Works

i.

O thou refulgent essence of all grace!
O thou that with the witchery of thy face
Hast made of me thy servant unto death,
I pray thee pause, ere, musical of breath,...

i.

Vouchsafe, my Lady! by the passion-flower,
And by the glamour of a moonlit hour,
And by the cries and sighs of all the birds
That sing o'nights, to heed again the words...

I knew thee first as one may know the fame
Of some apostle, as a man may know
The mid-day sun far-shining o'er the snow.
I hail'd thee prince of poets! I became
Vassal of thine, and warm'd me at the flame...

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...

Letter V. Confessions.


I.

O Lady mine! O Lady of my Life!
Mine and not mine, a being of the sky
Turn'd into Woman, and I know not why -
Is't well, bethink thee, to maintain a strife...

Letter VI. Despair.


I.

I am undone. My hopes have beggar'd me,
For I have lov'd where loving was denied.
To-day is dark, and Yesterday has died,...

Letter VII. Hope.


I.

O tears of mine! Ye start I know not why,
Unless, indeed, to prove that I am glad,
Albeit fast wedded to a thought so sad...

Letter VIII. A Vision.


I.

Yes, I will tell thee what, a week ago,
I dreamt of thee, and all the joy therein
Which I conceiv'd, and all the holy din...

Letter X. A Retrospect.


I.

I walk again beside the roaring sea,
And once again I harken to the speech
Of waves exulting on the madden'd beach.
A sound of awful joy it seems to me,...

Letter XI. Faith.


I.

Now will I sing to God a song of praise,
And thank the morning for the light it brings,
Aye! and the earth for every flower that springs,...

Letter XII. Victory.


I.

Now have I reach'd the goal of my desire,
For thou hast sworn - as sweetly as a bell
Makes out its chime - the oath I love to tell,...

Victor the King! alive to-day, not dead!
Behold, I bring thee with a subject's hand
A poor pale wreath, the best at my command,
But all unfit to deck so grand a head.
It is the outcome of a neighbour land...

The Poet meets Apollo on the hill,
And Pan and Flora and the Paphian Queen,
And infant na'ads bathing in the rill,
And dryad maids that dance upon the green,
And fauns and Oreads in the silver sheen...