Works

i.

Dearest and best of maidens, whom the Fates
have dower'd with beauty, whom the glory-gates
Have shown so splendid in my waking sight,
Is't well, thou syren! thus to haunt the night...

i.

O Love! O Lustre of the sunlit earth
That knows thy step and revels in the worth
Of thy much beauty! Is't thy will anew,
Famed as thou art, to marvel that I sue...

I.

O mesto bambino col capo chinato,
Rispondi; rispondi. Che fece Renato?
Fu vinto Morello? Fu salvo Lindoro?
Rispondi; rispondi! - Son padre di loro.


II.
...

I.

Ti saluto, Margherita
Fior di vita, ... ti saluto!
Sei la speme del mattino,
Sei la gioja del giardino.


II.

Ti saluto, Rosignolo
Nel tuo duolo, ... ti saluto!...

In Tuscany.


Dost thou remember, friend of vanish'd days,
How in the golden land of love and song,
We met in April in the crowded ways
Of that fair city where the soul is strong,...

I.

Dimmi, dimmi, o trovatore,
Tu che canti sul l'uto,
Bello e bruno e pien d'amore
Dalla valle in su venuto,
Non ti fermi sull' altura
Per mostrar la tua bravura?...

Letter III. Regrets.


I.

When I did wake, to-day, a bird of Heaven,
A wanton, woeless thing, a wandering sprite,
Did seem to sing a song for my delight;...

Letter II. Sorrow.


I.

Yes, I was mad. I know it. I was mad.
For there is madness in the looks of love;
And he who frights a tender, brooding dove...

Letter I. Prelude.


I.

Teach me to love thee as a man, in prayer,
May love the picture of a sainted nun,
And I will woo thee, when the day is done,...

Letter IV. Yearnings.


I.

The earth is glad, I know, when night is spent,
For then she wakes the birdlings in the bowers;
And, one by one, the rosy-footed hours...

Letter IX. To-Morrow.


I.

O Love! O Love! O Gateway of Delight!
Thou porch of peace, thou pageant of the prime
Of all God's creatures! I am here to climb...

I.

What shall be done? I cannot pray;
And none shall know the pangs I feel.
If prayers could alter night to day, -
Or black to white, - I might appeal;
I might attempt to sway thy heart,...

Oh, let me plead with thee to have a nook,
A garden nook, not far from thy domain,
That there, with harp, and voice, and poet-book,
I may be true to thee, and, passion-fain,...