If  to  some  degree  serviceable 
Tor  narrative  verse.  It  Is  one  of  the  eierdses  of  a  writer  which 
readers  may  be  InviUid  to  share.' 

SEED-TIME,  pp.  317-18. 

>  In  verse  iv  the  poet  has  uttered  a  cry  ot  longing  to  escape  from 
the  chill  of  autumn  for  a  'day  of  tbe  long  light'  to  nourish  hli  blood. 
This  lapse  of  faith  In  Nature  merita  the  reproof  In  vwse  v.  'Animal- 
Infant'  Is  Earth's  word  of  contempt  for  that  'wall'  or  for  him  who 
utters  It:  before  uttering  It  he  had.  by  'steadily  eyeing,'  come  dally 
Into  a  cloaer  relation  with  Eartb.  Animal-Infant  means  undevelop«l 
like  an  animal,  i.e.  one  by  whom  Nature's  methods  are  simply  Judged 
according  to  the  physical  comfort  (or  the  reverse)  which  they  proifucs 
at  the  moment. 

Nature's  direction  to  any  one  whose  faith  In  ber  falters  Is  to  obserre 
the  husbandman,  whose  craft  depends  upon  Nature's  wise  preparations 
for  tbe  future. 

NIGHT  OF  FROST  IN  MAY,  pp.  32M. 

I  In  the  second  stanza  Cbeginning  'In  this  shrill  hush')  and  following 
stanzas,  tbe  song  of  tbe  nightingales  Is  described.  First  one  slogs 
alone  from  haiels  near  the  farm,  and  then  a  number  from  the  wood- 


dbjGoogle 


THE  THRUSH  IN  FEBRUARY,  pp.  327-31. 

>  The  '  molit  red  rcdoi '  and  '  Termllfon  wttiBi '  kre  the  clmu  doudi 
at  ninset.  Tho  'pearl  uuhelled'  ts  the  evenlns  atar — the  subject  of 
the  toUowlnB  two  staDiaa — 'she  SBems  a  while  the  vale  to  hold  Id 
trance.'  Bverywhere  elM  In  the  poem,  for  inatance  In  the  but 
thirteen  itaDzai.  'ihe*  meani  'Earth.'  Mother  Natuie. 

■ '  Hii  laland  votce '  meani  the  English  voice  of  the  thrush. 

•  'That  deep  breast  of  aoog  and  liftht'  Is  Earth's. 

•  It  modem  men  would  patiently  learn  the  secret  of  Earth,  their 
Intellect,  based  on  couratce,  would  match  the  primitive  Instincts,  and 
so  raise  a  swelUng  flood  of  song. 

■Though  scantr  In  numbers,  the  heroes  are  the  fathers  of  the  future. 

'This  and  the  former  veree  mean  that  Earth's  double  aspects  of 
Fain  and  Pleasure,  Life  and  Death,  have  but  one  atm:  to  make  us 
active  warriors  of  good — otherwiHe  we  can  but  serve  as  raw  material 
for  heroic  life  In  others.  In  the  following  verse  'those  guides'  mean 
Pain  and  Pleasure,  nature's  means  of  forcing  men  along  the  path  of 
evolution  to  higher  things. 

THE  APPEASEMENT  OF  DEMETER,  pp.  331-5. 

DemeMT.  the  earth^oddess.  embittered  by  the  carrying  off  of  her 
daughter  Persephone  by  Pluto,  King  of  Death,  cursea  the  Vale  of 
Enna.  where  the  rape  took  place.  People,  cattle,  and  crops  are 
perishing  of  drought.  Demeter's  maid-servant  lambe  pities  them, 
but  her  mistress  la  still  Implacable,  Instinct  In  the  starved  creatures 
■till,  at  times,  half-heartedly  makes  dumb  attempt  to  play.  The 
sight  of  this  in  a  horse  and  mare  mores  Demeter  to  lat^bter,  and  her 
laughter  puts  an  end  to  her  black  mvtd  and  to  the  blight  on  the  land, 
aa  true  laughter  ttlwkys  doee. 

EARTH  AND  A  WEDDED  WOMAN,  pp.  335-7. 

The  spirit  of  Earth  includes  the  spirit  of  endurance,  Susan,  a 
wife  left  lonely  and  sad  (i,  ii),  learns  this  on  a,  night  of  summer  rain 
after  long  drought,  when  the  splendour  of  Eartb'a  elemental  forces 
are  revealed  to  her  (iv,  v) :  thenceforth  her  weakness  Is  gone,  and 
her  '□eigbbours'  notice  the  'change.'  which  she  hereelt  knows  can  be 
dated  from  the  night  of  sumjDer  rain  (vil. 

MOTHER  TO  BABE,  pp.  337-8. 
■' Glass"  =  ' reflect.' 


THE  QUESTION  WHITHER,  d.  339. 

•  The  life  ot  the  senses  ('sensation')  la  Joyful,  but  the  universe  of 
living  tliinga  ('all  sensation')  could  not  endure  that  It  should  con- 
tinue for  ever  limited  to  Individual  life  on  e«rth. 


dbjGoogle 


NATURE  AND  LIFE,  p.  34!. 

I.  Nftture  in  tbe  wooda  cm  give  mao  refrMbment  by  maktog  bim 
feel  tbo  primitive  elsmBntal  forces,  the  seed  oT  all  tblnga.  But  man 
bu  KimetblDg  to  give  in  return,  namely  mind.  Nature  can  onlr  ba 
interpreted  by  hia  mind,  which  Is  thus  In  Its  turn  the  glrer  of  »ed. 

II,  Bveo  so.  there  Is  more  fn  man  than  can  be  developed  by  the 
woodland.  He  baa  tones  In  his  own  being  ('tbe  shell  thou  arc')  of 
rousic  that  cannot  awak*  ('start')  anything  In  the  woods  to  an 
answering  echo  ('to  such  a  tremor').  For  this  he  must  go  back  to 
tbe  ■  waves '  of  ordinary  life,  and  win  the  courage  that  comes  m>m 
the  human  struggle  when  he  takes  back  Into  It  the  peacefulnesa  tound 
In  the  woods, 

A  FAITH  ON  TRIAL,  pp.  345-6L 

I  Tbe  poet,  on  the  Mayday  morning  when  his  wife  Ilea  dying,  goes 
alone  for  one  of  their  familiar  walk*  tn  the  woodlands  of  BoxhlU.  At 
Snt  even  nature  can  no  longer  appeal  to  him.  The  sound  of  tbe  young 
foUage  of  the  spring  woods  In  the  breeze  mores  him  not :  In  his  grief 
he  paam  on  &■  callous  to  wayside  impresaloni  aa  a  bier  carried  along 
In  a  funeral, 

•  You  cannot  see  the  full  beauty  of  tree-tops  waving  feathery  In  the 
wind  unless  you  look  at  tbem  against  the  vastness  of  tbe  ak;:  aod  » 
too  you  cannot  feel  tbe  glory  of  the  birds'  song  unlen  you  are  largo- 
hearted  enough  to  pass  beyond  your  private  grief — whlcb  aa  yet  tha 
poet  could  not  do  as  he  walked. 

>'Our  Mother'  Is  Earth.  As  he  continues  hia  walk,  be  wlabrs 
only  to  'observe'  'her  changeful  visible  face.'  not  'to  feel'  or  'to 
fancy':  though  he  cannot  belp  creating  Images  of  whatever  be 
sees  at  'a  shift  of  tbe  glance' — such  images  aa  those  described  In 
the  previous  verse,  where  he  compares  the  '  wet  yew-trunk '  to  tbe 
naked  Oghtlng  Briton.  His  'obflervatlon'  of  every  detail  of  nature 
comes  to  him  now  at  his  need,  because  It  has  long  ago  become  Insttno- 
tlve  In  him:  thus  he  speaks,  thirty  lines  lower  down,  of  'my  discip- 
lined habit  to  see,' 

•  'To  thein'  =  to  tb«  poet's  'sensatlrais.'  that  have  made  'rags'  of 
his  'ruffled  philosophy.'  Meredith  often  uses  'senses'  or  'sensations' 
for  the  rebellious  Insttncta  In  conflict  with  reason. 

'  The  '  young  apparition '  of  a  '  wild  white  cherry  In  bloom ' 
suddenly  compels  him  not  merely  to  'observe'  but  to  Teed.'  and 
renews  his  Faith, 

Tbe  Pltgrim'B  Way  'of  old'  leading  the  march  Kaatwan)  of  the 
'procesdonal  penitents.'  vli.  the  medlsval  pilgrims,  to  Canterbury. 
runs  along  tbe  southern  slope  of  BoihlU.  But  the  poet  asks.  In 
the  first  lines  of  the  next  aectloil,  whether  their  pilgrim  banner  was 
sign  of  such  'victorious  rays  over  death'  as  Is  this  white  banner 
of  tbe  blossoming  wild  cberryT  It  teaches  him  to  conquer  coward 
despair;  aod  not  to  divide  bis  soul  from  his  Intellect,  letting  tbe 
Intellect  alone  bear  rule.      It  restores  Ms  Faith. 

•  Referring  to  the  children  begging  with  the  licence  of  Mayday — 


dbjGoogle 


NOTES  599 

numtloned  In  the  flreC  four  lloee  of  Che  poem,  be  |oe«  on  to  ray,  In  the 
followlog  Unea,  that  he  now  feela  sympsthy  with  them  beouae  hto 
human  nifferlng  hu  drawn  him  closer  to  all  human  beings.  And  It 
'readlnxi  ot  eirth'  are  drawn  from  lucb  community  ot  feeling,  a 
comfort  will  be  won  deeper  than  any  attempt  at  answering  tbe  quee- 
tlon.  'What  comes  after  deathT'  which  cod  get  no  answer  save  the 
other  Question,  '  Whence  are  waJ"  Such  'Queatlona'  are  useless — 
'  they  sow  not  nor  spin.' 

'The  consolations  we  seek  'when  Fear  takes  leaven  of  Hope'  are 
not  sanctloDed  by  Earth.  The  hopes  of  life  beyond  the  grave — 'Ufe 
beyond  aabes'^ — are  not  reflected  on  the  breast  of  Earth,  In  her 
'depths  austere.*  If  we  'strain  to  the  farther  shore.'  It  la  'flesh  to 
t  Earth's  laws— not  Faith.  Earth  gives  no  material  gifta  In 
I,  but  'shears'  'the  woolly  beast  bleating'  for 
mercy. 

'  If  we  crave  for  sure  Permanence,  we  must  learn  to  see  it  In  the 
aliwnatlon*  of  Ufe  and  Death  by  which  the  generations  succeed  each 
other.  Thus  Permanence  'alia  on  the  grave  green-grassed.'  he  says.  In 
a  txdd  figure.  We  must  accept  both  Ufa  and  Death  as  being  equally 
parts  of  the  law  of  Reality. 

'  Wisdom,  If  removed  from  the  busy  progress  and  '  combat  inces- 
sant' of  the  world,  withers  and  becomes  like  a  Cloak  round  a  dead 
body.  If  It  be  perched  like  a  monument  on  'a  height'  to  instruct  us. 
Cf.  'The  DladpUae  of  Wisdom,'  p.  ISfi. 

'The  'Questions.'  tbe  unanswerable  ultimate  Questions  about  the 
dcmlny  of  tbe  race,  become  an  obseaalon  with  some  sensitive  rebellious 
natures,  and  drive  them  to  burrow  into  the  earth  In  a  blind  alley,  only 
to  find  things  as  gaunt  as  tbe  moon  seen  tlirough  a  telescope.  (On 
'the  Quenlons.'  see  p.  339,  'The  Question  Whither,'  verae  ni.) 

i>  Earth's  'Master'  Is  the  true  Ood.  to  be  reached  through  his  hand- 
inatdea  Barth.     See  note  2  on  'Earth  and  Man.'  p,  591. 

CHANGE  IN  RECURRENCE,  p.  361. 
A  quiet  aftermath,  following  on  the  ordeal  of  'A  Faith  on  Trial.' 
The  poet  Is  In  tbeir  cottage  garden  again,  amorg  the  birds  and  't*'""'* 
which  his  wife  loved  to  watch.  It  Is  the  frame  without  the  picture: 
no  one  now  calls  hli  name  musically  from  the  open  window,  sewing  as 
she  watches  tbe  garden.  But  the  birds  and  '"'""■■i«  are  about  their 
tasks  and  paatlmeg.  diligent  as  ever. 

HYMN  TO  COLOUR,  pp.  362-4. 
A  dualism  runs  through  the  thought  of  this  poem.     Light,  Dark- 
ness,   and    Colour   answer   respectively    to    Life.    Death,   and    Love. 
Colour  Is  to  Light  and  Darkness  as  Love  la  to  Life  and  Death. 

I.  Tbe  poet,  walking  between  Death  and  Life,  is  met  by  Love  In 
the  pale  'land  of  dawn.'  betweei  night  and  day,  where  dreams  are 
floating  fast  to  wreck  on  daylight. 

II.  Tbe  mist  of  twilight  Is  still  grey,  but  already  the  natural  green 
of  the   graas   Is   visible.     The   aky    In    thia    mountain   land    begins    to 


dbjGoogH 


I.  NBturc  !■ 

hU  Bomi-llii' 
iDterpreli'iJ  l< 


the  'wat 
iD  tbc  U 


dbyGoogle 


NOTES 
\[E  WISDOM  OF  ELD,  p.  368. 


jLvlBlit  of  tholr  falm  e 


\ilTH'S  PREFERENCE,  pp.  398-9. 

.M'  '  vrousht'  well  to  their  prims  of  life  ('zenith') 
..m  ('Inverted  irit')  In  their  old  aga.  See  the  pre- 
it'  Wisdom  of  Eld.' 


■•!■  pricked  coiudence.'  etc.  Vli. :  the  obyioiu  utility 
.It-r.  discovered  b;  experience  in  primitive  times,  Bret 
rihclence  In  such  m&ttera ;    and  the  conscience  Id  turn 


JLMP-TO-GLORY  JANE,  pp,  372-9. 
a  'icct  of  Jumpera  who  found  a  means  of  srace  In  bodily 

.-  nflen  for  the  pen'  (xr) » requiring  b  roof  for  the  pen 
ihem.  vli,.  being  unable  to  sleep  under  the  open  heaven 
"hiB,  like  the  rest  of  the  sect. 
Mq  and  quarts'   (xTiii)~pounds  of  meat  and  quarts  of  ale. 
.  ^:,  vegetarian,  m  Is  staown  la  iiii.  xiiii.  and  iivii. 

THE  RIDDLE  FOR  MEN,  p.  380. 

'"<1  Is  warned  of  power,  not  to  abuse  It.  The  poet  aeems  to 
iilly  to  man's  'grip  of  brute'  on  the  'softer'  sex:  unleas  it 
'<  for  aomething  more  human,  his  'Sultanlc  reign'  will  as  ever 
Jumlty.  and  history  will  record  no  progress. 

■  SAGE  ENAMOURED  AND  THE  HONEST  LADY, 
pp.  380-92. 


HI)  tioulh  uprising  called  hit  aee  the  Pasi ; 

'  -  IiMm  that  she  baa  stolen  his  heart,  and  looking  on  her  beauty,  he 

Dunled  as  to  'the  wlierefore'  of  bar  unmarried  state.     It  seems 

'"Tifltble  that  she  hides  some  secret.     The  lady  finds  that  she  Is  loved 

'>v  the  sage,  and  thinking  It  due  to  hb  noble  nature,  makes  a  con- 

,ua    of   what   once   befell   her.     The   greater   part   of   the   poem 

t  by  that  confession,  the  poet  pleading  for 


dbjGoogle 


602  NOTES 

eqiul   laws   of   punlahmeDt   for   man   and    woman.     It   exi>osGS   the 
tyranny  of  num — 

The  UTetU  Irralionat,  vho  thundert  jtovtr, 
clalmlDg  aU  license  for  the  male ;   aulgnlng  no  punlahnwnt  to  bim,  but 
permitting  no  lernt  to  be  put  to  the  punUhment  of  hli  victlmi.     Tlie 
poet'i  concliuloD  U  not  that  all  punlihment  !■  wrotig : — 

Tht  hooftd  halS-ang»i  in  Ou  Puritan 
nearly  readi  Nature  rightly,  when  severity  la  not  a  mere  cloak  for 
'brutisli  wrath.'     But  thou  who  undernand  Nature  read  her  beheM 
to  man  and  woman — 

Sliait  umir  gaiU 
Incommm. 
And   puntahment   cannot   achieve   Its   purifying   purpose   It  It   never 
comes  to  an  end.     The  theme  Is  the  same  as  that  of  AAoda  Flfinfiiff — 
'  Help  poor  girls.' 

The  sage  listens  to  her  confeaslon  In  silence — an  awful  aOence  for 
ber — driving  her  to  speak  yet  more  things,  till  the  whole  truth  Is 
laid  bare  to  him.  At  lei^tb  (t)  he  speaks:  he  paases  her  'through 
the  sermon's  duU  defile.'  but  only  to  raise  new  boriions  to  ber  view. 
The  poem  ends  wltb  the  wisdom  of  his  middle  age  as  companion  to 
her  youthful  zest  for  earth,  which  his  'humaneness'  has  'renovated' 

>  The  metaphor  compares  this  lady's  voice  to  the  sound  which  the 
woodwork  of  the  viol  gives  out  when  It  Is  dropped  upon  the  floor: 
other  voices  may  sound  sweet  u  the  atriugs.  but  hers  was  like  the 
more  deeply  thrilling  'rich  mother  notes'  ot  the  very  'wood-throb.' 
There  are  snch  voices,  and  those  who  have  beard  remember  them. 

THE  LESSON  OF  GRIEF,  p.  393. 

which  make*  us  feel  old 


WIND  ON  THE  LYRE,  p.  393. 

The  '  Father-singer'  of  Ariel,  the  spirit  In  Tin  Tempest.  Is 
Sbakeapeare.  who  was  neither  optimist  nor  pessimist,  but  poet. 
'Green'  and  'blue'  are  commonly  used  by  Meredith  to  denominate 
'  earth '  and  '  heaven,'  whose  '  marriage '  is  a  favourite  theme  In  his 
poems.  The  farther  the  sound  travels  through  the  sky,  the  more  It 
seem*  to  dwell  In  our  hearts. 

ODE  TO  THE  COMIC  SPIRIT,  pp.  394-403. 

■'The  throb '  =  the  heart.  When  otherwise  excellent  people  take 
the  heart  Instead  of  the  brain  to  be  lord,  they  become  proper  subjects 
for  the  shafts  of  the  Comic  Spirit.  The  whole  of  this  section  de- 
scribes a  number  of  different  cases  requiring  the  reproor  of  Comedy. 


dbjGoogle 


NOTES  603 

iThs  extTMrdinar;  Bectlon  of  the  poem  that  here  followa  l>  based 
OD  the  mylbologlcal  story  of  Momus,  exp&aded  hy  the  fancy  of  the 
modem  poet.  The  story  ran  that  Momua,  'the  Jesl^r.'  was  hurled  otf 
Olympua  by  the  other  gods,  who  could  not  endure  his  ■atliical 
crltldsm.  When  Zeus  gave  the  'fatal  kick'  that  sent  Momiu  otT 
Olympiu,  It  was  fatal  not  so  much  to  Momus  as  to  the  mountain  of 
the  soda,  although  apparently  Olympus  still  aspired  to  heaven,  while 
Momus  vent  limping,  crippled  by  his  fall.  But  the  gods,  lacking  the 
crltldsm  of  his  Comic  Spirit,  rapidly  deceneral«d,  and  loon  fell  to 
earth. 

■  The  poet  here  expands  the  ancient  legend.  He  narrates  that  the 
gods,  ruined  and  brought  to  earth  after  their  Ul-advlsed  expulsion  of 
Momus.  have  to  earn  their  living  by  becoming  minstrels  oo  the  sand 
at  a  watering-place.  The  'cripple'  who  leads  them  is  Momus, 
lamed  by  hia  old  foil  from  Olympus. 

•  Momus  satirically  names  the  members  of  his  troupe  (the  fallen 
gods)  to  pasaers-by  on  the  sands.  The  august  names,  coupled  with 
the  pitiful  figures  before  them,  make  the  ears  of  the  listeners  seem  to 
contradict  their  eyes,  and  boUi  sight  and  hearing  to  reel  as  though 
under  the  Influence  of  drink. 

'His  Trombone  Is  Father  Zeus:  strong  Heracles  beats  the  drum: 
Area,  god  of  war.  Is  bis  bugler :  the  Harp  is  played  by  Apollo,  god 
of  the  lyre  and  of  the  sun  at  dawn,  now  'raylees':  the  Triangle  Is 
played  by  bis  twIn-slster  Artemis,  the  moon-goddeas  of  chastity,  'tbe 
gibbous  prudJ.'  (Gibbous— humpbacked,  of  a  person:  particularly  of 
the  moon.  It  It  exceeds  a  seml-drcle  but  Is  not  as  large  as  a  circle.) 
His  Tambourine  Is  Hebe,  the  graceful  cup-bearer  of  Olympus,  now 
blowKy  and  run  to  fat.  The  long  passage  beginning  wltb  'O  but 
now  .  .  .'  refers  to  Aphrodite,  goddess  of  love  and  l>eauty.  '  the  Dame 
of  Dames.'  Like  all  the  other  gods  and  goddesses,  she  has  come 
'to  thia'  from  rejecting  tbe  correction  of  Momus'  Comic  Spirit  when 
on    Olympus.     The    'fatal    kick'    Zeus    gave    to    Momus    has    ruined 

Aphrodiia  also. 

'  Astarte.  the  Phoenician  version  of  tho  Greek  Aphrodite,  stands 
for  the  vulgar  carnal  love  into  which  Aphrodite  degenerates  If 
uncorreclfld  by  humour. 

'  'The  Boy'  =  Aphrodite's  son.  Cupid. 

■  'This  leader'^  Momus.  loading  bis  troop  of  minstrel  gods. 

''Our  throbber '  =  our  human  heart,  which  the  gods  bad.  and 
wliich  required  even  In  them  correction  by  the  Comic  Spirit. 

ODE  TO  YOUTH  IN  MEMORY,  pp.  403-9. 
> '  Tbe    winged    Olympus '  =  the    eagle    of    Zeus,    who    carried    the 
shepherd  boy  Ganymede  up  from  the  plains  of  Troy  to  Olympus  to 
bear  the  nectar-cup  at  tbe  feasts  of  the  gods. 

■  The  whole  of  this  long  section  means  that  age  should  be  content 
with  Its  lot,  and  the  retrospect  of  a  life  well  s]>eut.  If  age  atWmpts 
to  repeat  the  experiences  and  Joys  of  youth.  It  wins  only  darkness, 
like  Persephone  snatched  from  light  and  life  into  the  dark  under- 
world. The  'dragon.'  referred  to  in  tbe  middle  of  this  section. 
will  be  familiar  to  readers  of  Meredith's  poems  (s.p.  'The  Woods  ot 


dbjGoogle 


604  NOTES 

Weatemuln')  u  hli  conataDt  STmbol  for  nlllBbiieai — iiAtural  Id  Tsrjr 
roung  pBople.  but  abomlokble  In  Uu  old. 

■The  'vapoun  black.'  which  turn  to  'btKrtble  ihoMa'  and  ihrlelc 
'Fallter'  at  a  man.  are  the  memorle*  at  tbu  and  nMumeai.  which 
a  man  muK  face  Id  hli  retroapectlon  aa  wall  aa  hli  jouthrul  joya  and 
achlevemente,  If  he  would  leant  In  laur  ;eara  the  ISMon  ot  hii  youth 


PENETRATION  AND  TRUST,  pp.  409-10. 

A  h)rd  Is  boIdb  to  the  distant  war,  and  Is  aaTlnB  farewell  to 
his  lady.  He  looks  in  her  eyes  to  see  If  she  wiu  be  faltlifiil  In  hii 
abeence,  penetrates  her  Innocent,  Inmost  taught,  and  trusts  her. 
She  thererora  cries  out.  In  tbe  I>M  two  lines  of  the  poem,  that  what- 
ever happens  In  the  war  he  will  always  be  victor  at  home  In  bar  heart, 
because  he  trusts  her  Instead  of  playing  the  ausptdoui  tyraol. 

THE  TEACHING  OP  THE  NUDE.  p.  410. 

The  nudity  of  Uie  goddess,  by  Its  very  splendour,  drives  the 
Satyr,  half  mad.  Into  the  wlldeni««  to  struggle  with  hi*  conflicting 
emotions  (i).  He  returns  tamed  and  purified,  though  tbe  struggle  Is 
still  aUve  Id  blm.  TUl  Bnally  tbe  shepherd  Mellboeiu  sees  the  last 
act  of  the  woodland  drama :  Mellboeus'  own  wife,  no  goddMS  of 
chastity,  la  revealing  the  charms  of  half-nudlt;.  amid  roae  leaves,  to 
a  band  of  Satyrs.  'Our  Satyr.'  coming  at  the  same  time  upon  the 
scene,  kicks  up  the  rose  leav«  to  Indicate  tbe  feelings  aroused  In  him. 

EMPEDOCLES,  pp.  411-12. 

The  Qreek  phlloaophBr  Empedoclea,  according  to  a  tradition  Inunor- 
tallaed  by  'his  poet'  Matthew  Arnold,  leaped  down  tbe  crater  of  £tna 
Id  a  Dt  ot  pessimism.  Hla  leap  does  not  seem  to  Meredith  a  truly 
philosophical  geature. 

FORESIGHT  AND  PATIENCE,  pp.  413-21. 

To  aarist  tbe  reader  of  the  duologue,  tbe  worda  ForeHfiU  and 
Pollencc  have  In  thla  edition  been  Inserted  In  each  caae  opposite 
to  tbe  apeecbea  put  Into  the  mouth  of  each  by  the  poet.  Thla 
poem  sbowi  bow  keenly  seositlve  be  was  to  the  moat  mddem  develop- 
ments, and  how  far  be  conceived  them  to  tally  with  his  theory  oT 
general  progrees.  The  poem  tskee  the  form  of  a  dialogue  between 
Foredgbt.  the  active  spirit  of  progress  that  aspires  and  plans  and 
sometimes  despairs,  with  her  sister  PatJeniv.  the  spirit  that  waits 
In  faith  and  'savours  hope  deferred.'  but  who  la  not  ' ResIgoatloD's 
counterpart.'  and  whose  teaching  Is  not  that  ot  'the  dry  word 
Content.'  Foresight  Is  horror-struck  by  the  gross,  material  aspect 
ot  tbe  mUllons  who  are  now  so  rapidly  mastering  the  Earth.  Patience 
pirinta  out  tbe  hopeful  aspect  of  the  matter. 

>  They  —  Foresight  and  Patience. 


dbjGoogle 


NOTES  605 

•Foresight  Iraowa  th»t  •  brave  future  will  d&wn.  but  'hoir'  It  will 
dftwn  li  not  so  dear,  and  to  leain  'how'  she  must  take  rniinnni  of 
Patience.  Foresleht  comparM  berself  to  the  ea<le  that  die*  at  the 
■un,  anil  Patience  to  the  dalsr.  Men  wlU  learn  more  about  the  tun 
from  the  daisy  than  from  the  flight  of  the  eagle. 

•  Forodght  says  tovingly  that  her  slater  Patience,  'my  sober  Utile 
maM.'  Is  always  ready  to  listen  to  her  when  they  flrsl  meet.  For  her 
part  Foresight  Is  le«  able  to  learn  the  lessons  of  PalleDce,  tor  she  is 
disgusted  at  sight  of  mankind  turning  Its  forward  march  Into  a 
cIrcUng   round    and    round.    like   that   of   dead    weeds   on    boubled 

•  Fomlgbt,  Id  her  last  speech,  has  said  that  men  are  no  wiser  than 
la  primitlTS  times,  and  that  then  at  least  they  had  'the  beauty  of 
(Tank  animals.'  To  this  Patience  repllM.  bidding  her  look  back  at 
the  i^lmlllTe  tlmea  and  see  Chat  man  was  really  worse  then,  when 
'yes'  and  'no'  always  meant  a  light.  Then  Foresight  ('my  sister') 
was  nnhoard  or  unheeded,  while  Patience  herself  knew  the  virtue  of 
possessing  her  soul  In  evil  times. 

■Patience  takes  up  the  defance  of  'this  Age'  flast  decade  ot 
nineteenth  century)  against  Foresight,  who  has  complained  that  It 
la  given  over  to  pessimism.  Patience  says  that  'the  word' — hap- 
piness— 'which  means  our  soul  asleep  or  body's  lust,'  is  despised  and 
left  to  rust  by  the  'brave  Age'  that  refuses  to  enjoy  Individual  . 
happlneaa  till  It  can  be  shared  In  common  with  multitudes,  and  so 
be  no  longer '  predatory.' 

•  The  fear  of  war  In  Europe. 

'The  'other  mBss'  Is  the  working  class,  referred  to  as  'the  toilers' 
a  doxen  lines  below,  waking  to  challenge  tor  possession  of  the  world 
the  grossly  material  upi>er  and  middle  clasa  oF  whom  Foreslgbt  has 
been  complaining. 

'  Our  Age.  comptoina  Foresight,  feeds  Itself  on  Doubt — scepticism 
about  progress,  morality,  elc. — and  'for  paatime'  compounds  for  Its 
sceptldim  by  spasmodic  returns  to  superstition. 

■  Patience  compsres  our  Age  to  the  Nile  In  lie  lower  reaches  which, 
owing  to  the  vigorous  force  that  It  gets  from  Its  sources  In  the  moun- 
talru,  disastrously  floods  tbe  lower  ground,  and  destroys  the  'golden 
promise  over  leagues  of  seed.'  Yet  our  broad  Nile  can  boast  now 
that  It  feeds  thousands  where  the  Upper  Nile  (the  vigorous  early 
Ages)  only  fed  lens.  And  but  for  the  vigour  that  It  derives  from  Its 
sources,  'troublous'  as  tbe  vigour  Is,  It  could  do  little. 

■■  Foresight  admits  that  Patience  Is  right  In  pointing  to  the  advan- 
tage of  'numbers'  aa  tbe  basis  of  our  modem  dvtilsation,  on  which  It 
will  stand  longer  than  did  Greece  or  Rome,  that  bad  not  'numbers,' 
or  Irapt  them  In  slavery.  Yet  Foresight  cannot  reprew  the  cry. 
'O  thrice  must  one  be  you  (Patience)' — thrice  patient  must  one  be  to 
view  without  despair  tbe  undistinguished  modem  multitudes  In  'the 
swamp  of  tbdr  increase. ' 

■'  The  sight  of  modem  vulgarity  causes  philosophers,  not  of  the 
true  creed  of  philosophy,  to  despair,  and.  like  Bmpedoclea  (see  p.  411 
above),  to  commit  suicide  by  plimglns  down  tbe  crater  of  Aetna — tbe 
smoicy  recesses  of  their  own  brains.  The  phllosoplierB  tbus  pass 
away  In  vain — 'but  not  Philosophy,'   kdds  Patience,  aad  Foredght 


dbjGoogle 


noiT  ngreei.     'Advaatage  to  tbe  Muiy'   Is  to  be  the  watchword  of 
a  brighter  future. 

»They  =  lroDy  and  satire. 

LINES  TO  A  FRIEND  VISITING  AMERICA,  pp.  421-7. 

Thia  poem.  writleQ  In  1867.  rafera  to  the  then  receat  dvll  war 
Id  the  'young  DomlDloD'  (xxriii)  of  the  UnlMd  Stat«.  when  the 
British  upper  cUuies  and  tbeir  Pre«s — 'that  laveterate  machine' 
(iTi)— had  aided  with  the  robel  Hlave-owners.  while  Bright  and  tbe 
worklng-mea  took  the  opposite  side.  As  the  upper  classei  were  abiB 
to  be  more  loudly  vocal,  and  the  working  daasea  had  not  got 
tbe  vote.  England  appeared  to  the  Indignant  Americana  to  have 
desired  the  destruction  of  tholr  Republic.  When,  therefore,  slaTery 
and  rebellion  had  been  put  down,  relations  were  atrained  between 
America  and  England,  although  our  'blunderers'  over  here  saw  the 
dangerous  mistake  they  had  made,  and  'turned  sharp  the  victor 
to  cajole'  (ixx),  and  'we  who  would  not  be  wooed  must  court'  (v). 
The  poet  looks  to  Ma  friend  vlaltlUB  America  to  explain  to  our  kins- 
men that  the  true  England  was  not  the  England  of  the  upper-dan 

■  'A  poet,  half  a  prophet.'  etc.  (xtxt-iixti).  Carlyle.  who 
a  few  months  before  this  poem  was  written,  had  publlahed  bla 
ShooHna  Niatara,  and  Aftet.  in  which  he  eipresaed  his  aympathy 
)  In  America,  and   the    'titular  aristocracy'   la 


ANEURIN'S  HARP,  pp.  42^32. 

Aneurin.  Welsh  bard  (flourished  circa  603).  composed  Tfw 
Godoiin,  an  epic  relating  the  defeat  of  the  Britons  of  Stratbdyde  by 
tbe  Saxons  at  the  battle  of  Cattraeth.  a  defeat  which  Aneurin  ascribes 
to  drunkenness  on  tbe  part  of  the  Britona.  'Blue  mead  (methegUn) 
was  their  drink,  and  proved  their  poison,' 

The  modern  poet,  writing  still  aa  a  Welshman  or  Briton,  again  tells 
the  story  of  the  battle  |i-xil,  and  then  proceeds  to  point  the  moral  In 
the  light  of  subsequent  history.  The  Saxon,  the  'pale  sea-monster' 
(iv).  after  all  had  hla  usea.  and  ruled  till  he  submitted  to  the  'Norman 
noae'  (iii).  To  that  'lord  of  features'  the  Saxon  still  pays  feudal 
homage,  thus  exciting  tbe  shame  and  rage  of  the  subjugated  Cdtlc 
fringe,  that  haa  no  such  feudal  feeling  (xiii-xvi).  But  we  are  now 
one  race — Norman.  Saxon,  Briton^' rolled  to  meet  a  common  fate.* 
and  our  common  danger  la  leat  wealth  ahould  do  to  Ua  what  tho 
'metheglln  beaker'  did  to  tho  drunken  Britons  of  old — unBt  us  for 
the  competition  and  strife  of  modern  natlooa  (xvii-iix). 

'The  'BIrlas'  horn  was  a  drinking-horn.  The  word  occur*  In 
ancient  Welah  poetry. 

PROGRESS,  p.  433. 


dbyGoogle 


TO  CARDINAL  MANNING,  p.  434. 


TO  COLONEL  CHARLES,  pp.  434-6, 

A  plB»  for  iteady.  Bfatematlc  ftrnuiiileDt.  iDslesd  ot  laxity  varied 
b;  OtM  of  panic,  a  Dheme  frequenUy  recurring  In  these  poem*.  Colooel 
Charlea,  to  whom  the  poem  Is  (ddreascd,  had  wltneased  the  deetruo 
tlon  of  unprepared  Aiutrls's  armr  at  KOnlggrtti.  the  great  Prunlan 
victory  of  1SQ6.  Chtum  (zii)  wai  the  vIllaEO  In  the  centre  of  the 
Austrian  position,  wrapped  that  day  In  lets  of  snake.  The  'poet' 
referred  to  (ix)  ts  Bomer;  the  famoua  phrase  quoted  occurs  In 
Od.  XII.  13  and  elsenhere. 

THE  LABOURER,  pp.  437-8. 

Flr«t  published  In  the  Walmituler  Qaitue.  Feb.  fl,  1893.  'The 
Labourer'  li  Oiadstone;  the  * monster-tssk '  la  Home  Rule:  the 
'yellow-flowering  ladles'  are  Primrose  Dames;  'the  dog*  Is  Cerberus, 
guardian  ot  Hades. 

THE  EMPTY  PURSE,  pp.  438-58, 

A  young  man  has,  fortunately  for  himseir  thinks  the  poet,  run 
through  his  wealth  early  In  life,  and  so  has  a  chance  to  become  a  real 
man  Instead  of  a  drainpipe  ot  gold  and  bought  pleasures.  The  poet 
gives  blm  much  advice  as  to  how  to  serve  his  generation — with  bis  eye 
on  generations  to  come.  He  Is  exhorted  to  enter  politics — with  certain 
progressive  ends  In  view,  and  with  certain  standards  In  oratory  and 
political  tone. 

■  Zeus  wooed  Dana6  by  descending  Into  her  lap  In  a  shower  of  gold. 
■The  'Samlan  Sage'   was  Pythagoras,   who  l>tiieved  in  the  trans- 

mlgratlon  ot  souls.  The  poet  says  that  the  souls  of  hooved  and  homed 
animals  are  Indeed  Interchangeable  with  those  of  wealthy  debauchees 
let  loose  on  women, 

■  The  struggle  with  actual  poverty  means  a  struggle  with  the  taws 
of  the  Earth.  And  a  tjout  with  Earth  does  not  give  black  or  blue  eyes 
to  close  our  vision,  but  opens  the  eyes  and  windows  of  the  Boul,  Con- 
tact  with  Earth,  even  through  a  fall.  Is  vivifying  to  man  now,  as  It 
was  to  tbe  giant- wrestler  Anteus,  who  drew  strength  whenever  hs 
touched  tbe  soil. 

•  Phalarts  roiist«d  men  Inside  a  brazen  bull,  which  therefore  seemed 
lo  be  bellowing  when  tbe  victim  inside  roared.  The  'cities  of  the 
plain'  were  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  doomed  (or  th^  sins  to  destruction 

■  Tbe  best  thing  to  wash  a  man  pure  Is  for  blm  to  subject  himself  to 
'  the  torrents  of  wrath '  ever  ready  to  t»  let  loose  on  any  one  who 
criticises  the  distribution  of  property — 'the  dearest  men  prize' — the 
unrestricted   right   of  bequest,   etc.,   spoken   of  a   few  lines   tunher 


dbjGoogle 


dovD.     'JoamalB   mia   buiu'   directed   aeklnst  critica  of   the   praaeot 

*  Tha  young  (tha  'TentBtlvea')  are  s1wb]ib  esgar  for  aiperlment. 
and  tugging  ig&liut  tlie  old.  Nsture  knows  It  Ic  Che  old  wbo  are  ttie 
'Impediment'  to  progren. 

'  Batracblsn  cro»k=  cro&k  of  a  fn^. 

•'The  Queen  of  delirious  rltea'  la  Cybele.t  to  whom  tbe  mad 
'Phrygian'  mudc  was  played  by  her  ecatatic  worablppere.  Hence. 
Ave  Udbh  below,  we  read  tbat  sucb  frcuited  polltldans  mu«t  go  'oS  to 
tbeir  Phrygla' — to  tear  their  paaston  to  rags  there.  The  right  muale 
of  life  or  of  oratory  la  not  'Phrygian,'  but  the  mualc  of  '  Meaauro'  or 
balaoced  wladom. 

*  For  the  mythology  of  tbla  paasage.  sea  CatuUua,  Carm,.  63. 
'  Cybele'a  beast '  =  the  Uon. 

'  Pnet«r  -  determinedly  thermonoua'  ••  over  -  determinedly  hot- 
minded.  Such  la  the  'Cybele'  type  of  poUtldan.  whoae  'cauae' 
conaequently  become*  «■  unaerrlceabla  as  *  Attls ' — the  Bhepberd  loved 
by  Cybele  who  went  mad  and  fled  from  human  aodety  after  castrating 
hlmaeir  But  tbe  right  bind  of  cauae  (or  peiwin)  does  not  go  mad,  and 
produces  '  progeny '  and  la  In  touch  with  the  coming  generatlona. 

"'8be'  of  tbla  stania,  'the  Innermost.'  la  Earth.  Mother  Nature. 

■'  The  young  man'a  caae  ia  compared  to  that  of  the  man  who  chos« 
Co  be  fed  royally  for  a  year  and  then  railed  off  tbe  cliff,  thereby  wving 
tbe  city  of  Masstlla  from  plague.  The  young  man  of  tbe  Bmpli;  Parte 
bod  no  choice  In  tbe  matter,  as  the  law  forced  him  to  atart  llTe  handi- 
capped with  rlchea. 

"  Now  In  hia  lean  atata,  after  hia  cataatropfae,  be  may  aa  politician 
■erre  tbe  community  by  attsdcing  tbe  'grandmotherly  Laws'  of  in- 
haritanca.  hts  share  In  the  abuse  of  wbtcb  he  would  now  expiate.  Be 
Is  advised  to  be  courteous  as  an  orator,  and  not  to  be  afraid  ot  rei>eBt- 
Ing  himself,  but  to  deal  with  one  problem  by  many  Illustrations, 
because  the  succeaaful  preacher  Is  'supple'  In  his  methods,  but  'atlS' 
in  Ma  one  purpose. 

OUTSIDE  THE  CROWD,  pp.  456-7. 

'  If  Britain  trlea  to  take  a  larger  abare  of  tile  world  than  aba  can 
bold  in  her  banda  and  arms,  she  will,  in  snatchlDg  for  substance,  find 
that  she  bas  really  snatched  only  at  a  flitting  vapour.  Better  arm 
ounelvea  to  stand  on  guard  over  what  we  have  got.  and  be  Juat  and 
benevolent  In  our  use  of  It. 

AT  THE  CLOSE,  p.  458. 

Written  at  the  beginning  of  tbe  second  Boer  War,  1S99.  Since 
we  have  not  'torn  the  fall'n,'  the  conditional  curse  of  the  laat  Una 
baa  not  come  upon  us. 

THE  VOYAGE  OF  THE  'OPHIR,'  pp.  459-60. 


d  by  Google 


THE  CALL,  pp.  461-3. 


IL  Y  A  CENT  ANS,  pp.  463-*. 

Flnt  printed  Id  The  Flat,  leOS.  BLtXen  to  Napoleon's  rule  oq  the 
CoDtinent  snd  bis  falli  and  goea  on  to  tboughu  on  modera  natlona 
and  amumeats. 

■The  'tacta'  our  grandfatben  thought  permanent  reallUea  turn  out 
to  be  Incidents,  Rmall  haltlDB-places  In  history.  Nor  can  the  'tnitha' 
they  believed  In  endure  unless  the;  grow  with  the  times. 

MILTON,  pp.  466-7. 
Ida  waa  the  mountain  above  Tror.     The  reference  la  to  Homer. 

THE  REVOLUTION,  pp.  468-77. 

The  poem  opens  with  a  picture  or  the  anctin  rfgime  of  France, 
before  the  gr«at  eruption  (i-ii).  Neit.  the  early  and  happier  stages 
or  the  Bevolutlon  (1789-90)  are  typified  b;  a  Qgure  which  reappears 
coDBtODtly  both  In  this  and  the  following  pooma.  viz.  France  rising 
midway  to  heaven  to  meet  her  bridegroom  descending  from  'the 
blue"  <iii-it).  This  'heavenly  lover,'  'the  young  Angelical.'  repre- 
aents  True  Liberty,  Equality,  and  Fraternity,  the  original  Idaaa  of 
1789.  Throughout  the  history  of  the  next  hundred  years  the  poet 
shows  us  France  constantty  desBrting  tbls,  her  true  lover,  for  the 
Terror  or  for  Napoleon  i.  or  iii..  and  seeking  him  again  with  tears. 
for  she  Is  both  '  Angel  and  Wanton.' 

Her  first  unfaJthfuInesa  to  the  'heavenly  lover.'  the  madness  ot 
the  Terror,  Is  analysed  (v-viii).  The  'heavenly  lover'  flies  from 
her  (vu).  The  confederate  kings  beside  her  with  assault  from 
witboat  and  treason  within  (viii),  but  her  peasant  soldiers  (ii)  turn 
the  tables  on  the  kings  and  hunt  the  hunters  (x).  But  tbe  lust  for 
victory,  glory,  and  plunder  rise  In  her  at  sight  of  the  captured 
banners  (ii).  and  by  tbem  Napoleon,  'tbe  Iron  lord.'  wins  her  heart 
(xu).  Her  sins  and  madness,  not  wholly  noble,  get  what  they  demrve 
in  Justice — tbe  hard  taskmaster  Napoleon:  her  'lost  virtue'  'had 
found  refuge'  In  the  army,  whence  'strode  her  master'  (xiu). 

'Id  section  ii,  'the  lewelled  flies'  are  the  nobles,  courtiers,  etc., 
that  drained  Prance  under  the  anclen  rtgimt, 

'Amort'  =  llfeless.  Inanimate:  they  thought  that  dnca  tbe  rebel 
(France)  was  dumb,  all  passion  was  Ureleaa  In  her. 


NAPOLEON,  pp.  477-96. 


dbyGoogle 


Liberty  (ne  ootea  to  last  poem),  noir  fiUi  away  from  her  h«»Tet>]y 
lover.  KDd  sues  art  him  (Nkpoleon).  Oramm^Ucnlly,  'gmsed' 
govenu  '  on  blm ' :  and  the  subject  ol  the  lenleDCe  li,  '  ihe.  the  lona- 
enduined,'  etc. 

'  Her  leap  up  the  iky  to  meet  her  Bptrlt-loyer  (see  lut  poem,  ni 
KDd  note)  hsB  dow  receded  Into  the  distuice,  stlnins  In  her  memory 
only  like  *  a  troubled  pool '  or  a  half-loat  dream.  She  now  rejects  ber 
old  Ideal*  aa  uaeleas  vtBtons,  and  accept*  the  'Imperial  Fact'  of 
Napoleon. 

■'Earth's  flutterlog  little  lyre'  Is  the  lark.  tyi>lfylns  the  voice  of 
liberty  and  humaotty  that  rouaad  Prance  from  her  'boar-froet'  before 
the  Revolution  (see  the  last  poem,  section  ii.  p.  MS  above)  aa  the 
lark  rouses  the  seed  In  the  frozen  earth  at  aprlitg:  this  vc4ce  of 
liberty  and  humanity  Is  still  heard  by  France  through  all  the 
Napoleonic  roar  in  Europe,  faintly,  like  an  Infant's  cry,  """'"'""if 
bcr  at  Intervals  of  the  better  things  which  she  bad  deserted  to 
worship  ber  master. 

But  In  the  Orst  lines  of  the  next  section  (vi)  we  read  how  Fiance 
again  throws  off  tbme  suggestions  of  her  better  self,  and  Is  deaf  to  the 
'arrant  moans'  accusing  her  of  being  the  mother  anil  yet  the  murderer 
of  liberty,  and  therefore  accursed.  She  again  becomes  the  'adoring 
■lave'  of  Napoleon  and  hU  fresh  conquests. 

•  The  'Bhepherd'  la  Washington  lob.  179B)  who  realised  the  Ideal 
from  which  France  has  fallen  away. 

■Refers  to  the  terrible  Hlaugbter  at  Eyiau,  1S07,  amid  the  'marsh 
and  snows,'  when  the  Russians  first  made  Napoleon  wonder  whether 
there  was  not  some  naceasary  limit  to  hla  conquesU.  He  thinks  the 
matter  out  bealdH  Frederick  the  Great's  tomb  In  conquered  Prussia, 
and  deddM  to  drop  'batUe'a  dice-boi,'  and  makes  the  Treaty  of 
Tildt  with  Russia  <1807].     Such  Is  the  meaning  of  this  first  stania  of 

•But  'the  Seaman'  (England),  by  help  at  money,  puts  hoart  again 
Into  conquered  Europe  to  rebel,  and  so  puis  Into  the  distance 
Napoleon's  dream  of  conquering  India  like  'Macedoniao*  Alexander, 
and  becoming  an  Emperor  'Cbariemagne.'  with  no  'mark'  or  bound 
to  his  Empire. 

'  The  Seaman  (England),  girdling  round  Napoleon's  land  Empire, 
by  turning  Russia  againat  him.  will  soon  'lure  and  goad  him'  to  the 
fatal  Russian  campa^  (1812),  where  he  will  meet  the  sea  power 
of  England  In  those  battalions  of  Ruaslana,   'suborned'   by  English 

■Sections  II  and  x  are  a  discussion  of  the  relations  of  'him  and 
her.'  Napoleon  and  Franco.  It  is  packed  wlLh  historical  Insight 
and  knowledge,  the  latter  being  the  result  of  Meredith's  deep  reading 
In  Napoleonic  literature. 

• 'Friable'~crumbly :  'grumous'^cloCtod.  thick;  'dlizards'vfools. 
blockheads.  Napoleon  regarded  all  politicians  of  all  parties  In  Prance 
aa  fools,  despising  equally  thoee  who  gave  way  to  hlm  easily  and  those 
who  resisted  Um  olMtlnateiy. 

I*  The  same  Idea  aa  that  explained  In  note  7  above.  Engtacd. 
the  sea  power,  of  the  hydra  heads,  ever  falling  from  heaven  like  an 


dbjGoogle 

4 


NOTES  611 

aflroUte  in  uneipecMd  plac«a.  tkka  up  her  lut  M&nd  beltlnd  the 
Scythian  (RuaalanJ. 

»  The  iovuioa  oT  Suntii,  181Z. 

"The  feverish  union  of  Fnnce  and  Napoleon  after  the  Ion  of  the 
grand  army  In  Russia,  to  save  one  another  In  the  hour  of  defeat, 
though  Prance  la  now  really  dlsQIu^oDed  about  her  master. 

>•  This  and  the  following  llaes  describe  bow  Napoleon  played 
'double  or  quits'  In  the  campaigns  of  1813-14.  refusing  to  accept 
a  mere  half  of  Europe. 

H  ReToiiag  to  the  escape  from  Elba  and  the  Hundred  Days — a 
human  miracle.  The  following  section  refers  to  the  Waterloo  cam- 
paign. 

|>  ATler  Waterloo,  France  i*  freed  from  the  great  oppression  of 
Napoleon,  but  by  foreigners  who  are  not  the  sons  of  true  freedom. 
She  Is  not  Mt  ftee  to  rejoin  her  heavenly  lover.  The  voice  of  the 
Cossack  and  of  the  Holy  Alliance  Is  'the  raven's  croak.'  not  'Earth's 
fluttering  little  lyre.'  for  which  see  note  3  above. 

"  As  the  years  go  by.  and  the  liberal  movement  begins  in  FraDM 
in  the  twentJes,  the  Naixdeonic  Legend  assumes  the  mellow  hues  of 
peace  and  liberty  which  the  real  Napoleon  had  hatod.  The  'young 
Angelical' — the  heavenly  lover — True  Liberty  waves  aloft  again   as 

FRANCE— DECEMBER  1870,  pp.  497-504. 

'Prance — December  1S70'  was  written  actually  Is  that  month, 
when  the  Germans  were  round  Pads,  and  were  covering  eastern 
Trance  with  their  'league-long  chains'  of  armlis.  It  first  appeared 
in  the  FoTtninMlii  Bnletn,  January  1871.  and  afterwards  in  the 
vidume  Ballads  and  Poena.  The  other  poems  of  the  series,  'The 
Revolution.'  '  NapolSon.'  and  '  Alsace-Lorraine,'  are  much  later  -.  Unt 
published,  1898. 

'  Referring  to  the  French  Bevolutlon,  1789  e(  ttq. 

■  This  section  (v)  refers  to  the  llrat  Napoleon's  armies  of  seventy 
years  before,  whose  violences  and  conquests  are  now  being  punished, 
remembered  by  the  remorseless  memories  of  the  gods. 

\  The  rest  of  this  section  refers  to  the  revival  of  supersUtlon,  and 
the  rash  to  the  cburchea  to  supplicate  'miraculous'  deliverance  from 
the  Prusalans.  But  the  'Mother  of  Reason'  and  of  'the  many 
Laugbters,'  the  land  of  Voltaire,  con  surely  not  expect  much  from 
that,  says  the  poet. 

'Her  'Dishonour'  (*  Dlshonounr'  In  flist  edition)  means 
Napoleon  m. 

ALSACE-LORRAINE,  pp.  605-20, 

This  poem,  dated  1898,  refers  to  the  recovery  of  Prance  from 
the  disaster  of  1870,  a  recovery  propbealed  by  a  poet  in  the  previous 
poem  written  a  generation  before.  Peace,  not  revenge;  a  spiritual, 
not  a  material  restitution,  is  being  won.  and  France  will  lead  us 
again  in  the  better  paths  of  the  new  era.     The  writer  of  these  notes 


dbjGoogle 


612  NOTES 

h»d  the  advantage  of  the  poet's  InatracUon  u  to  the  mewilDg  of  KimB 
of  the  more  dlncult  panacea  of  tUs  poem. 

<  The  twelve  boura  are  linked  Id  the  drde  of  the  clock  face. 
The  'houn'  that  rlpea  the  fateful  aeed  we  have  mwn.  are  'the;' 
Id  this  flret  sectloa.  aad  are  also  the  'rovolvliig  Twelves'  Id  the 
■ecoDd  line  of  section  ii.  The  'hours.'  revolving  since  1870,  have 
done  much  for  the  raoowol  of  FrBDce. 

■Dogs'  snouts  bunting  through  the  grasacs:  rabbits  bolting  for 
safety  Into  their  burrows. 

This  secdon  <ii)  pictures  for  u3  the  natural  lite  and  scenery  of  rural 
France,  both  to  north  and  to  south,  the  breast  of  earth  that  has  made 
(julet  recovery  possible  for  the  children  of  France.  afl«r  1870. 
'Commune  wllb  Earth'  'shall  remake'  'ber' — that  Is  France. 

■ '  Darkness  on  that  Eastward  side'  Is  Alsace-Lorraine  lost. 

<  The  soldlera  are  mad  tor  vengeance.  But  It  Is  not  the  soldiers  who 
restore  France ;  It  Is  the  tollers. 

>  Boyallst  movement  In  France  after  1870  Is  referred  to  In  section 
IT.  The  reactionary  Royalists  urge  Prance  to  abjure  her  'dlvlnest 
shot.'  her  great  Revolution,  her  leap  at  the  'celestial'  In  178Q,  and 
abhor  those  days  of  the  Phrygian  caps  of  liberty. 

•Her  lover— True  Liberty.  See  note  to  'The  Revolution.'  p.  608 
above.  She  'flings'  the  Royalists,  and  retuma  to  her  true  lover. 
Liberty,  but  only  oDCe  mora  to  leave  him  to  hanker  after  Buona- 
partlsm. 

'The  'treasure-galleon'  Is  Napoleon  In  memory,  the  Napoleonic 
Legend.  See  last  two  llnea  of  'NapolAon.'  p.  496.  The  reference 
la   to   the   revived    Buonapartiat   movement   In    France   In   the   lalo 

■  France.  In  lata  seventies,  halla  Napoleon  i.  as  saint.  She  should 
rather,  says  the  poet,  have  hailed  Jeanne  d'Arc  as  saint,  for  ahe  atanila 
for  a  purer  patrlotbm.  'She  had  no  self  but  France,'  white  Napoleon 
bad  '  no  France  but  self. ' 

■This  section  refers  to  the  battle  of  Sedan.  Sedan  Is  the  'ODe 
word'  which  FrODce  cannot  forget,  and  It  ia  for  ever  linked  with  that 
of  her  new-chosen  'Saint'  Napoleon,  The  'cannon-Dame'  and  'wHI 
of  wills'  recall  the  opeDiDg  of  the  poem  'NapoUSon,'  p.  477. 

I"  This  section  (vii)  describee  the  ghoat  of  Napoleon  i.  viewing  the 
battle  of  Sedan  (1S70) — 'his  Legand'a  close.'  The  great  ghost  rides 
up  the  heights  to  gloat  over  the  army  entrapped  In  the  valley  of 
Sedan,  making  no  doubt  In  bis  'victor's  Instinctive  scorn'  tbat  It  la 
the  enemy  who  la  trapped  by  the  French  armies.  But  when  the  ghost 
Joins  the  victors  on  the  heights,  he  Bads  himself  among  'the  belmetpd 
ranks'  of  the  Prussians.  It  la  'an  army  of  France,  tricked,  netted, 
convulsive.'  In  the  valley  below. 

'<  The  famous  charge  of  the  French  cuirassiers  In  the  vain  attempt 
to  break  the  net  at  Sedan, — watctied  by  the  gbost  of  Napoleon  i., 
'the  Grey  Observer.' 

"The  gboBt  of  Napoleon  i,.  In  bis  anger  at  tlndlng  who  Is  oon- 
quered  and  who  conqueror  at  Sedan,  caUa  up  Tbierv,  the  'mannikln 
squire.'  with  a  head  which  Meredith  always  compared  to  a  'merlin 
hawk,'  and  the  'quill'  with  which  he  wrote  the  bombastic  Comulat  el 


dbjGoogle 


NOTES  613 

L'Emjiirt  'aeroir  oa  Mb  ear.'  Tblen  hod  brought  France  to  tbli 
dIsaiMr  by  pufflng  the  Napoleonic  Legend  Id  bU  bUtory,  and  so  briiig- 
Ing  OD  the  clamour  tor  the  fatal  war  of  1870. 

■■  Every  aniilversary  day  of  Sedan  Napoleoa  i.'a  gboat  will  hale 
Tbiera'  ghost  atl«r  him  to  show  him  the  vIbIod  of  the  battle  of  Sedan 
— which  tbey  two  between  them  brought  on  France  by  making  the 
'Napoleonic  Legend'  of  'glory.' 

"  The  Bplre  of  Strasburg  Cathedral. 

'■  France  aeea  Germany  and  can  admire  her,  seeing  also  In  whit 
walks  Prance  can  atUt  lead :  and  she  can  me  what  wary  natch  over 
Alsace-Lorraine  her  sister  Germany  keeps,  misreading  her  'mother's 
throbs'  for  the  lost  provinces  aa  the  Intention  to  recover  them. 

"The  'belted  Overabadower'  Is  Germany — becoming  too  'ada- 
mantine' In  her  rtal-palilll:,  with  the  poaaeadon  of  Force,  and 
limiting  her  borlaon  to  '  present  sight.' 

I'  France,  who  gave  birth  to  Jeanne  d'Arc,  and  who  sprang  to  the 
heavenly  marriage  In  ITSO.  may  reach  'beiehta  yet  unknown  of 
nations.'  In  the  judgment-court  (Hetlaea)  of  History  she  may  make 
good  her  claim  to  have  brought  to  birth  a  conscience  and  a  love  of 

'■  For  the  poet's  'faith'  In  France  In  1870.  see  the  loat  poem. 

"  The  'double  name' ~  Alsace-Lorraine. 

"  Viz.  Europe,  where  each  nation  owes  so  much  U>  each  that  there 
Is  no  measuring  who  gives  or  takes  mo^t,  and  where  war  la  Cain  .  .  . 
will  hall  the  rare  example  of  France  the  peacemaker. 

THE  CAGEING  OF  ARES,  pp.  5204, 

The  legend,  used  as  an  allegory  of  the  work  of  keeping  peace.  Is 
that  Coea  (Mother  Earth)  learns  from  ber  two  boys.  Otoa  and 
Ephlaltee.  Titans,  bow  they  have  snared  Ares,  tho  god  of  war,  and  bound 
bim  in  a  'vessel  of  bronze.'  Finally  Hermes  prompM  Hephaestus,  the 
smith-god.  to  'shatter  earth's  delirious  holiday'  by  brealiing  open 
Area'  prison.  But  till  tben.  Tor  'thirteen  songful  months.'  Eart^i 
and  her  children  enjoyed  peace  and  happiness. 

THE  NIGHT-WALK,  pp.  524-8. 

Though  written  in  old  age,   this  poem  recalls  the  poet's  thoughts 

and  aensatlona  on  a  nlgbt-wolk;    taken  by  blmselT  and  a  (Tieod  as  very 

'  The  moments  of  silence  between  the  poet  and  his  walking- 
companion,  were  like  mothers'  breasts,  a  soft  refuge  and  nursery  to  It 
(youth's  dream),  maldng  It  feel  a  state  of  divine  conceit  (imagination). 
Bucb  OS  roaUty  must  envy. 

A  GARDEN  IDYL,  pp.  52G-9. 
Arachne  la   the  spider.     The  poet   watches  her  web.   till  one  day 
a  dandelion's   head  gels   In   where  the  fly  should   l>e,   much  to  the 
perturbation  of  the  spider. 


dbjGoogle 


■  Onndmotber  ipldsn  have  wmnied  their  ehadno  wlUi  the  tole 
tb»t  the  dkadelioD  wed.  light  tbougb  II  mar  be.  on  itrlke  the  web  Mi 
•J  to  deatro;  It. 

THE  VITAL  CHOICE,  WITH  THE  HUNTRESS,  WITH  THE 
PERSUADER,  THE  TEST  OF  MANHOOD,  pp.  529-46. 

The  brief  preUmlnkir  ituuu  of  'The  Vital  Choice'  (tate  the 
problem  aflerwardi  worked  out  more  fully  la  'The  Ten  of  Manhood.' 
Artamla  aod  Aphrodite  each  dalm  all  from  Youth,  who  miut  stve  to 
each  her  dUM,  but  not  more.  If  we  'sbun'  either  sodden,  or  'too 
devoutly  follow'  either,  they  point  ua  to  Death.  The  subject  through- 
out If  the  old  rivalry  of  the  two.  and  thetr  ultimate  harmony.  'The 
Huntren'  la  Artemii  (Diana),  Qreek  goddea  of  chartlty  and  hunting 
— aymbol  here  of  our  development  of  body,  brain,  and  iplrit  In  purity. 
In  (trlfe  with  the  elements.  'The  Fenuader'  la  Aphrodite  ' (Venus) — 
love.  'The  Teat  of  Manhood'  la  to  give  each  goddeaa  her  doe,  and  no 
more,  aa  the  laat  poem  of  the  cycle  ahowa. 

WITH  THE  HUNTRESS,  pp.  52*51. 

The  picture  la  that  of  Anemia  (who  waa  goddeaa  of  the  moon  aa 
well  as  of  hunting  and  chaatlty)  hunting  by  night  through  the  foreat- 
dad  mountalna. 

WITH  THE  PERSUADER,  pp.  531-40. 


■'Nlgbt'a  foreat  bom'  and  'the  Inaaner  crew'  denote  the  ritaa  and 
devoteea  irf  Artemla.  'The  Huntress.'  here  viewed  from  the  sumdpolnt 
of  Aphrodite,  and  therefore  In  a  leas  favourable  light  than  In  the  laat 

•'Theae.  the  Irreverent  of  LlfB'a  dealgn.'  etc..  are  the  foUowen  of 
Artemla,  the  deaplaera  of  love  and  generation. 

•  'The  rosea  lluab  the  cheeka'  of  the  foUowera  of  Artemla,  becauae 
they  take  healthy  eierdae.  They  therefore  .  think  they  are  'In 
nature  wlae.'  but  they  are  really  foolish,  deaplslng  love.  These  are 
'the  race  who  mount  the  roee' — ot  health  in  tbetr  cheeks,  mentioned 
two  lines  further  down.  Aphrodite  makes  war  on  then,  and  often 
undermines  their  virtue  at  unexpected  polnta. 

>  The  '  Laurel  Ood '  la  ApoUo,  god  of  music,  poetry,  and  the  sun. 
High  and  loyoua  courage,  even  In  sullerlng  and  dlsappolntnlent.  is 
the  mark  of  true  love.     Aphrodite  does  not  Uhe  men  who  whine. 

• '  And  la  It  needed.'  etc.  This  couplet  and  the  next  ali  Unas, 
down  to  the  end  Ot  the  section,  meiui  that  woman  la  naturally  the  one 
who  'walla'  as  a  'handmaid'  for  tbe  man  to  approacli  her  with  love: 
but  if  niaa  plays  the  'dainty'  brute,  and  will  not  became  'hunter' 
till  he  has  himself  bean  'snared,'  she  knows  how  to  tempt  him  to 


dbjGoogle 


NOTES  615 

pnnue  ber.  IT  thai  'pcrrerted'  by  tlM  'muolen'  ap^thj  of  ttao 
male,  the  tua  uidu  of  coQuetry  to  lura  him  on,  IT  be  ha<  ■rown  'tUM' 
in  pursuit. 

'  Women  &re  here  divided  Into  two  clasMO — tbe  simple  and  the 
complex.     Bleat  nun  hu  his  choice  from  both. 

•  An  element  of  paaslon.  beyond  reftaon  and  locic,  li  neoeaury  In 
ttie  lover,  or  be  la  doomed  by  the  law  Ot  NMuTO.  He  miut  believe 
Ui  cboaeu  to  be  the  fklrest. 

THE  TEST  OF  MANHOOD,  pp.  54(M. 

1  The  '  army '  that  '  ianie*  out  of  wlldemew.'  la  mukldnd  emerging 
from  iMrbkrtim.  Tbe  treatment  of  the  subject  U  to  some  eiI«Dt 
tiistorlcal.  The  'tempiee'  luggeet  those  raised  by  the  Oreelis,  Later 
In  the  poem,  tbe  asceticism  and  belief  in  tbe  devU  recuJl  the  Middle 
Ages:    and   tbe   emergence   from   aupentltton   hlots   at   the   modem 

<  'Htm'  =  man. 

•  This  passage  refers  to  tbe  more  selOsb  aipect  ot  popular  religloD, 
the  prayer  of  the  individual  to  Ood  for  personal  salvation,  and  ipedal 
grants  to  '  tbe  elect,'  as  distinguished  from  the  rest  of  manldnd. 

•Both— Mature  and  Divinity.  Both  are  'sustaining'  alike  to  the 
higher  and  lower  types  of  humanity.  But  both  are  cruel  to  the 
tplrltual  prelenslona  of  the  individual  to  superiority. 

*  Man  saw  his  treason  to  bis  fellow-men  In  praying  to  Ood  for 
external  possesaloni.  wblcb  are  won  by  Oghtlng.  and  have  nothing  to 
do  with  rellgloi}. 

*  The '  black  adversary's  ghost'  Is  the  devil. 

'The  emancipation  or  religion  from  superstition — a  new  'vision' 
opens  and  the  devil  Is  dematerlallaed.  'The  spectral  enemy'  — 'the 
black  advenory's  ghost'  of  the  previous  section. 

*Man'B  'shrouded  Sire'  Is  Ood. 

■'The  hostile  rival  twain'  are  Artemis  and  Aphrodite,  whom  It  la 
man's  triumph  to  hold  wlttiin  himself,  each  In  her  proper  place  and 
station. 

"Mao's  'mastering  mind'  dlscema  'the  Maater  mind,'  '(he  Oreat 
Dnseen.  nowise  the  Dark  Unknown' :  that  Is — Ood. 

"  Man  returns  to  brute  if  he  lets  loose  of  all  control  either  the  Icy 
Art«mls,  who  '<'"'»'"■  the  llssh.  or  the  soft  Aphrodite,  who  lends  it 

<* '  Its  tempters '  ^  Artemis  and  Aphrodite. 

THE  HUELESS  LOVE,  pp.  5«-7. 

The  Platonic  love  of  a  man  and  woman  divided  by  marriage. 
He  dies,  and  'their  llrst  touch  of  ilpe'  is  'as  he  lay  cold.'  Something 
Bimlhv  Is  suggested  In  thb  next  poem.  'Union  in  Disseverance.'  where 
the  harmony  of  the  dying  sunset  and  the  evening  star  is  spoken  of  as 
a  union  between  man  and  woman  deeper  than  that  ot  ordinary 
marriage. 


dbjGoogle 


FOREST  HISTORY,  pp.  H9-53. 

The  poet  deacrtbea  In  order  oT  their  historic^  bapiMmliig  the 
phaaoi  <>t  nun's  reUition  lo  the  forest — Its  mystery  And  rom&ace. 

I'll.  Mbu'b  prUnoTAl  strife  witb  the  wUdemess.  and  legends  of  the 
*  phantom '  dragon  ot  the  forest — a  tf  '  mitigated  by  driving  roads 
tbrough  the  heart  of  darknen. 

iii-ii.  The  fear  of  the  forest  survives  In  a  mitigated,  'more 
IntlmaU'  rorm.  even  after  man  hu  made  his  roads  and  setUed 
down  In  the  clearings.  Man  learns  brotherhood  la  the  struggle 
against  nature. 

Tii-Tiii.  Monasteriea  are  planted  In  the  roreat. 

ii-x.  And  nunneries.     '  The  garden '•  that  ot  Eden. 

ii'iii.  Barbarian  Invasions,  to  escape  which  the  weaker  races  offer 
to  the  monasteries  land  In  return  for  protection,  food.  etc.  The 
memory  of  these  InvasliMu  and  the  scenes  connected  with  them 
make  history  and  tradition. 

II1I-XVII.  The  feudal  castle  and  the  knlghts^erraDt  tilting  against 
each  other  In  mossy  glades. 

iTiii-ii.  Robin  Hood  and  the  shooters  of  deer. 

xii-iiiii.  The  bauntlDg  effect  of  the  forest  on  the  child  Of  the 
medieval  city, 

iiiT-iiT.  The  Fairies. 

xxvi-ixviii.  To  crown  all  came  Shakespeare,  who  Inherited  each 
of  these  Instincts  and  traditions,  bock  to  the  most  primitive  forest 
fear  (the  Dragon).     Be  is.  besides,  half  townsman. 

nxix.  And  so.  as  Stiokespeare  has  shown  us.  these  two  worlds  of 
thought  and  feeling,  the  social  and  aolltary,  may  be  woven  together 
In  our  lives.  They  are  'our  conquest.'  The  woods  and  the  cities  are 
both  our  Inheritance,  provided  that  we  do  not  on  the  one  hand  lose 
respect  for  the  advantages  of  dvlllaatlon.  and  retrogresslvely  overstep 
the  'boundaries  of  realms  from  Nature  won' :  nor,  on  the  other  hand, 
become  sophisticated  out  of  all  depth  of  feeling  and  lose  'the  poet's 
awe  In  raptive,'  which  he  Qrst  drew  Itom  tbe  forest  but  may  lieep 
in  the  dty. 

THE  CRISIS,  pp.  561-2. 

f  tbe  Busstana  to  win 


THE  CENTENARY  OF  GARIBALDI,  pp.  562-1. 

■  'Not  to  strive'  means  'not  to  strive  against  one  another.' 

FRAGMENTS  (No.  Ill),  pp.  567-8. 

1  In  tbU  'Fragment'  we  are  exhorted  to  look  up  lo  the  light  of 
•Doming  In  the  sky.  while  as  yet  tbe  sim.  the  lord  of  the  morning.  Is 
nnrlsen.     'She'  and  'her'  mean  'mom.' 


dbjGoogle 


INDEX  OF  FIRST  LINES 


A  Blackbird  tn  a  wicker  cage. 
A  breath  oT  the  moantaiiu.  rreab  bom  in  the  raglons 
A  brook  glaDdDg  under  green  leaves.  >elf-dellghtlng. 
A  dove  Dew  with  an  OUv«  Branch : 
A  fountain  or  our  iweeleat.  quick  to  spring 
A  hundred  mares,  all  white  1  their  manes 
A  princvst  in  the  eaBtern  tale 
A  rainless  darkness  drew  o  'er  the  lake 
A  revelation  came  on  Jane 
A  roar  thro'  the  t*JI  twin  elm'treee 
A  Satyr  spied  a  Ooddess  In  her  batb. 
A  wicked  man  Is  bad  eaough  on  earth ; 
A  wilding  little  stubble  Bower 
A  wind  Bways  the  plan. 
An  English  heart,  my  commandant. 
An  Inspiration  caught  rrom  dubious  hues 
And — '  Vonder  look  I  yohol  yohol 
Angelic  love  that  etoopR  with  heavenly  lips 
As  Puritans  they  prominently  wax. 
Ask,  Is  Love  dlvloe, 
Assured  oT  worthiness  we  do  not  dread 
At  the  coming  up  of  Phoebus  the  all- 
Avert.  High  Wlwlom.  never  vainly  wooed. 
Awakw  tor  me  and  leaps  from  shroud 


;h  the  vans  or  doom  did  men 
JD  the  fountain  and  the  rill 
T  besotted,  with  scowl  of  a 


',  having  heart  of 


Blue  July,  bright  July, 

Bright  SIriual  that  when  Orion  pales 

Bursts  from  a  rending  East  In  Baws 

Bury  tby  torrows.  and  they  shall  rise 

By  this  he  knew  she  wept  with  waking  eyes : 


dbjGoogle 


dbjGoogle 


Hll]-«ldes  are  dark.  .... 
Hla  Ladj  queeo  ot  woods  to  meet. 
HiBtoric  be  the  nirvej  of  our  kind. 
How  barren  would  thli  TsUey  be.   . 
How  big  of  breut  our  Mother  Oaea  laughed 
How  died  Meliasa  none  dare*  ibape  In  words. 
How  low  when  angeli  rail  their  black  deacent, 
How  amllM  ba  at  a  generation  nuked 
How  iweet  on  m 


lot  count  the  yean,    . 
I  cannot  low  thee  for  a  day,  .   , 

I  chafe  at  darkneai  In  the  night, 
I  chanced  upon  an  earl;  walk  to  apy 
I  know  him,  Febnuur'i  tbnuh, 
t  fee  a  Air  roung  couple  In  a  wood. 
I  atood  at  the  gate  ot  the  cot 
[.  wakeful  for  the  ikTlark  voice  !□  men.     . 
I  would  I  were  the  drop  of  rain 
If  that  thou  baat  the  gift  of  nrength,  tbeo  know. 
If  thic  ii  death.  It  ii  not  hard  to  bear. 

n  middle  age  an  srU  thing 

n  Progren  you  have  Uttle  talth.  aay  you : 


Laat  ulgbt  returning  from  my  twilight  walk 

Leave  tbe  uproar :  at  a  leap 

Let  Fal«  or  InsufSclency  provide   . 

Like  a  flood  river  whirled  at  rocky  baoka. 

Like  aa  a  terrible  Are  feeda  faat  on  a  fc 

Like  to  some  deep-chested  organ  wboae  grand  Inspiration, 

Lo,  aa  a  tree,  whosa  wintry  twlgi   . 

Long  with  ui.  now  she  leaves  ua  ;  >he  I 

Love  ti  winged  for  two. 

Love  within  the  lover's  breast 


dbjGoogle 


Men  tho  Angola  ejed  ; 
Merrily  'mid  the  faded  le&ves. 
Musing  OD  (be  rtle  of  Dtphne. 


Never,  O  never,       .... 

Might,  like  a  dying  mother. 

No,  no.  the  falling  bloaaony  ii  no  dgn 

Not  ere  the  bitter  herb  we  tute.    . 

Not  BoUtarlly  In  fields  we  Bad 

Not   the   Bea-wave   bo   bellows   abroad    when 

■hingla.  .... 

Not  vatnir  doth  (be  earnest  voice  of  man 
Not  yet  had  History's  Aetna  smoked  the  bMm, 
Now  dumb  Is  he  wbo  waked  tbe  world  to  speak. 
Now  farewell  (o  you  1  you  are 
Now  from  the  meadow  floods  the  wild  duck 
Now  staodlnE  on  this  hedgeslde  path. 
Now  the  rrog.  all  lean  and  weak.    . 
Now  the  North  wind  ceases. 
Now,  this,  to  my  notion,  Is  pleasant  cheer. 
Now  'tis  Spring  on  wood  and  wold. 


It   bursts   upon 


O  brlar-scenla,  on  yon  wot  wing     . 

O  might  I  load  my  arms  with  thee, 

O  my  lover  I   tbe  night  like  a  broad  smooth  wave 

O  nightingale  I   how  hast  thoti  learnt 

O  skylark  1  I  see  thee  and  call  thee  joy  1 

or  me  and  or  my  theme  tblok  what  tbou  wilt : 

Of  men  he  would  have  raised  to  light  be  fell : 

On  a  starred  night  Prince  Ludfer  uprose. 

On  her  great  venture,  Man. 

On  my  darling's  bosom 

On  the  morning  of  May. 

On  yonder  bills  soft  twilight  dwells 

Once  I  was  part  of  the  music  I  heard 

One  fairest  ot  the  ripe  unwedded  left 

Open  horizons  round. 

Oracle  of  the  market  I  thence  yon  drew 

Or  shall  we  run  with  Artemis 

Our  Islet  out  ot  Helgoland, 


dbjGoogle 


INDEX 

Picture     aome     I  ale     ■mlllng     green    'mid    the    trhlte-TiMmlag 

Pltcb  here  the  tenc.  while  tbs  old  hone  gr&Eee:     . 

Prince  of  BanlB  was  old  Aneurln  ;  . 

Projected  rrom  the  blUom  Chlldo,  .... 

Queen  Theodollnd  has  built  .... 


B  war-grounij. 


apeedwell.    and 


See  the  sweet  women,  friend,  that  lelui  beneath 

Seen,  too  clear  and  historic  wlthhi  ua,  our  sins  of  omlsslan 

See'st  thou  a  Skjrlark  whose  gUstenlDS  wlngleU  ascending 

Shall  I  counsel, the  moon  in  her  ascending T 

Sharp  Is  the  nlghl.  but  stars  with  frost  oUvi 

She  can  be  as  wise  as  we.    . 

Should  thy  )o*e  die : 

'  Sirs  I    may  I  shake  your  bands  T 

Sleek  as  >  lizard  M  round  of  a  stone. 

So  he.  with  a  clear  about  of  laughter, 

So  now  the  horsea  of  Alakldea.  off  wide  of 

Spirit  of  Bunia,  now  has  coi 

Sprung  or  the  fatber  blood,  the  mother  brain. 

Strike  not  thy  dog  with  a  atlckt 

Summer   glows   warm   on   the 

gold-cups.  and  daisies 
Sunset  worn  to  Its  last  vermilion 
Swathed  round  in  mist  and  crowi 
Sweet  as  Eden  Is  the  olr,     . 
Swept  from  his  fleet  upon  that  fatal  night 
Sword  In  length  a  reaplng-book 
Sword  of  Common  Seoaol — 

Take  tby  lute  and  sing 

That  Oarden  of  sedate  Philosophy 

That  march  of  the  funereal  Past  behold: 

That  wB«  the  cblrp  of  Ariel 

The  buried  voice  bespoke  Antigone. 

The  clouds  are  withdrawn  . 

Tbe  daisy  now  Is  out  upon  the  green  : 

The  day  that  Is  the  night  of  daya. 

The  Flower  unfolda  Its  dawning  cup. 

The  hundred  yeara  have  passed,  and  be 


dbjGoogle 


The  long  doud  edged  with  it 

The  mooD  I*  »lane  la  the  sky 

The  old  cosch-roBd  thnnigh  m  common  ot  fane.    . 

The  old  grey  Alp  tuu  aoght  the  doud. 

The  (dd  gray  mother  the  thnimmed  on  ber  knee : 

The  old  hound  wags  hla  ■h&ggj'  tall. 

The  MDBe>  lOThig  Euth  or  weU  or  U 

The  ihepherd,  with  hli  eye  oo  haiy  South, 

The  silence  of  preluded  song — 

The  skter  Boun  In  Circles  linked.  . 

The  Snowdrop  la  the  prophet  of  the  flowen : 

The  song  of  a  nightingale  sent  thro'  a  dumbrons  vklley. 

The  spirit  of  Bomuics  dies  not  to  those 

The  Tyrant  passed,  and  friendlier  wa>  his  eye 

The  varied  colours  are  a  lltful  heap : 

The  wind  Is  East,  the  wind  la  West, 

The  years  had  worn  their  seaaons'  belt. 

There  she  goes  up  the  street  with  her  book  In  her  hand, 

There  stands  a  Binger  In  the  street, 

There  were  three  maidens  met  on  the  highway: 

These,  then,  he  left,  and  away  where  ranks  were  now  c 

They  have  no  song,  the  sedges  dry. 

They  then  to  fountain-abundant  Ida.  mother  of  wild  beasts. 

This  love  of  nature,  that  allures  to  take 

This  Riddle  rede  or  die,       . 

Thou  our  beloved  and  light  of  Earth  hast  crossed 

Thou,  run  to  the  dry  on  this  wayside  bank. 

Thou  to  me  art  sudi  a  spring 

Though  I  am  faithful  to  my  lovea  lived  through. 

Through  the  water-eye  of  night.     . 

Thy  greatest  knew  tbee.  Mother  Earth :  unsoured 

'Tls  true  the  wisdom  that  my  mind  eiacta 

To  Hit  on  History  In  ao  easy  chair. 

To  Thee,  dear  God  of  Mercy,  both  appeal. 

To  tbem  that  knew  her.  there  is  vital  flame 

Two  Sower-enfolding  crystal  vases  she 

Two  wedded  lovers  watched  the  rising  moon. 


Under  boughs  of  breathing  May. 

Under  what  spell  are  we  debased 

Under  yonder  beech-tree  single  on 

Under  yonder  beech-tree  standing  on  the  green  sward. 

Unhappy  poets  of  a  sunken  prime  I 


dbjGoogle 


Unto  that  lore  must  we  through  Bra  attain, 

Titdeu.  abr  violats  I  .  .  .  . 

We  luTe  teen  mighty  men  bAllooolng  high. 

We  look  for  her  that  ninllke  stood 

Wt  tpend  our  lUti  in  Itamtng  pilolagt. 

We  who  have  seen  Italia  In  the  throei, 

Wliat  la  the  name  of  King  Hingang'i  daughMr? 

What  Unla  are  oun  with  <MtM  that  are 

What  sar  rou,  critic,  now  70U  have  become 

What  iplendour  of  imperial  aUitlon  man.  . 

Whate'ar  t  be.  old  England  la  mjr  dam  I 

Wben  April  with  her  wUd  blue  e;e 

When  buda  of  palm  do  bunt  and  iproul    ■ 

When  by  Zeuj  relenting  the  mandate  waa  revoked. 

When  comes  the  llghud  day  for  men  to  read 

When  I  remember,  friend,  whom  loat  I  t^, 

When  I  would  Image  her  featurca, 

Wheo  nuts  behind  the  luuel-leftf    . 

When  Sir  Oawaln  waa  led  to  Ma  bridal-bed. 

When  the  Head  of  Bran 

When  the  South  aaag  like  a  nightingale 

When  we  have  thrown  off  thla  old  suit. 

Where  face*  are  hueleea.  where  ey^da  are  dewlesa. 

Who  call  her  Mother  and  who  calls  her  Wife 

Who  murmurs,  hither,  hither:  who 

With  Alfred  and  St.  Loula  he  doth  win 

With  Life  and  Death  1  walked  when  Iiove  appeared. 

With  love  exceeding  a  simple  love  of  the  things 

With  aageat  craft  Arachne  worked 

With  splendour  of  a  sUvn'  day. 

Within  a  Temple  of  the  Toes, 

Ye  that  nouriah  hopes  of  fame  I      . 
Yon  upland  alope  which  hides  the  sun 
Yonder  's  the  man  with  hla  Ufa  In  hla  hand. 
Young  captain  of  a  crazy  bark  1      . 


DioilizedbyGOOgld 


dbjGoogle 


dbjGoogle 


dbjGoogle 


a  blDS  DOS  4>2  711 


41 


dbjGOOi^lt 


dbjGoogle