For a breeze of morning moves, On a bed of daffodil sky, To faint in the light of the sun she loves, To faint in his light, and to die. All night have the roses heard The flute, violin, bassoon; 861 All night has the casement jessamine Queen rose of the rosebud garden of girls, stirred Come hither, the dances are done, In gloss of satin and glimmer of pearls, Queen lily and rose in one; 905 Shine out, little head, sunning over with curls, To the flowers, and be their sun. Corrupts the strength of 'heaven-descended Will, And ever weaker grows through acted crime, Or seeming-genial venial fault, He seems as one whose footsteps halt, And o'er a weary sultry land, Far beneath a blazing vault, Sown in a wrinkle of the monstrous hill, The city sparkles like a grain of salt. 15 20 O (ALCAICS) (1863) O mighty-mouthed inventor of harmonies, skilled to sing of Time or Eternity, God-gifted organ-voice of England, 5 Milton, a name to resound for ages; Whose Titan angels, Gabriel, Abdiel, Starred from Jehovah's gorgeous armories, Tower, as the deep-domed empyrean Rings to the roar of an angel onset Me rather all that bowery loneliness, The brooks of Eden mazily murmuring, 10 And bloom profuse and cedar arches Charm, as a wanderer out in ocean, Where some refulgent sunset of India Streams o'er a rich ambrosial ocean isle, And crimson-hued the stately palm woods Whisper in odorous heights of even. THE FLOWER Once in a golden hour I cast to earth a seed: Up there came a flower, The people said, a weed. To and fro they went Through my garden-bower; And, muttering discontent, Cursed me and my flower. Then it grew so tall It wore a crown of light; But thieves from o'er the wall Stole the seed by night, Sowed it far and wide By every town and tower, Till all the people cried, "Splendid is the flower." Read my little fable: He that runs may read. Most can raise the flowers now, For all have got the seed. |