My Collected Poetry of
|
An Acrostic"Love not" - thou sayest it in so sweet a way: In vain those words from thee or L. E. L. Zantippe's talents had enforced so well: Ah! if that language from thy heart arise, Breathe it less gently forth - and veil thine eyes. Endymion, recollect, when Luna tried To cure his love - was cured of all beside - His folly - pride - and passion - for he died. back to list |
Al AaraafO! nothing earthly save the ray (Thrown back from flowers) of Beauty's eye, As in those gardens where the day Springs from the gems of Circassy- O! nothing earthly save the thrill Of melody in woodland rill- Or (music of the passion-hearted) Joy's voice so peacefully departed That like the murmur in the shell, Its echo dwelleth and will dwell- Oh, nothing of the dross of ours- Yet all the beauty- all the flowers That list our Love, and deck our bowers- Adorn yon world afar, afar- The wandering star. 'Twas a sweet time for Nesace- for there Her world lay lolling on the golden air, Near four bright suns- a temporary rest- An oasis in desert of the blest. Away- away- 'mid seas of rays that roll Empyrean splendor o'er th' unchained soul- The soul that scarce (the billows are so dense) Can struggle to its destin'd eminence,- To distant spheres, from time to time, she rode And late to ours, the favor'd one of God- But, now, the ruler of an anchor'd realm, She throws aside the sceptre- leaves the helm, And, amid incense and high spiritual hymns, Laves in quadruple light her angel limbs. Now happiest, loveliest in yon lovely Earth, Whence sprang the "Idea of Beauty" into birth, (Falling in wreaths thro' many a startled star, Like woman's hair 'mid pearls, until, afar, It lit on hills Achaian, and there dwelt) She looked into Infinity- and knelt. Rich clouds, for canopies, about her curled- Fit emblems of the model of her world- Seen but in beauty- not impeding sight Of other beauty glittering thro' the light- A wreath that twined each starry form around, And all the opal'd air in color bound. All hurriedly she knelt upon a bed Of flowers: of lilies such as rear'd the head On the fair Capo Deucato, and sprang So eagerly around about to hang Upon the flying footsteps of- deep pride- Of her who lov'd a mortal- and so died. The Sephalica, budding with young bees, Upreared its purple stem around her knees:- And gemmy flower, of Trebizond misnam'd- Inmate of highest stars, where erst it sham'd All other loveliness:- its honied dew (The fabled nectar that the heathen knew) Deliriously sweet, was dropp'd from Heaven, And fell on gardens of the unforgiven In Trebizond- and on a sunny flower So like its own above that, to this hour, It still remaineth, torturing the bee With madness, and unwonted reverie: In Heaven, and all its environs, the leaf And blossom of the fairy plant in grief Disconsolate linger- grief that hangs her head, Repenting follies that full long have Red, Heaving her white breast to the balmy air, Like guilty beauty, chasten'd and more fair: Nyctanthes too, as sacred as the light She fears to perfume, perfuming the night: And Clytia, pondering between many a sun, While pettish tears adown her petals run: And that aspiring flower that sprang on Earth, And died, ere scarce exalted into birth, Bursting its odorous heart in spirit to wing Its way to Heaven, from garden of a king: And Valisnerian lotus, thither flown" From struggling with the waters of the Rhone: And thy most lovely purple perfume, Zante! Isola d'oro!- Fior di Levante! And the Nelumbo bud that floats for ever With Indian Cupid down the holy river- Fair flowers, and fairy! to whose care is given To bear the Goddess' song, in odors, up to Heaven: "Spirit! that dwellest where, In the deep sky, The terrible and fair, In beauty vie! Beyond the line of blue- The boundary of the star Which turneth at the view Of thy barrier and thy bar- Of the barrier overgone By the comets who were cast From their pride and from their throne To be drudges till the last- To be carriers of fire (The red fire of their heart) With speed that may not tire And with pain that shall not part- Who livest- that we know- In Eternity- we feel- But the shadow of whose brow What spirit shall reveal? Tho' the beings whom thy Nesace, Thy messenger hath known Have dream'd for thy Infinity A model of their own- Thy will is done, O God! The star hath ridden high Thro' many a tempest, but she rode Beneath thy burning eye; And here, in thought, to thee- In thought that can alone Ascend thy empire and so be A partner of thy throne- By winged Fantasy, My embassy is given, Till secrecy shall knowledge be In the environs of Heaven." She ceas'd- and buried then her burning cheek Abash'd, amid the lilies there, to seek A shelter from the fervor of His eye; For the stars trembled at the Deity. She stirr'd not- breath'd not- for a voice was there How solemnly pervading the calm air! A sound of silence on the startled ear Which dreamy poets name "the music of the sphere." Ours is a world of words: Quiet we call "Silence"- which is the merest word of all. All Nature speaks, and ev'n ideal things Flap shadowy sounds from visionary wings- But ah! not so when, thus, in realms on high The eternal voice of God is passing by, And the red winds are withering in the sky:- "What tho 'in worlds which sightless cycles run, Linked to a little system, and one sun- Where all my love is folly and the crowd Still think my terrors but the thunder cloud, The storm, the earthquake, and the ocean-wrath- (Ah! will they cross me in my angrier path?) What tho' in worlds which own a single sun The sands of Time grow dimmer as they run, Yet thine is my resplendency, so given To bear my secrets thro' the upper Heaven! Leave tenantless thy crystal home, and fly, With all thy train, athwart the moony sky- Apart- like fire-flies in Sicilian night, And wing to other worlds another light! Divulge the secrets of thy embassy To the proud orbs that twinkle- and so be To ev'ry heart a barrier and a ban Lest the stars totter in the guilt of man!" Up rose the maiden in the yellow night, The single-mooned eve!- on Earth we plight Our faith to one love- and one moon adore- The birth-place of young Beauty had no more. As sprang that yellow star from downy hours Up rose the maiden from her shrine of flowers, And bent o'er sheeny mountains and dim plain Her way, but left not yet her Therasaean reign. PART II High on a mountain of enamell'd head- Such as the drowsy shepherd on his bed Of giant pasturage lying at his ease, Raising his heavy eyelid, starts and sees With many a mutter'd "hope to be forgiven" What time the moon is quadrated in Heaven- Of rosy head that, towering far away Into the sunlit ether, caught the ray Of sunken suns at eve- at noon of night, While the moon danc'd with the fair stranger light- Uprear'd upon such height arose a pile Of gorgeous columns on th' unburthen'd air, Flashing from Parian marble that twin smile Far down upon the wave that sparkled there, And nursled the young mountain in its lair. Of molten stars their pavement, such as fall Thro' the ebon air, besilvering the pall Of their own dissolution, while they die- Adorning then the dwellings of the sky. A dome, by linked light from Heaven let down, Sat gently on these columns as a crown- A window of one circular diamond, there, Look'd out above into the purple air, And rays from God shot down that meteor chain And hallow'd all the beauty twice again, Save, when, between th' empyrean and that ring, Some eager spirit Flapp'd his dusky wing. But on the pillars Seraph eyes have seen The dimness of this world: that greyish green That Nature loves the best Beauty's grave Lurk'd in each cornice, round each architrave- And every sculptur'd cherub thereabout That from his marble dwelling peered out, Seem'd earthly in the shadow of his niche- Achaian statues in a world so rich! Friezes from Tadmor and Persepolis- From Balbec, and the stilly, clear abyss Of beautiful Gomorrah! O, the wave Is now upon thee- but too late to save! Sound loves to revel in a summer night: Witness the murmur of the grey twilight That stole upon the ear, in Eyraco, Of many a wild star-gazer long ago- That stealeth ever on the ear of him Who, musing, gazeth on the distance dim, And sees the darkness coming as a cloud- Is not its form- its voice- most palpable and loud? But what is this?- it cometh, and it brings A music with it- 'tis the rush of wings- A pause- and then a sweeping, falling strain And Nesace is in her halls again. From the wild energy of wanton haste Her cheeks were flushing, and her lips apart; And zone that clung around her gentle waist Had burst beneath the heaving of her heart. Within the centre of that hall to breathe, She paused and panted, Zanthe! all beneath, The fairy light that kiss'd her golden hair And long'd to rest, yet could but sparkle there. Young flowers were whispering in melody To happy flowers that night- and tree to tree; Fountains were gushing music as they fell In many a star-lit grove, or moon-lit dell; Yet silence came upon material things- Fair flowers, bright waterfalls and angel wings- And sound alone that from the spirit sprang Bore burthen to the charm the maiden sang: "'Neath the blue-bell or streamer- Or tufted wild spray That keeps, from the dreamer, The moonbeam away- Bright beings! that ponder, With half closing eyes, On the stars which your wonder Hath drawn from the skies, Till they glance thro' the shade, and Come down to your brow Like- eyes of the maiden Who calls on you now- Arise! from your dreaming In violet bowers, To duty beseeming These star-litten hours- And shake from your tresses Encumber'd with dew The breath of those kisses That cumber them too- (O! how, without you, Love! Could angels be blest?) Those kisses of true Love That lull'd ye to rest! Up!- shake from your wing Each hindering thing: The dew of the night- It would weigh down your flight And true love caresses- O, leave them apart! They are light on the tresses, But lead on the heart. Ligeia! Ligeia! My beautiful one! Whose harshest idea Will to melody run, O! is it thy will On the breezes to toss? Or, capriciously still, Like the lone Albatros, Incumbent on night (As she on the air) To keep watch with delight On the harmony there? Ligeia! wherever Thy image may be, No magic shall sever Thy music from thee. Thou hast bound many eyes In a dreamy sleep- But the strains still arise Which thy vigilance keep- The sound of the rain, Which leaps down to the flower- And dances again In the rhythm of the shower- The murmur that springs From the growing of grass Are the music of things- But are modell'd, alas!- Away, then, my dearest, Oh! hie thee away To the springs that lie clearest Beneath the moon-ray- To lone lake that smiles, In its dream of deep rest, At the many star-isles That enjewel its breast- Where wild flowers, creeping, Have mingled their shade, On its margin is sleeping Full many a maid- Some have left the cool glade, and Have slept with the bee- Arouse them, my maiden, On moorland and lea- Go! breathe on their slumber, All softly in ear, Thy musical number They slumbered to hear For what can awaken An angel so soon, Whose sleep hath been taken Beneath the cold moon, As the spell which no slumber Of witchery may test, The rhythmical number Which lull'd him to rest?" Spirits in wing, and angels to the view, A thousand seraphs burst th' Empyrean thro', Young dreams still hovering on their drowsy flight- Seraphs in all but "Knowledge," the keen light That fell, refracted, thro' thy bounds, afar, O Death! from eye of God upon that star: Sweet was that error- sweeter still that death- Sweet was that error- even with us the breath Of Science dims the mirror of our joy- To them 'twere the Simoom, and would destroy- For what (to them) availeth it to know That Truth is Falsehood- or that Bliss is Woe? Sweet was their death- with them to die was rife With the last ecstasy of satiate life- Beyond that death no immortality- But sleep that pondereth and is not "to be'!- And there- oh! may my weary spirit dwell- Apart from Heaven's Eternity- and yet how far from Hell! What guilty spirit, in what shrubbery dim, Heard not the stirring summons of that hymn? But two: they fell: for Heaven no grace imparts To those who hear not for their beating hearts. A maiden-angel and her seraph-lover- O! where (and ye may seek the wide skies over) Was Love, the blind, near sober Duty known? Unguided Love hath fallen- 'mid "tears of perfect moan." He was a goodly spirit- he who fell: A wanderer by moss-y-mantled well- A gazer on the lights that shine above- A dreamer in the moonbeam by his love: What wonder? for each star is eye-like there, And looks so sweetly down on Beauty's hair- And they, and ev'ry mossy spring were holy To his love-haunted heart and melancholy. The night had found (to him a night of woe) Upon a mountain crag, young Angelo- Beetling it bends athwart the solemn sky, And scowls on starry worlds that down beneath it lie. Here sat he with his love- his dark eye bent With eagle gaze along the firmament: Now turn'd it upon her- but ever then It trembled to the orb of EARTH again. "Ianthe, dearest, see- how dim that ray! How lovely 'tis to look so far away! She seem'd not thus upon that autumn eve I left her gorgeous halls- nor mourn'd to leave. That eve- that eve- I should remember well- The sun-ray dropp'd in Lemnos, with a spell On th' arabesque carving of a gilded hall Wherein I sate, and on the draperied wall- And on my eyelids- O the heavy light! How drowsily it weigh'd them into night! On flowers, before, and mist, and love they ran With Persian Saadi in his Gulistan: But O that light!- I slumber'd- Death, the while, Stole o'er my senses in that lovely isle So softly that no single silken hair Awoke that slept- or knew that he was there. "The last spot of Earth's orb I trod upon Was a proud temple call'd the Parthenon; More beauty clung around her column'd wall Than ev'n thy glowing bosom beats withal, And when old Time my wing did disenthral Thence sprang I- as the eagle from his tower, And years I left behind me in an hour. What time upon her airy bounds I hung, One half the garden of her globe was flung Unrolling as a chart unto my view- Tenantless cities of the desert too! Ianthe, beauty crowded on me then, And half I wish'd to be again of men." "My Angelo! and why of them to be? A brighter dwelling-place is here for thee- And greener fields than in yon world above, And woman's loveliness- and passionate love." "But, list, Ianthe! when the air so soft Fail'd, as my pennon'd spirit leapt aloft, Perhaps my brain grew dizzy- but the world I left so late was into chaos hurl'd- Sprang from her station, on the winds apart. And roll'd, a flame, the fiery Heaven athwart. Methought, my sweet one, then I ceased to soar And fell- not swiftly as I rose before, But with a downward, tremulous motion thro' Light, brazen rays, this golden star unto! Nor long the measure of my falling hours, For nearest of all stars was thine to ours- Dread star! that came, amid a night of mirth, A red Daedalion on the timid Earth." "We came- and to thy Earth- but not to us Be given our lady's bidding to discuss: We came, my love; around, above, below, Gay fire-fly of the night we come and go, Nor ask a reason save the angel-nod She grants to us, as granted by her God- But, Angelo, than thine grey Time unfurl'd Never his fairy wing O'er fairier world! Dim was its little disk, and angel eyes Alone could see the phantom in the skies, When first Al Aaraaf knew her course to be Headlong thitherward o'er the starry sea- But when its glory swell'd upon the sky, As glowing Beauty's bust beneath man's eye, We paused before the heritage of men, And thy star trembled- as doth Beauty then!" Thus, in discourse, the lovers whiled away The night that waned and waned and brought no day. They fell: for Heaven to them no hope imparts Who hear not for the beating of their hearts. back to list |
AloneAs others were; I have not seen As others saw; I could not bring My passions from a common spring. From the same source I have not taken My sorrow; I could not awaken My heart to joy at the same tone; And all I loved, I loved alone. Then in my childhood, in the dawn Of a most stormy life - was drawn From every depth of good and ill The mystery which binds me still: From the torrent, or the fountain, From the red cliff of the mountain, From the sun that round me rolled In its autumn tint of gold, From the lightning in the sky As it passed me flying by, From the thunder and the storm, And the cloud that took the form (When the rest of Heaven was blue) Of a demon in my view. back to list |
Annabel LeeIn this kingdom by the sea That a maiden there lived whom you may know By the name of Annabel Lee; And this maiden she lived with no other thought Than to love and be loved by me. I was a child, and she was a child, In this kingdom by the sea, But we loved with a love that was more than love, I and my Annabel Lee, With a love that the winged seraphs in heaven Coveted her and me. And that was the reason that, long ago, In this kingdom by the sea, A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling My beautiful Annabel Lee, So that her high-born kinsmen came And bore her away from me, To shut her up in a sepulcher In this kingdom by the sea. The angels, not half so happy in heaven, Went envying her and me-- Yes! that was the reason (as all men know In this kingdom by the sea) That a wind blew out of a cloud by night, Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee. But our love it was stronger by far than the love Of those that were older than we, Of many far wiser than we, And neither the angels in heaven above Nor the demons down under the sea Can ever dissever my soul from the soul Of the beautiful Annabel Lee. For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams Of the beautiful Annabel Lee, And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes Of the beautiful Annabel Lee. And so, all the night tide, I lie down by the side Of my darling--my darling--my life and my bride, In her sepulcher there by the sea-- In her tomb by the sounding sea. back to list |
The BellsHEAR the sledges with the bells- Silver bells! What a world of merriment their melody foretells! How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle, In the icy air of night! While the stars that oversprinkle All the heavens, seem to twinkle With a crystalline delight; Keeping time, time, time, In a sort of Runic rhyme, To the tintinnabulation that so musically wells From the bells, bells, bells, bells, Bells, bells, bells- From the jingling and the tinkling of the bells. II HEAR the mellow wedding bells, Golden bells! What a world of happiness their harmony foretells! Through the balmy air of night How they ring out their delight! From the molten-golden notes, And an in tune, What a liquid ditty floats To the turtle-dove that listens, while she gloats On the moon! Oh, from out the sounding cells, What a gush of euphony voluminously wells! How it swells! How it dwells On the Future! how it tells Of the rapture that impels To the swinging and the ringing Of the bells, bells, bells, Of the bells, bells, bells,bells, Bells, bells, bells- To the rhyming and the chiming of the bells! III HEAR the loud alarum bells- Brazen bells! What a tale of terror, now, their turbulency tells! In the startled ear of night How they scream out their affright! Too much horrified to speak, They can only shriek, shriek, Out of tune, In a clamorous appealing to the mercy of the fire, In a mad expostulation with the deaf and frantic fire, Leaping higher, higher, higher, With a desperate desire, And a resolute endeavor, Now- now to sit or never, By the side of the pale-faced moon. Oh, the bells, bells, bells! What a tale their terror tells Of Despair! How they clang, and clash, and roar! What a horror they outpour On the bosom of the palpitating air! Yet the ear it fully knows, By the twanging, And the clanging, How the danger ebbs and flows: Yet the ear distinctly tells, In the jangling, And the wrangling, How the danger sinks and swells, By the sinking or the swelling in the anger of the bells- Of the bells- Of the bells, bells, bells,bells, Bells, bells, bells- In the clamor and the clangor of the bells! IV HEAR the tolling of the bells- Iron Bells! What a world of solemn thought their monody compels! In the silence of the night, How we shiver with affright At the melancholy menace of their tone! For every sound that floats From the rust within their throats Is a groan. And the people- ah, the people- They that dwell up in the steeple, All Alone And who, tolling, tolling, tolling, In that muffled monotone, Feel a glory in so rolling On the human heart a stone- They are neither man nor woman- They are neither brute nor human- They are Ghouls: And their king it is who tolls; And he rolls, rolls, rolls, Rolls A paean from the bells! And his merry bosom swells With the paean of the bells! And he dances, and he yells; Keeping time, time, time, In a sort of Runic rhyme, To the paean of the bells- Of the bells: Keeping time, time, time, In a sort of Runic rhyme, To the throbbing of the bells- Of the bells, bells, bells- To the sobbing of the bells; Keeping time, time, time, As he knells, knells, knells, In a happy Runic rhyme, To the rolling of the bells- Of the bells, bells, bells: To the tolling of the bells, Of the bells, bells, bells, bells- Bells, bells, bells- To the moaning and the groaning of the bells. back to list |
Bridal balladAnd the wreath is on my brow; Satin and jewels grand Are all at my command, And I am happy now. And my lord he loves me well; But, when first he breathed his vow, I felt my bosom swell- For the words rang as a knell, And the voice seemed his who fell In the battle down the dell, And who is happy now. But he spoke to re-assure me, And he kissed my pallid brow, While a reverie came o'er me, And to the church-yard bore me, And I sighed to him before me, Thinking him dead D'Elormie, "Oh, I am happy now!" And thus the words were spoken, And this the plighted vow, And, though my faith be broken, And, though my heart be broken, Here is a ring, as token That I am happy now! Would God I could awaken! For I dream I know not how! And my soul is sorely shaken Lest an evil step be taken,- Lest the dead who is forsaken May not be happy now. back to list |
A Campaign SongWakening the broad welkin with his loud battle cry; Then here's the White Eagle, full daring is he, As he sails on his pinions o'er valley and sea. back to list |
Catholic HymnMaria! thou hast heard my hymn! In joy and wo - in good and ill - Mother of God, be with me still! When the Hours flew brightly by And not a cloud obscured the sky, My soul, lest it should truant be, Thy grace did guide to thine and thee; Now, when storms of Fate o'ercast Darkly my Present and my Past, Let my Future radiant shine With sweet hopes of thee and thine! back to list |
The City in the SeaIn a strange city lying alone Far down within the dim West, Where the good and the bad and the worst and the best Have gone to their eternal rest. There shrines and palaces and towers (Time-eaten towers that tremble not!) Resemble nothing that is ours. Around, by lifting winds forgot, Resignedly beneath the sky The melancholy waters lie. No rays from the holy heaven come down On the long night-time of that town, But light from out the lurid sea Shines up the turrets silently, Gleams up the pinnacles far and free; Up domes--up spires--up kingly halls-- Up fanes--up Babylon-like walls-- Up shadowy long-forgotten bowers Of sculptured ivy and stone flowers-- Up many and many a marvelous shrine Where wreathed friezes intertwine The viol, the violet, and the vine. Resignedly beneath the sky The melancholy waters lie. So blend the turrets and shadows there That all seem pendulous in air, While from a proud tower in the town Death looks gigantically down. There open fanes and gaping graves Yawn level with the luminous waves, But not the riches there that lie Within each idol's diamond eye, Not the gaily-jeweled dead Tempt the waters from their bed, For no ripples curl, alas! Along that wilderness of glass, No swellings tell that winds may be Upon some far-off happier sea, No heavings hint that winds have been On seas less hideously serene. For lo, a stir is in the air! The wave--there is a movement there! As if the towers cast aside In slightly sinking, the dull tide; As if their tops had feebly given A void within the filmy heaven. The waves have now a redder glow; The hours are breathing faint and low. And when, amid no earthly moans, Down, down that town shall settle hence, Hell, rising from a thousand thrones, Shall do it reverence. back to list |
The ColiseumType of the antique Rome ! Rich reliquary Of lofty contemplation left to Time By buried centuries of pomp and power ! At length, at length - after so many days Of weary pilgrimage, and burning thirst, (Thirst for the springs of love [lore] that in thee lie,) I kneel, an altered, and an humble man, Amid thy shadows, and so drink within My very soul thy grandeur, gloom, and glory. Vastness ! and Age ! and Memories of Eld ! Silence and Desolation! and dim Night! Gaunt vestibules! and phantom-peopled aisles ! I feel ye now: I feel ye in your strength! O spells more sure then [than] e'er Judćan king Taught in the gardens of Gethsemane ! O charms more potent than the rapt Chaldee Ever drew down from out the quiet stars ! Here, where a hero fell, a column falls : Here, where the mimic eagle glared in gold, A midnight vigil holds the swarthy bat: Here, where the dames of Rome their yellow hair Wav'd to the wind, now wave the reed and thistle : Here, where on ivory couch the Cćsar sate, On bed of moss lies gloating the foul adder : Here, where on golden throne the monarch loll'd, Glides spectre-like unto his marble home, Lit by the wan light of the horned moon, The swift and silent lizard of the stones. These crumbling walls; these tottering arcades ; These mouldering plinths; these sad, and blacken'd shafts ; These vague entablatures; this broken frieze ; These shattered cornices; this wreck; this ruin ; These stones, alas! - these grey stones - are they all ; All of the great and the colossal left By the corrosive hours to Fate and me ? "Not all," - the echoes answer me; "not all : Prophetic sounds, and loud, arise forever From us, and from all ruin, unto the wise, As in old days from Memnon to the sun. We rule the hearts of mightiest men: - we rule With a despotic sway all giant minds. We are not desolate - we pallid stones ; Not all our power is gone; not all our Fame ; Not all the magic of our high renown ; Not all the wonder that encircles us ; Not all the mysteries that in us lie; Not all the memories that hang upon, And cling around about us now and ever, And clothe us in a robe of more than glory." back to list |
Conqueror WormWithin the lonesome latter years. An angel throng, bewinged, bedight In veils, and drowned in tears, Sit in a theatre to see A play of hopes and fears While the orchestra breathes fitfully The music of the spheres. Mimes, in the form of God on high, Mutter and mumble low, And hither and thither fly; Mere puppets they, who come and go At bidding of vast formless things That shift the scenery to and fro, Flapping from out their condor wings Invisible Woe. That motley drama--oh, be sure It shall not be forgot! With its Phantom chased for evermore By a crowd that seize it not, Through a circle that ever returneth in To the self-same spot; And much of Madness, and more of Sin, And Horror the soul of the plot. But see amid the mimic rout A crawling shape intrude: A blood-red thing that writhes from out The scenic solitude! It writhes--it writhes!--with mortal pangs The mimes become its food, And seraphs sob at vermin fangs In human gore imbued. Out--out are the lights--out all! And over each quivering form The curtain, a funeral pall, Comes down with the rush of a storm, While the angels, all pallid and wan, Uprising, unveiling, affirm That the play is the tragedy, ``Man,'' And the hero, the Conqueror Worm. back to list |
Deep in EarthAnd I must weep alone back to list |
The Divine Right Of KingsIs Ellen King, and were she mine I'd strive for liberty no more, But hug the glorious chains I wore. Her bosom is an ivory throne, Where tyrant virtue reigns alone ; No subject vice dare interfere, To check the power that governs here. O! would she deign to rule my fate, I'd worship Kings and kingly state, And hold this maxim all life long, The King - my King - can do no wrong. back to list |
A DreamIn visions of the dark night I have dream'd of joy departed - But a waking dream of life and light Hath left me broken hearted: 2 And what is not a dream by day To him whose eyes are cast On things around him with a ray Turn'd back upon the past? 3 That holy dream - that holy dream, While all the world were chiding, Hath cheer'd me as a lovely beam A lonely spirit guiding: 4 What tho' that light, thro' storm and night So trembled from afar - What could there be more purely bright In Truth's day-star? back to list |
A Dream Within A DreamAnd, in parting from you now, Thus much let me avow You are not wrong, who deem That my days have been a dream; Yet if hope has flown away In a night, or in a day, In a vision, or in none, Is it therefore the less gone? All that we see or seem Is but a dream within a dream. I stand amid the roar Of a surf-tormented shore, And I hold within my hand Grains of the golden sand How few! yet how they creep Through my fingers to the deep, While I weep - while I weep! O God! can I not grasp Them with a tighter clasp? O God! can I not save One from the pitiless wave? Is all that we see or seem But a dream within a dream? back to list |
DreamlandHaunted by ill angels only, Where an Eidolon, named NIGHT, On a black throne reigns upright, I have reached these lands but newly From an ultimate dim Thule- From a wild clime that lieth, sublime, Out of SPACE- out of TIME. Bottomless vales and boundless floods, And chasms, and caves, and Titan woods, With forms that no man can discover For the tears that drip all over; Mountains toppling evermore Into seas without a shore; Seas that restlessly aspire, Surging, unto skies of fire; Lakes that endlessly outspread Their lone waters- lone and dead,- Their still waters- still and chilly With the snows of the lolling lily. By the lakes that thus outspread Their lone waters, lone and dead,- Their sad waters, sad and chilly With the snows of the lolling lily,- By the mountains- near the river Murmuring lowly, murmuring ever,- By the grey woods,- by the swamp Where the toad and the newt encamp- By the dismal tarns and pools Where dwell the Ghouls,- By each spot the most unholy- In each nook most melancholy- There the traveller meets aghast Sheeted Memories of the Past- Shrouded forms that start and sigh As they pass the wanderer by- White-robed forms of friends long given, In agony, to the Earth- and Heaven. For the heart whose woes are legion 'Tis a peaceful, soothing region- For the spirit that walks in shadow 'Tis- oh, 'tis an Eldorado! But the traveller, travelling through it, May not- dare not openly view it! Never its mysteries are exposed To the weak human eye unclosed; So wills its King, who hath forbid The uplifting of the fringed lid; And thus the sad Soul that here passes Beholds it but through darkened glasses. By a route obscure and lonely, Haunted by ill angels only, Where an Eidolon, named NIGHT, On a black throne reigns upright, I have wandered home but newly From this ultimate dim Thule. back to list |
DreamsMy spirit not awakening, till the beam Of an Eternity should bring the morrow. Yes! tho' that long dream were of hopeless sorrow, 'Twere better than the cold reality Of waking life, to him whose heart must be, And hath been still, upon the lovely earth, A chaos of deep passion, from his birth. But should it be- that dream eternally Continuing- as dreams have been to me In my young boyhood- should it thus be given, 'Twere folly still to hope for higher Heaven. For I have revell'd, when the sun was bright I' the summer sky, in dreams of living light And loveliness,- have left my very heart In climes of my imagining, apart From mine own home, with beings that have been Of mine own thought- what more could I have seen? 'Twas once- and only once- and the wild hour From my remembrance shall not pass- some power Or spell had bound me- 'twas the chilly wind Came o'er me in the night, and left behind Its image on my spirit- or the moon Shone on my slumbers in her lofty noon Too coldly- or the stars- howe'er it was That dream was as that night-wind- let it pass. I have been happy, tho' in a dream. I have been happy- and I love the theme: Dreams! in their vivid coloring of life, As in that fleeting, shadowy, misty strife Of semblance with reality, which brings To the delirious eye, more lovely things Of Paradise and Love- and all our own! Than young Hope in his sunniest hour hath known. back to list |
EldoradoA gallant knight, In sunshine and in shadow, Had journeyed long, Singing a song, In search of Eldorado. But he grew old, This knight so bold, And o'er his heart a shadow Fell as he found No spot of ground That looked like Eldorado. And, as his strength Failed him at length, He met a pilgrim shadow: ``Shadow,'' says he, ``Where can it be, This land of Eldorado?'' Over the Mountains Of the Moon, Down the Valley of the Shadow, Ride, boldly ride,'' The shade replied, "If you seek for Eldorado!'' back to list |
Elizabeth[Logic and common usage so commanding] In thy own book that first thy name be writ, Zeno and other sages notwithstanding; And I have other reasons for so doing Besides my innate love of contradiction; Each poet - if a poet - in pursuing The muses thro' their bowers of Truth or Fiction, Has studied very little of his part, Read nothing, written less - in short's a fool Endued with neither soul, nor sense, nor art, Being ignorant of one important rule, Employed in even the theses of the school- Called - I forget the heathenish Greek name [Called anything, its meaning is the same] "Always write first things uppermost in the heart. back to list |
EnigmaThe hand that traced inexorable rage; A pleasing moralist whose page refined, Displays the deepest knowledge of the mind; A tender poet of a foreign tongue, (Indited in the language that he sung.) A bard of brilliant but unlicensed page At once the shame and glory of our age, The prince of harmony and stirling sense, The ancient dramatist of eminence, The bard that paints imagination's powers, And him whose song revives departed hours, Once more an ancient tragic bard recall, In boldness of design surpassing all. These names when rightly read, a name [make] known Which gathers all their glories in its own. [This poem is attributed to Poe by Thomas Ollive Mabbott, who also gives the answers to the puzzles as: line - author: 1 - Spenser 2 - Homer 3-4 - Aristotle 5-6 - Kallimachos 7-8 - Shelley 9 - Alexander Pope. 10 - Euripides 11 - Mark Akenside 12 - Samuel Rogers 13-14 - Euripidies 15-16 - William Shakespeare] back to list |
An Enigma"Half an idea in the profoundest sonnet. Through all the flimsy things we see at once As easily as through a Naples bonnet- Trash of all trash!- how can a lady don it? Yet heavier far than your Petrarchan stuff- Owl-downy nonsense that the faintest puff Twirls into trunk-paper the while you con it." And, veritably, Sol is right enough. The general tuckermanities are arrant Bubbles- ephemeral and so transparent- But this is, now- you may depend upon it- Stable, opaque, immortal- all by dint Of the dear names that he concealed within 't. [The hidden name in this poem is that of Sarah Anna Lewis. It is spelled with one letter on each line, the first letter of the first line "S", the second letter of the second line "a", the third letter of the third line "r", etc.] back to list |
Epigram for Wall StreetBetter than banking, trade or leases - Take a bank note and fold it up, And then you will find your money in creases! This wonderful plan, without danger or loss, Keeps your cash in your hands, where nothing can trouble it; And every time that you fold it across, 'Tis as plain as the light of the day that you double it! back to list |
EulalieIn a world of moan, And my soul was a stagnant tide, Till the fair and gentle Eulalie became my blushing bride- Till the yellow-haired young Eulalie became my smiling bride. Ah, less- less bright The stars of the night Than the eyes of the radiant girl! That the vapor can make With the moon-tints of purple and pearl, Can vie with the modest Eulalie's most unregarded curl- Can compare with the bright-eyed Eulalie's most humble and careless curl. Now Doubt- now Pain Come never again, For her soul gives me sigh for sigh, And all day long Shines, bright and strong, Astarte within the sky, While ever to her dear Eulalie upturns her matron eye- While ever to her young Eulalie upturns her violet eye. back to list |
Evening StarAnd mid-time of night; And stars, in their orbits, Shone pale, thro' the light Of the brighter, cold moon, 'Mid planets her slaves, Herself in the Heavens, Her beam on the waves. I gazed awhile On her cold smile; Too cold- too cold for me- There pass'd, as a shroud, A fleecy cloud, And I turned away to thee, Proud Evening Star, In thy glory afar, And dearer thy beam shall be; For joy to my heart Is the proud part Thou bearest in Heaven at night, And more I admire Thy distant fire, Than that colder, lowly light. back to list |
Fairy-LandAnd cloudy-looking woods, Whose forms we can't discover For the tears that drip all over! Huge moons there wax and wane- Again- again- again- Every moment of the night- Forever changing places- And they put out the star-light With the breath from their pale faces. About twelve by the moon-dial, One more filmy than the rest (A kind which, upon trial, They have found to be the best) Comes down- still down- and down, With its centre on the crown Of a mountain's eminence, While its wide circumference In easy drapery falls Over hamlets, over halls, Wherever they may be- O'er the strange woods- o'er the sea- Over spirits on the wing- Over every drowsy thing- And buries them up quite In a labyrinth of light- And then, how deep!- O, deep! Is the passion of their sleep. In the morning they arise, And their moony covering Is soaring in the skies, With the tempests as they toss, Like- almost anything- Or a yellow Albatross. They use that moon no more For the same end as before- Videlicet, a tent- Which I think extravagant: Its atomies, however, Into a shower dissever, Of which those butterflies Of Earth, who seek the skies, And so come down again, (Never-contented things!) Have brought a specimen Upon their quivering wings. back to list |
FannySing's [Sings] its wild death song, sweet and clear, And as the solemn music breaks O'er hill and glen dissolves in air ; Thus musical thy soft voice came, Thus trembled on thy tongue my name. Like sunburst through the ebon cloud, Which veils the solemn midnight sky, Piercing cold evening's sable shroud, Thus came the first glance of that eye ; But like the adamantine rock, My spirit met and braved the shock. Let memory the boy recall Who laid his heart upon thy shrine, When far away his footsteps fall, Think that he deem'd thy charms divine ; A victim on love's alter [altar] slain, By witching eyes which looked disdain. back to list |
For AnnieThe danger is past, And the lingering illness Is over at last- And the fever called "Living" Is conquered at last. Sadly, I know I am shorn of my strength, And no muscle I move As I lie at full length- But no matter!-I feel I am better at length. And I rest so composedly, Now, in my bed That any beholder Might fancy me dead- Might start at beholding me, Thinking me dead. The moaning and groaning, The sighing and sobbing, Are quieted now, With that horrible throbbing At heart:- ah, that horrible, Horrible throbbing! The sickness- the nausea- The pitiless pain- Have ceased, with the fever That maddened my brain- With the fever called "Living" That burned in my brain. And oh! of all tortures That torture the worst Has abated- the terrible Torture of thirst For the naphthaline river Of Passion accurst:- I have drunk of a water That quenches all thirst:- Of a water that flows, With a lullaby sound, From a spring but a very few Feet under ground- From a cavern not very far Down under ground. And ah! let it never Be foolishly said That my room it is gloomy And narrow my bed; For man never slept In a different bed- And, to sleep, you must slumber In just such a bed. My tantalized spirit Here blandly reposes, Forgetting, or never Regretting its roses- Its old agitations Of myrtles and roses: For now, while so quietly Lying, it fancies A holier odor About it, of pansies- A rosemary odor, Commingled with pansies- With rue and the beautiful Puritan pansies. And so it lies happily, Bathing in many A dream of the truth And the beauty of Annie- Drowned in a bath Of the tresses of Annie. She tenderly kissed me, She fondly caressed, And then I fell gently To sleep on her breast- Deeply to sleep From the heaven of her breast. When the light was extinguished, She covered me warm, And she prayed to the angels To keep me from harm- To the queen of the angels To shield me from harm. And I lie so composedly, Now, in my bed, (Knowing her love) That you fancy me dead- And I rest so contentedly, Now, in my bed, (With her love at my breast) That you fancy me dead- That you shudder to look at me, Thinking me dead. But my heart it is brighter Than all of the many Stars in the sky, For it sparkles with Annie- It glows with the light Of the love of my Annie- With the thought of the light Of the eyes of my Annie. back to list |
The Happiest DayMy seared and blighted heart hath known, The highest hope of pride and power, I feel hath flown. Of power! said I? Yes! such I ween But they have vanished long, alas! The visions of my youth have been-- But let them pass. And pride, what have I now with thee? Another brow may ev'n inherit The venom thou hast poured on me-- Be still my spirit! The happiest day--the happiest hour Mine eyes shall see--have ever seen, The brightest glance of pride and power I feel have been: But were that hope of pride and power Now offered with the pain Ev'n then I felt--that brightest hour I would not live again: For on its wings was dark alloy And as it fluttered--fell An essence--powerful to destroy A soul that knew it well. back to list |
The Haunted PalaceBy good angels tenanted, Once a fair and stately palace-- Radiant palace--raised its head. In the monarch Thought's dominion It stood there! Never seraph spread a pinion Over fabric half so fair! Banners yellow, glorious, golden, On its roof did float and flow (This--all this--was in the olden Time long ago), And every gentle air that dallied In that sweet day, Upon the ramparts plumed and pallid, A winged odor went away. Wanderers in that happy valley, Through two luminous windows, saw Spirits moving musically To a lute's well-timed law. Round about a throne where, sitting, (Porphyrogene!) In state his glory well befitting, The ruler of the realm was seen. And all with pearl and ruby glowing Was the fair palace-door, Through which came, flowing, flowing, flowing, And sparkling everymore, A troop of Echoes, whose sweet duty Was but to sing In voices of surpassing beauty The wit and wisdom of their king. But evil things, in robes of sorrow, Assailed the monarch's high estate. (Ah, let us mourn--for never morrow Shall dawn upon him desolate!) And round about his house of glory That blushed and bloomed Is but a dim-remembered story Of the old time entombed. And travellers, now, within that valley Through the red-litten windows see Vast forms that move fantastically To a discordant melody, While, like a ghastly, rapid river, Through the pale door A hideous throng rush out forever And laugh--but smile no more. back to list |
HymnUpon the sinner's sacrifice Of fervent prayer and humble love, From thy holy throne above. At morn, at noon, at twilight dim Maria! thou hast heard my hymn. In joy and woe, in good and ill Mother of God! be with us still. When my hours flew gently by, And no storms were in the sky, My soul, lest it should truant be - Thy love did guide to thine and thee. Now, when clouds of Fate o'ercast All my Present, and my Past, Let my Future radiant shine With sweet hopes of thee and thine. back to list |
ImitationOf interminable pride - A mystery, and a dream, Should my early life seem; I say that dream was fraught With a wild, and waking thought Of beings that have been, Which my spirit hath not seen. Had I let them pass me by, With a dreaming eye! Let none of earth inherit That vision on [of] my spirit; Those thoughts I would controul, As a spell upon his soul: For that bright hope at last And that light time have past, And my worldly rest hath gone With a sight [sigh] as it pass'd on I care not tho' it perish With a thought I then did cherish. back to list |
Impromptu. To Kate CarolTo those pure orbs, your heart to learn, I scarce know which to prize most high - The bright i-dea, or the bright dear-eye. back to list |
In youth have I knownAdmiring Nature's universal throne; Her woods- her wilds- her mountains- the intense Reply of HERS to OUR intelligence! (BYRON, The Island.) I In youth have I known one with whom the Earth In secret communing held- as he with it, In daylight, and in beauty from his birth: Whose fervid, flickering torch of life was lit From the sun and stars, whence he had drawn forth A passionate light- such for his spirit was fit- And yet that spirit knew not, in the hour Of its own fervor what had o'er it power. II Perhaps it may be that my mind is wrought To a fever by the moonbeam that hangs o'er, But I will half believe that wild light fraught With more of sovereignty than ancient lore Hath ever told- or is it of a thought The unembodied essence, and no more, That with a quickening spell doth o'er us pass As dew of the night-time o'er the summer grass? III Doth o'er us pass, when, as th' expanding eye To the loved object- so the tear to the lid Will start, which lately slept in apathy? And yet it need not be- (that object) hid From us in life- but common- which doth lie Each hour before us- but then only, bid With a strange sound, as of a harp-string broken, To awake us- 'Tis a symbol and a token IV Of what in other worlds shall be- and given In beauty by our God, to those alone Who otherwise would fall from life and Heaven Drawn by their heart's passion, and that tone, That high tone of the spirit which hath striven, Tho' not with Faith- with godliness- whose throne With desperate energy 't hath beaten down; Wearing its own deep feeling as a crown. back to list |
IreneMidnight in the sweet month of June, When winged visions love to lie Lazily upon beauty's eye, Or worse - upon her brow to dance In panoply of old romance, Till thoughts and locks are left, alas! A ne'er-to-be untangled mass. An influence dewy, drowsy, dim, Is dripping from that golden rim; Grey towers are mouldering into rest, Wrapping the fog around their breast: Looking like Lethe, see! the lake A conscious slumber seems to take, And would not for the world awake: The rosemary sleeps upon the grave - The lily lolls upon the wave - And [a] million bright pines to and fro, Are rocking lullabies as they go, To the lone oak that reels with bliss, Nodding above the dim abyss. All beauty sleeps: and lo! where lies With casement open to the skies, Irene, with her destinies! Thus hums the moon within her ear, "O lady sweet! how camest thou here? "Strange are thine eyelids - strange thy dress! "And strange thy glorious length of tress! "Sure thou art come o'er far-off seas, "A wonder to our desert trees! "Some gentle wind hath thought it right "To open thy window to the night, "And wanton airs from the tree-top, "Laughingly thro' the lattice drop, "And wave this crimson canopy, "Like a banner o'er thy dreaming eye! "Lady, awake! lady awake! "For the holy Jesus' sake! "For strangely - fearfully in this hall "My tinted shadows rise and fall!" The lady sleeps: the dead all sleep - At least as long as Love doth weep: Entranc'd, the spirit loves to lie As long as - tears on Memory's eye: But when a week or two go by, And the light laughter chokes the sigh, Indignant from the tomb doth take Its way to some remember'd lake, Where oft - in life - with friends - it went To bathe in the pure element, And there, from the untrodden grass, Wreathing for its transparent brow Those flowers that say (ah hear them now!) To the night-winds as they pass, "Ai ! ai ! alas ! - alas!" Pores for a moment, ere it go, On the clear waters there that flow, Then sinks within (weigh'd down by wo) Th' uncertain, shadowy heaven below. The lady sleeps: oh! may her sleep As it is lasting so be deep - No icy worms about her creep: I pray to God that she may lie Forever with as calm an eye, That chamber chang'd for one more holy - That bed for one more melancholy. Far in the forest, dim and old, For her may some tall vault unfold, Against whose sounding door she hath thrown, In childhood, many an idle stone - Some tomb, which oft hath flung its black And vampyre-winged pannels back, Flutt'ring triumphant o'er the palls Of her old family funerals. back to list |
IsrafelIn Heaven a spirit doth dwell Whose heart-strings are a lute; None sing so wildly well As the angel Israfel, And the giddy stars (so legends tell), Ceasing their hymns, attend the spell Of his voice, all mute. Tottering above In her highest noon, The enomoured moon Blushes with love, While, to listen, the red levin (With the rapid Pleiads, even, Which are seven) Pauses in Heaven. And they say (the starry choir And the other listening things) That Israfeli's fire Is owing to that lyre By which he sits and sings, The trembling living wire Of those unusual strings. But the skies that angel trod, Where deep thoughts are a duty, Where Love's a grown-up God, Where the Houri glances are Imbued with all the beauty Which we worship in a star. Therefore thou art not wrong, Israfeli, who despisest An unimpassioned song; To thee the laurels belong, Best bard, because the wisest: Merrily live, and long! The ecstasies above With thy burning measures suit: Thy grief, thy joy, thy hate, thy love, With the fervor of thy lute: Well may the stars be mute! Yes, Heaven is thine; but this Is a world of sweets and sours; Our flowers are merely--flowers, And the shadow of thy perfect bliss Is the sunshine of ours. If I could dwell Where Israfel Hath dwelt, and he were I, He might not sing so wildly well A mortal melody, While a bolder note than this might swell From my lyre within the sky. back to list |
The LakeTo haunt of the wide earth a spot The which I could not love the less; So lovely was the loneliness Of a wild lake, with black rock bound. And the tall pines that tower'd around. But when the night had thrown her pall Upon that spot - as upon all, And the wind would pass me by In its stilly melody, My infant spirit would awake To the terror of the lone lake. Yet that terror was not fright - But a tremulous delight, And a feeling undefin'd, Springing from a darken'd mind. Death was in that poison'd wave And in its gulf a fitting grave For him who thence could solace bring To his dark imagining; Whose wild'ring thought could even make An Eden of that dim lake. back to list |
Latin HymnMille, mille, mille Decollavimus, unus homo! Mille, mille, mille, mille, decollavimus! Mille, mille, mille! Vivat qui mille mille occidit! Tantum vini habet nemo Quantum sanguinis effudit! - which may be thus paraphrased. A thousand, a thousand, a thousand ! A thousand, a thousand, a thousand ! We with one warrior have slain. A thousand, a thousand, a thousand, a thousand ! Sing a thousand over again. Soho! let us sing Long life to our king Who knocked over a thousand so fine. Soho! let us roar He has given us more Red gallons of gore Than all Syria can furnish of wine! back to list |
LenoreLet the bell toll! - a saintly soul floats on the Stygian river; And, Guy De Vere, hast thou no tear? - weep now or never more! See! on yon drear and rigid bier low lies thy love, Lenore! Come! let the burial rite be read - the funeral song be sung! - An anthem for the queenliest dead that ever died so young - A dirge for her the doubly dead in that she died so young. "Wretches! ye loved her for her wealth and hated her for her pride, "And when she fell in feeble health, ye blessed her - that she died! "How shall the ritual, then, be read? - the requiem how be sung "By you - by yours, the evil eye, - by yours, the slanderous tongue "That did to death the innocent that died, and died so young?" Peccavimus; but rave not thus! and let a Sabbath song Go up to God so solemnly the dead may feel so wrong! The sweet Lenore hath "gone before," with Hope, that flew beside Leaving thee wild for the dear child that should have been thy bride - For her, the fair and debonair, that now so lowly lies, The life upon her yellow hair but not within her eyes - The life still there, upon her hair - the death upon her eyes. "Avaunt! to-night my heart is light. No dirge will I upraise, "But waft the angel on her flight with a Paean of old days! "Let no bell toll! - lest her sweet soul, amid its hallowed mirth, "Should catch the note, as it doth float - up from the damned Earth. "To friends above, from fiends below, the indignant ghost is riven - "From Hell unto a high estate far up within the Heaven - "From grief and groan, to a golden throne, beside the King of Heaven." back to list |
Lines on AleI will drain that glass again. Such hilarious visions clamber Through the chamber of my brain - Quaintest thoughts - queerest fancies Come to life and fade away; What care I how time advances? I am drinking ale today. back to list |
Lyrics of A DreamI have dreamed of joy departed But a waking dream of life and light Hath left me broken-hearted. Ah! what is not a dream by day To him whose eyes are cast On things around him with a ray Turned back upon the past? That holy dream - that holy dream, While all the world were chiding, Hath cheered me as a lovely beam A lonely spirit guiding. What though that light, thro' storm and night, So trembled from afar What could there be more purely bright In Truth's day-star? back to list |
May Queen OdeLet her reign in Peace and Honor - Every blessing be upon her; May her future pathway lie All beneath a smiling sky. back to list |
O, Tempora! O, Mores!That you are changing sadly your dominion - I mean the reign of manners hath long ceased, For men have none at all, or bad at least; And as for times, altho' 'tis said by many The "good old times" were far the worst of any, Of which sound doctrine l believe each tittle, Yet still I think these worse than them a little. I've been a thinking - isn't that the phrase? - I like your Yankee words and Yankee ways - I've been a thinking, whether it were best To take things seriously, or all in jest; Whether, with grim Heraclitus of yore, To weep, as he did, till his eyes were sore, Or rather laugh with him, that queer philosopher, Democritus of Thrace, who used to toss over The page of life and grin at the dog-ears, As though he'd say, "Why, who the devil cares?" This is a question which, oh heaven, withdraw The luckless query from a member's claw! Instead of two sides, Job [Bob] has nearly eight, Each fit to furnish forth four hours debate. What shall be done? I'll lay it on the table, And take the matter up when I'm more able, And, in the meantime, to prevent all bother, I'll neither laugh with one, nor cry with t'other, Nor deal in flatt'ry or aspersions foul, But, taking one by each hand, merely growl. Ah, growl, say you, my friend, and pray at what? Why, really, sir, I almost had forgot - But, damn it, sir, I deem it a disgrace That things should stare us boldly in the face, And daily strut the street with bows and scrapes, Who would be men by imitating apes. I beg your pardon, reader, for the oath The monkeys make me swear, though something loth; I'm apt to be discursive in my style, But pray be patient; yet a little while Will change me, and as politicians do, I'll mend my manners and my measures too. Of all the cities - and I've seen no few; For I have travelled, friend, as well as you - I don't remember one, upon my soul, But take it generally upon the whole, (As members say they like their logick [logic] taken , Because divided, it may chance be shaken) So pat, agreeable and vastly proper As this for a neat, frisky counter-hopper; Here he may revel to his heart's content, Flounce like a fish in his own element, Toss back his fine curls from their forehead fair, And hop o'er counters with a Vester's air, Complete at night what he began A.M., And having cheated ladies, dance with them; For, at a ball, what fair one can escape The pretty little hand that sold her tape, Or who so cold, so callous to refuse The youth who cut the ribbon for her shoes! One of these fish, par excellence the beau - God help me! - it has been my lot to know, At least by sight, for I'm a timid man, And always keep from laughing, if I can; But speak to him, he'll make you such grimace, Lord! to be grave exceeds the power of face. The hearts of all the ladies are with him, Their bright eyes on his Tom and Jerry brim And dove-tailed coat, obtained at cost; while then Those eyes won't turn on anything like men. His very voice is musical delight, His form, once seen, becomes a part of sight; In short, his shirt collar, his look, his tone is The "beau ideal" fancied for Adonis. Philosophers have often held dispute As to the seat of thought in man and brute; For that the power of thought attends the latter My friend, the beau, hath made a settled matter, And spite of all dogmas, current in all ages, One settled fact is better than ten sages. For he does think, though I am oft in doubt If I can tell exactly what about. Ah, yes! his little foot and ankle trim, 'Tis there the seat of reason lies in him, A wise philosopher would shake his head, He then, of course, must shake his foot instead. At me, in vengeance, shall that foot be shaken - Another proof of thought, I'm not mistaken - Because to his cat's eyes I hold a glass, And let him see himself, a proper ass! I think he'll take this likeness to himself, But if he won't, he shall, a stupid elf, And, lest the guessing throw the fool in fits, I close the portrait with the name of PITTS. back to list |
A Pćan.The solemn song be sung? The requiem for the loveliest dead, That ever died so young? Her friends are gazing on her, And on her gaudy bier, And weep! - oh! to dishonor Her beauty with a tear! They loved her for her wealth - And they hated her for her pride - But she grew in feeble health, And they love her - that she died. They tell me (while they speak Of her "costly broider'd pall") That my voice is growing weak - That I should not sing at all - Or that my tone should be Tun'd to such solemn song So mournfully - so mournfully, That the dead may feel no wrong. But she is gone above, With young Hope at her side, And I am drunk with love Of the dead, who is my bride. Of the dead - dead - who lies All motionless, With the death upon her eyes, And the life upon each tress. In June she died - in June Of life - beloved, and fair; But she did not die too soon, Nor with too calm an air. From more than fiends on earth, Helen, thy soul is riven, To join the all-hallowed mirth Of more than thrones in heaven - Therefore, to thee this night I will no requiem raise, But waft thee on thy flight, With a Pćan of old days. back to list |
The Ravenpondered, weak and weary, Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore-- While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door. "'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door-- Only this and nothing more." Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December; And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor. Eagerly I wished the morrow; --vainly I had sought to borrow From my books surcease of sorrow-- sorrow for the lost Lenore-- For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore-- Nameless here for evermore. And the silken, sad, uncertain rustling of each purple curtain Thrilled me--filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before; So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating "'Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door-- Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door; -- This it is and nothing more." Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer, "Sir," said I, "or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore; But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping, And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door, That I scarce was sure I heard you" -- here I opened wide the door; -- Darkness there and nothing more. Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing, Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before; But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token, And the only word there spoken was the whispered word "Lenore!" This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word "Lenore!" Merely this and nothing more. Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning, Soon again I heard a tapping somewhat louder than before. "Surely," said I, "surely that is something at my window lattice Let me see, then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore-- Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore; -- "'Tis the wind and nothing more!" Open here I flung the shutter, When, with many a flirt and flutter In there stepped a stately Raven of the Saintly days of yore. Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he; But, with mein of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door-- Perched upon my bust of Pallas just above my chamber door-- Perched, and sat, and nothing more. Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling, By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore, "Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou," I said, "art sure no craven, Ghastly grim and ancient Raven wandering from the Nightly shore-- Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!" Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore." Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly, Though its answer little meaning-- little relevancy bore; For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being Ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door-- Bird or beast upon the sculptured bust above his chamber door, With such name as "Nevermore." But the Raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour. Nothing farther then he uttered--not a feather then he fluttered-- Till I scarcely more than muttered "Other friends have flown before-- On the morrow he will leave me, as my hopes have flown before." Then the bird said "Nevermore." Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken, "Doubtless," said I, "what it utters is its only stock and store Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful Disaster Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore-- Till the dirges of his Hope that melancholy burden bore Of 'Never--nevermore.'" But the Raven still beguiling all my sad soul into smiling, Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird, and bust and door; Then, upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore-- What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt, and ominous bird of yore meant in croaking "Nevermore." This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing To the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom's core; This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining On the cushion's velvet lining that the lamp-light gloated o'er, But whose velvet violet lining with the lamp-light gloating o'er, She shall press, ah, nevermore! Then, methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer Swung by Seraphim whose foot-falls tinkled on the tufted floor. "Wretch," I cried, "Thy God hath lent thee--by these angels he hath sent thee Respite--respite and nepenthe from thy memories of Lenore, Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost Lenore!" Quoth the Raven "Nevermore." "Prophet!" said I, "thing of evil! prophet still, if bird or devil!-- Whether Tempest sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore, Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted-- On this home by Horror haunted--tell me truly, I implore-- Is there-- is there balm in Gilead?-- tell me-- tell me, I implore!" Quoth the Raven "Nevermore." "Prophet!" said I, "thing of evil! - prophet still, if bird or devil! By that Heaven that bends above us - by that God we both adore -- Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn, It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore -- Clasp a rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore." Quoth the Raven "Nevermore." "Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend!" I shrieked, upstarting-- "Get thee back into the tempest and the Night's Plutonian shore! Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken! Leave my loneliness unbroken! --quit the bust above my door! Take thy beak from out my heart,and Take thy form from off my door!" Quoth the Raven "Nevermore." And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door; And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming, And the lamp-light o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor; And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor Shall be lifted--nevermore! back to list |
RomanceWith drowsy head and folded wing, Among the green leaves as they shake Far down within some shadowy lake, To me a painted parakeet Hath been- a most familiar bird- Taught me my alphabet to say- To lisp my very earliest word While in the wild wood I did lie, A child- with a most knowing eye. Of late, eternal Condor years So shake the very Heaven on high With tumult as they thunder by, I have no time for idle cares Through gazing on the unquiet sky. And when an hour with calmer wings Its down upon my spirit flings- That little time with lyre and rhyme To while away- forbidden things! My heart would feel to be a crime Unless it trembled with the strings. back to list |
SerenadeI feel it more than half a crime When Nature sleeps and stars are mute, To mar the silence ev'n with lute. At rest on ocean's brilliant dies An image of Elysium lies: Seven Pleiades entranced in Heaven, Form in the deep another seven: Endymion nodding from above Sees in the sea a second love : Within the valleys dim and brown, And on the spectral mountains [mountain's] crown The wearied light is lying down : The earth, and stars, and sea, and sky Are redolent of sleep, as I Am redolent of thee and thine Enthralling love, my Adeline. But list, O list ! - so soft and low Thy lover's voice to night shall flow That, scarce awake, thy soul shall deem My words the music of a dream. Thus, while no single sound too rude, Upon thy slumber shall intrude, Our thoughts, our souls - O God above! In every deed shall mingle, love. back to list |
SilenceThat have a double life, which thus is made A type of that twin entity which springs From matter and light, evinced in solid and shade. There is a two-fold Silence-sea and shore- Body and soul. One dwells in lonely places, Newly with grass o'ergrown; some solemn graces, Some human memories and tearful lore, Render him terrorless: his name's "No More." He is the corporate Silence: dread him not! No power hath he of evil in himself; But should some urgent fate (untimely lot!) Bring thee to meet his shadow (nameless elf, That haunteth the lone regions where hath trod No foot of man,) commend thyself to God! back to list |
The SleeperI stand beneath the mystic moon. An opiate vapour, dewy, dim, Exhales from out her golden rim, And, softly dripping, drop by drop, Upon the quiet mountain top, Steals drowsily and musically Into the universal valley. The rosemary nods upon the grave; The lily lolls upon the wave; Wrapping the fog about its breast, The ruin moulders into rest; Looking like Lethe, see! the lake A conscious slumber seems to take, And would not, for the world, awake. All Beauty sleeps! - and lo! where lies (Her casement open to the skies) Irene, with her Destinies! Oh, lady bright! can it be right - This window open to the night? The wanton airs, from the tree-top, Laughingly through the lattice drop - The bodiless airs, a wizard rout, Flit through thy chamber in and out, And wave the curtain canopy So fitfully - so fearfully - Above the closed and fringed lid 'Neath which thy slumb'ring soul lies hid, That o'er the floor and down the wall, Like ghosts the shadows rise and fall! Oh, lady dear, hast thou no fear? Why and what art thou dreaming here? Sure thou art come o'er far-off seas, A wonder to these garden trees! Strange is thy pallor! strange thy dress! Strange, above all, thy length of tress, And this all solemn silentness! The lady sleeps! Oh, may her sleep, Which is enduring, so be deep! Heaven have her in its sacred keep! This chamber changed for one more holy, This bed for one more melancholy, I pray to God that she may lie Forever with unopened eye, While the dim sheeted ghosts go by! My love, she sleeps! Oh, may her sleep, As it is lasting, so be deep! Soft may the worms about her creep! Far in the forest, dim and old, For her may some tall vault unfold - Some vault that oft hath flung its black And winged pannels fluttering back, Triumphant, o'er the crested palls, Of her grand family funerals - Some sepulchre, remote, alone, Against whose portal she hath thrown, In childhood, many an idle stone - Some tomb from out whose sounding door She ne'er shall force an echo more, Thrilling to think, poor child of sin! It was the dead who groaned within. back to list |
SongWhen a burning blush came o'er thee, Though happiness around thee lay, The world all love before thee: And in thine eye a kindling light (Whatever it might be) Was all on Earth my aching sight Of Loveliness could see. That blush, perhaps, was maiden shame - As such it well may pass - Though its glow hath raised a fiercer flame In the breast of him, alas! Who saw thee on that bridal day, When that deep blush would come o'er thee, Though happiness around thee lay, The world all love before thee. back to list |
Song of TriumphSay do you know? Who is God but Epiphanes? Say do you know? There is none but Epiphanes No - there is none: So tear down the temples And put out the sun! back to list |
Sonnet to ScienceWho alterest all things with thy peering eyes. Why preyest thou thus upon the poet's heart, Vulture, whose wings are dull realities? How should he love thee? or how deem thee wise, Who wouldst not leave him in his wandering To seek for treasure in the jewelled skies, Albeit he soared with an undaunted wing? Hast thou not dragged Diana from her car? And driven the Hamadryad from the wood To seek a shelter in some happier star? Hast thou not torn the Naiad from her flood, The Elfin from the green grass, and from me The summer dream beneath the tamarind tree? back to list |
Sonnet to ZanteThy gentlest of all gentle names dost take! How many memories of what radiant hours At sight of thee and thine at once awake! How many scenes of what departed bliss! How many thoughts of what entombed hopes! How many visions of a maiden that is No more- no more upon thy verdant slopes! No more! alas, that magical sad sound Transforming all! Thy charms shall please no more- Thy memory no more! Accursed ground Henceforth I hold thy flower-enameled shore, O hyacinthine isle! O purple Zante! "Isola d'oro! Fior di Levante!" back to list |
Spirits of the Dead'Mid dark thoughts of the grey tomb-stone; Not one, of all the crowd, to pry Into thine hour of secrecy. Be silent in that solitude, Which is not loneliness- for then The spirits of the dead, who stood In life before thee, are again In death around thee, and their will Shall overshadow thee; be still. The night, though clear, shall frown, And the stars shall not look down From their high thrones in the Heaven With light like hope to mortals given, But their red orbs, without beam, To thy weariness shall seem As a burning and a fever Which would cling to thee for ever. Now are thoughts thou shalt not banish, Now are visions ne'er to vanish; From thy spirit shall they pass No more, like dew-drop from the grass. The breeze, the breath of God, is still, And the mist upon the hill Shadowy, shadowy, yet unbroken, Is a symbol and a token. How it hangs upon the trees, A mystery of mysteries! back to list |
TamerlaneSuch, father, is not (now) my theme- I will not madly deem that power Of Earth may shrive me of the sin Unearthly pride hath revell'd in- I have no time to dote or dream: You call it hope- that fire of fire! It is but agony of desire: If I can hope- Oh God! I can- Its fount is holier- more divine- I would not call thee fool, old man, But such is not a gift of thine. Know thou the secret of a spirit Bow'd from its wild pride into shame. O yearning heart! I did inherit Thy withering portion with the fame, The searing glory which hath shone Amid the jewels of my throne, Halo of Hell! and with a pain Not Hell shall make me fear again- O craving heart, for the lost flowers And sunshine of my summer hours! The undying voice of that dead time, With its interminable chime, Rings, in the spirit of a spell, Upon thy emptiness- a knell. I have not always been as now: The fever'd diadem on my brow I claim'd and won usurpingly- Hath not the same fierce heirdom given Rome to the Caesar- this to me? The heritage of a kingly mind, And a proud spirit which hath striven Triumphantly with human kind. On mountain soil I first drew life: The mists of the Taglay have shed Nightly their dews upon my head, And, I believe, the winged strife And tumult of the headlong air Have nestled in my very hair. So late from Heaven- that dew- it fell (Mid dreams of an unholy night) Upon me with the touch of Hell, While the red flashing of the light From clouds that hung, like banners, o'er, Appeared to my half-closing eye The pageantry of monarchy, And the deep trumpet-thunder's roar Came hurriedly upon me, telling Of human battle, where my voice, My own voice, silly child!- was swelling (O! how my spirit would rejoice, And leap within me at the cry) The battle-cry of Victory! The rain came down upon my head Unshelter'd- and the heavy wind Rendered me mad and deaf and blind. It was but man, I thought, who shed Laurels upon me: and the rush- The torrent of the chilly air Gurgled within my ear the crush Of empires- with the captive's prayer- The hum of suitors- and the tone Of flattery 'round a sovereign's throne. My passions, from that hapless hour, Usurp'd a tyranny which men Have deem'd, since I have reach'd to power, My innate nature- be it so: But father, there liv'd one who, then, Then- in my boyhood- when their fire Burn'd with a still intenser glow, (For passion must, with youth, expire) E'en then who knew this iron heart In woman's weakness had a part. I have no words- alas!- to tell The loveliness of loving well! Nor would I now attempt to trace The more than beauty of a face Whose lineaments, upon my mind, Are- shadows on th' unstable wind: Thus I remember having dwelt Some page of early lore upon, With loitering eye, till I have felt The letters- with their meaning- melt To fantasies- with none. O, she was worthy of all love! Love- as in infancy was mine- 'Twas such as angel minds above Might envy; her young heart the shrine On which my every hope and thought Were incense- then a goodly gift, For they were childish and upright- Pure- as her young example taught: Why did I leave it, and, adrift, Trust to the fire within, for light? We grew in age- and love- together, Roaming the forest, and the wild; My breast her shield in wintry weather- And when the friendly sunshine smil'd, And she would mark the opening skies, I saw no Heaven- but in her eyes. Young Love's first lesson is- the heart: For 'mid that sunshine, and those smiles, When, from our little cares apart, And laughing at her girlish wiles, I'd throw me on her throbbing breast, And pour my spirit out in tears- There was no need to speak the rest- No need to quiet any fears Of her- who ask'd no reason why, But turn'd on me her quiet eye! Yet more than worthy of the love My spirit struggled with, and strove, When, on the mountain peak, alone, Ambition lent it a new tone- I had no being- but in thee: The world, and all it did contain In the earth- the air- the sea- Its joy- its little lot of pain That was new pleasure- the ideal, Dim vanities of dreams by night- And dimmer nothings which were real- (Shadows- and a more shadowy light!) Parted upon their misty wings, And, so, confusedly, became Thine image, and- a name- a name! Two separate- yet most intimate things. I was ambitious- have you known The passion, father? You have not: A cottager, I mark'd a throne Of half the world as all my own, And murmur'd at such lowly lot- But, just like any other dream, Upon the vapour of the dew My own had past, did not the beam Of beauty which did while it thro' The minute- the hour- the day- oppress My mind with double loveliness. We walk'd together on the crown Of a high mountain which look'd down Afar from its proud natural towers Of rock and forest, on the hills- The dwindled hills! begirt with bowers, And shouting with a thousand rills. I spoke to her of power and pride, But mystically- in such guise That she might deem it nought beside The moment's converse; in her eyes I read, perhaps too carelessly- A mingled feeling with my own- The flush on her bright cheek, to me Seem'd to become a queenly throne Too well that I should let it be Light in the wilderness alone. I wrapp'd myself in grandeur then, And donn'd a visionary crown- Yet it was not that Fantasy Had thrown her mantle over me- But that, among the rabble- men, Lion ambition is chained down- And crouches to a keeper's hand- Not so in deserts where the grand- The wild- the terrible conspire With their own breath to fan his fire. Look 'round thee now on Samarcand! Is not she queen of Earth? her pride Above all cities? in her hand Their destinies? in all beside Of glory which the world hath known Stands she not nobly and alone? Falling- her veriest stepping-stone Shall form the pedestal of a throne- And who her sovereign? Timour- he Whom the astonished people saw Striding o'er empires haughtily A diadem'd outlaw! O, human love! thou spirit given On Earth, of all we hope in Heaven! Which fall'st into the soul like rain Upon the Siroc-wither'd plain, And, failing in thy power to bless, But leav'st the heart a wilderness! Idea! which bindest life around With music of so strange a sound, And beauty of so wild a birth- Farewell! for I have won the Earth. When Hope, the eagle that tower'd, could see No cliff beyond him in the sky, His pinions were bent droopingly- And homeward turn'd his soften'd eye. 'Twas sunset: when the sun will part There comes a sullenness of heart To him who still would look upon The glory of the summer sun. That soul will hate the ev'ning mist, So often lovely, and will list To the sound of the coming darkness (known To those whose spirits hearken) as one Who, in a dream of night, would fly But cannot from a danger nigh. What tho' the moon- the white moon Shed all the splendour of her noon , Her smile is chilly, and her beam, In that time of dreariness, will seem (So like you gather in your breath) A portrait taken after death. And boyhood is a summer sun Whose waning is the dreariest one- For all we live to know is known, And all we seek to keep hath flown- Let life, then, as the day-flower, fall With the noon-day beauty- which is all. I reach'd my home- my home no more For all had flown who made it so. I pass'd from out its mossy door, And, tho' my tread was soft and low, A voice came from the threshold stone Of one whom I had earlier known- O, I defy thee, Hell, to show On beds of fire that burn below, A humbler heart- a deeper woe. Father, I firmly do believe- I know- for Death, who comes for me From regions of the blest afar, Where there is nothing to deceive, Hath left his iron gate ajar, And rays of truth you cannot see Are flashing thro' Eternity- I do believe that Eblis hath A snare in every human path- Else how, when in the holy grove I wandered of the idol, Love, Who daily scents his snowy wings With incense of burnt offerings From the most unpolluted things, Whose pleasant bowers are yet so riven Above with trellis'd rays from Heaven, No mote may shun- no tiniest fly- The lightning of his eagle eye- How was it that Ambition crept, Unseen, amid the revels there, Till growing bold, he laughed and leapt In the tangles of Love's very hair? back to list |
To _ _In the mad pride of intellectuality, Maintained "the power of words"- denied that ever A thought arose within the human brain Beyond the utterance of the human tongue: And now, as if in mockery of that boast, Two words- two foreign soft dissyllables- Italian tones, made only to be murmured By angels dreaming in the moonlit "dew That hangs like chains of pearl on Hermon hill," Have stirred from out the abysses of his heart, Unthought-like thoughts that are the souls of thought, Richer, far wilder, far diviner visions Than even seraph harper, Israfel, (Who has "the sweetest voice of all God's creatures,") Could hope to utter. And I! my spells are broken. The pen falls powerless from my shivering hand. With thy dear name as text, though bidden by thee, I cannot write- I cannot speak or think- Alas, I cannot feel; for 'tis not feeling, This standing motionless upon the golden Threshold of the wide-open gate of dreams. Gazing, entranced, adown the gorgeous vista, And thrilling as I see, upon the right, Upon the left, and all the way along, Amid empurpled vapors, far away To where the prospect terminates- thee only. back to list |
To _ _The wantonest singing birds, Are lips- and all thy melody Of lip-begotten words- Thine eyes, in Heaven of heart enshrined, Then desolately fall, O God! on my funereal mind Like starlight on a pall- Thy heart- thy heart!- I wake and sigh, And sleep to dream till day Of the truth that gold can never buy- Of the baubles that it may. back to list |
To _ _I would not break so calm a sleep, To wake to sunshine and to show'r, To smile and weep. Sleep on, sleep on, like sculptured thing, Majestic, beautiful art thou; Sure seraph shields thee with his wing And fans thy brow - We would not deem thee child of earth, For, O, angelic, is thy form! But, that in heav'n thou had'st thy birth, Where comes no storm To mar the bright, the perfect flow'r, But all is beautiful and still - And golden sands proclaim the hour Which brings no ill. Sleep on, sleep on, some fairy dream Perchance is woven in thy sleep - But, O, thy spirit, calm, serene, Must wake to weep. back to list |
To F _ _That crowd around my earthly path- (Drear path, alas! where grows Not even one lonely rose)- My soul at least a solace hath In dreams of thee, and therein knows An Eden of bland repose. And thus thy memory is to me Like some enchanted far-off isle In some tumultuous sea- Some ocean throbbing far and free With storms- but where meanwhile Serenest skies continually Just o'er that one bright island smile. back to list |
To F-s S. O-dFrom its present pathway part not! Being everything which now thou art, Be nothing which thou art not. So with the world thy gentle ways, Thy grace, thy more than beauty, Shall be an endless theme of praise, And love- a simple duty. back to list |
To HelenLike those Nicean barks of yore, That gently, o'er a perfum'd sea, The weary way-worn wanderer bore To his own native shore. On desperate seas long wont to roam, Thy hyacinth hair, thy classic face, Thy Naiad airs have brought me home To the beauty of fair Greece, And the grandeur of old Rome. Lo ! in that little window-niche How statue-like I see thee stand! The folded scroll within thy hand - A Psyche from the regions which Are Holy land ! back to list |
To Helen (Sarah Helen Whitman)I must not say how many - but not many. It was a July midnight; and from out A full-orbed moon, that, like thine own soul, soaring, Sought a precipitate pathway up through heaven, There fell a silvery-silken veil of light, With quietude, and sultriness, and slumber, Upon the upturned faces of a thousand Roses that grew in an enchanted garden, Where no wind dared to stir, unless on tiptoe - Fell on the upturn'd faces of these roses That gave out, in return for the love-light, Their odorous souls in an ecstatic death - Fell on the upturn'd faces of these roses That smiled and died in this parterre, enchanted By thee, and by the poetry of thy presence. Clad all in white, upon a violet bank I saw thee half reclining; while the moon Fell on the upturn'd faces of the roses, And on thine own, upturn'd- alas, in sorrow! Was it not Fate, that, on this July midnight- Was it not Fate, (whose name is also Sorrow,) That bade me pause before that garden-gate, To breathe the incense of those slumbering roses? No footstep stirred: the hated world an slept, Save only thee and me. (Oh, Heaven!- oh, God! How my heart beats in coupling those two words!) Save only thee and me. I paused- I looked- And in an instant all things disappeared. (Ah, bear in mind this garden was enchanted!) The pearly lustre of the moon went out: The mossy banks and the meandering paths, The happy flowers and the repining trees, Were seen no more: the very roses' odours Died in the arms of the adoring airs. All- all expired save thee- save less than thou: Save only the divine light in thine eyes- Save but the soul in thine uplifted eyes. I saw but them- they were the world to me! I saw but them- saw only them for hours, Saw only them until the moon went down. What wild heart-histories seemed to he enwritten Upon those crystalline, celestial spheres! How dark a woe, yet how sublime a hope! How silently serene a sea of pride! How daring an ambition; yet how deep- How fathomless a capacity for love! But now, at length, dear Dian sank from sight, Into a western couch of thunder-cloud; And thou, a ghost, amid the entombing trees Didst glide away. Only thine eyes remained; They would not go- they never yet have gone; Lighting my lonely pathway home that night, They have not left me (as my hopes have) since; They follow me- they lead me through the years. They are my ministers - yet I their slave. Their office is to illumine and enkindle - My duty, to be saved by their bright light, And purified in their electric fire, And sanctified in their elysian fire. They fill my soul with Beauty (which is Hope), And are far up in Heaven - the stars I kneel to In the sad, silent watches of my night; While even in the meridian glare of day I see them still - two sweetly scintillant Venuses, unextinguished by the sun! back to list |
To IsadoreWhose shadows fall before Thy lowly cottage door Under the lilac's tremulous leaves- Within thy snowy claspečd hand The purple flowers it bore. Last eve in dreams, I saw thee stand, Like queenly nymphs from Fairy-land- Enchantress of the flowery wand, Most beauteous Isadore! And when I bade the dream Upon thy spirit flee, Thy violet eyes to me Upturned, did overflowing seem With the deep, untold delight Of Love's serenity; Thy classic brow, like lilies white And pale as the Imperial Night Upon her throne, with stars bedight, Enthralled my soul to thee! Ah! ever I behold Thy dreamy, passionate eyes, Blue as the languid skies Hung with the sunset's fringe of gold; Now strangely clear thine image grows, And olden memories Are startled from their long repose Like shadows on the silent snows When suddenly the night-wind blows Where quiet moonlight ties. Li |