As from some blissful neighborhood, "I see the end, and know the good.” A little hint to solace woe, Like an Æolian harp that wakes Far thought with music that it makes: Such seem'd the whisper at my side: "What is it thou knowest, sweet voice?" I cried. "A hidden hope," the voice replied: So heavenly toned, that in that hour To feel, altho' no tongue can prove, And forth into the fields I went, I wonder'd at the bounteous hours, I wonder'd, while I paced along : So variously seem'd all things wrought, And wherefore rather I made choice THE DAY-DREAM. PROLOGUE. O LADY FLORA, let me speak: As by the lattice you reclined, I went thro' many wayward moods To see you dreaming — and, behind, A summer crisp with shining woods. And I too dream'd, until at last Across my fancy, brooding warm, The reflex of a legend past, And loosely settled into form. And would you have the thought I had, And see the vision that I saw, Then take the broidery-frame, and add A crimson to the quaint Macaw, And I will tell it. Turn your face, Nor look with that too earnest eyeThe rhymes are dazzled from their place, And order'd words asunder fly. THE SLEEPING PALACE. 1. THE varying year with blade and sheaf Here stays the blood along the veins. 2. Soft lustre bathes the range of urns Deep in the garden-lake withdrawn. 3. Roof-haunting martins warm their eggs: Not even of a gnat that sings. More like a picture seemeth all Than those old portraits of old kings, That watch the sleepers from the wall. 4. Here sits the Butler with a flask Between his knees, half-drain'd; and there The wrinkled steward at his task, The maid-of-honor blooming fair; The page has caught her hand in his: Her lips are sever'd as to speak : His own are pouted to a kiss: The blush is fix'd upon her cheek. 5. Till all the hundred summers pass, The beams, that thro' the Oriel shine, Make prisms in every carven glass, And beaker brimm'd with noble wine. Each baron at the banquet sleeps, 6. All round a hedge upshoots, and shows And grapes with bunches red as blood, 7. When will the hundred suminers die, Come, Care and Pleasure, Hope and Pain, THE SLEEPING BEAUTY. 1. YEAR after year unto her feet, The maiden's jet-black hair has grown, On either side her tranced form Forth streaming from a braid of pearl. The slumbrous light is rich and warm, And moves not on the rounded curl. 2. The silk star-broider'd coverlid Unto her limbs itself doth mould Languidly ever; and, amid Her full black ringlets downward roll❜d, Glows forth each softly shadow'd arm With bracelets of the diamond bright: Her constant beauty doth inform Stillness with love, and day with light. 3. She sleeps her breathings are not heard : In palace chambers far apart. The fragrant tresses are not stirr'd THE ARRIVAL. 1. ALL precious things, discover'd late, And draws the veil from hidden worth. He travels far from other skies His mantle glitters on the rocks A fairy Prince, with joyful eyes, And lighter-footed than the fox. 2. - The bodies and the bones of those Or scatter'd blanching on the grass. "They perish'd in their daring deeds." This proverb flashes thro' his head, "The many fail: the one succeeds." 3. He comes, scarce knowing what he seeks: He breaks the hedge: he enters there: The color flies into his cheeks: He trusts to light on something fair; For all his life the charm did talk About his path, and hover near With words of promise in his walk, And whisper'd voices at his ear. 4. More close and close his footsteps wind: The Magic Music in his heart Beats quick and quicker, till he find The quiet chamber far apart. |