THE RECOLLECTION. And soothed by every azure breath Now all the tree-tops lay asleep How calm it was!-the silence there The breath of peace we drew To the soft flower beneath our feet A spirit interfused around, A thrilling silent life; To momentary peace it bound Our mortal nature's strife;— And still I felt the centre of The magic circle there Was one fair Form that fill'd with love The lifeless atmosphere. We paused beside the pools that lie Under the forest bough; Each seem'd as 'twere a little sky Gulf'd in a world below; 261 264 A PARTING IN DREAMLAND. A PARTING IN DREAMLAND. Αδιστος ἀφεμένων. AMONG the poppies by the well Making the light of summer grey; Whose eyes were eyes of Seraphim. But ere I slept, while still it seemed Above the poppy-heads that fling For there He stood whose eyes are eyes Seemed quivering with the winds of sighs; Burned not, but showered well-heads of tears Yea, and his heart fed living fire; And both his cheeks like ashes wan Were cinders of a spent desire For lack of food to feed upon: Therewith the Spirit smiled and spake Words sweet as breath from buds that break: A PARTING IN DREAMLAND. "I go; take now, dear soul, thy rest; Slumber beneath the poppy-flowers! The mole within her winter nest Be not so folded from sad hours As thou, who of the thought of me Eatest Nepenthé wearily. "I go; but when thy dream is o'er, When thou awakest cold perchance, "Think then of me: though hence I go; Though I am withered, worn, and old, He spake; and fire with sudden pain Flashed in his face. Then slumber fell Upon my lids like summer rain; And through faint dreams the terrible Flame of that head, of those wild eyes, Died; and my sleep was Paradise. J. A. Symonds. 265 262 THE RECOLLECTION. A firmament of purple light More boundless than the depth of night In which the lovely forests grew More perfect both in shape and hue There lay the glade and neighbouring lawn, Out of a speckled cloud. Sweet views which in our world above Can never well be seen Of that fair forest green: An atmosphere without a breath, Like one beloved, the scene had lent To the dark water's breast Its every leaf and lineament With more than truth exprest; Like an unwelcome thought -Though Thou art ever fair and kind, The forests ever green, Less oft is peace in Shelley's mind Than calm in waters seen! P. B. Shelley. LOVE HOUSELESS. 263 LOVE HOUSELESS. I. THE cold earth slept below; Above, the cold sky shone; With a chilling sound, From caves of ice and fields of snow 2. The wintry hedge was black; On the bare thorn's breast, Whose roots, beside the pathway track, 3. Thine eyes glowed in the glare As a fen-fire's beam On a sluggish stream Gleams dimly, so the moon shone there; And it yellowed the strings of thy tangled hair, 4. The moon made thy lips pale, beloved; The wind made thy bosom chill; The night did shed On thy dear head Its frozen dew, and thou didst lie Where the bitter breath of the naked sky P. B. Shelley. |