Works

I.

O sunlike Liberty, with eyes of flame,
Mother and maid, immortal, man's delight!
Fairest and first art thou in name and fame
And none shall rob thee of thy vested right....

Another night has turned itself to day,
Another day has melted into eve,
And lo! again I tread the measured way
Of word and thought, the twain to interweave,
As flowers absorb the rays that they receive....

i.

I tell thee Sweet! there lives not on the earth
A love like mine in all the height and girth
And all the vast completion of the sphere.
I should be proud, to-day, to shed a tear...

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.

Again, O Love! again I make lament,
And, Arab-like, I pitch my summer-tent
Outside the gateways of the Lord of Song.
I weep and wait, contented all day long...

I.

I who have sung of love and lady bright
And mirth and music and the world's delight,
Behold! to-day, I sound a sterner note
To move the minds of foemen when they fight.


II.
...

The lightning is the shorthand of the storm
That tells of chaos; and I read the same
As one may read the writing of a name, -
As one in Hell may see the sudden form
Of God's fore-finger pointed as in blame....

Beethoven At The Piano.


I.

See where Beethoven sits alone - a dream of days elysian,
A crownless king upon a throne, reflected in a vision -...

Ex Tenebra.


The winds have shower'd their rains upon the sod,
And flowers and trees have murmur'd as with lips.
The very silence has appeal'd to God.
In man's behalf, though smitten by His rod,...

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,...

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...

["We have not, alack! an ally to befriend us,
And the season is ripe to extirpate and end us.
Let the German touch hands with the Gaul,
And the fortress of England must fall.
...

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,...

See where it stands, the world-appointed flower,
Pure gold at centre, like the sun at noon, -
A mimic sun to light a true-love bower
For fair Queen Mab, now dead or in a swoon,...

I.

O stars that fade in amber skies
Because ye dread the light of day,
O moon so lonely and so wise,
Look down, and love my Love alw'y;
Salute the Lady of the May.


II.
...

I.

A little mound of earth
Is all the land I own:
Death gave it me, - five feet by three,
And mark'd it with a stone.


II.

My home, my garden-grave,...

He is a seer. He wears the wedding-ring
Of Art and Nature; and his voice is bold.
He should be quicker than the birds to sing,
And fill'd with frenzy like the men of old...

I.

Up with the country's flag!
And let the winds caress it, fold on fold,--
A stainless flag, and glorious to behold!
It is our honour's pledge;
It is the token of a truth sublime,...

O Petrarch! I am here. I bow to thee,
Great king of sonnets, thron'd long ago
And lover-like, as Love enjoineth me,
And miser-like, enamoured of my woe,
I reckon up my teardrops as they flow....

The Statue.


I.

See where my lady stands,
Lifting her lustrous hands, -
Here let me bow.
Image of truth and grace!
Maid with the angel-face!
Earth was no dwelling-place...