"Jehane the brown! Jehane the brown! Eh-gag me Robert !—sweet my friend, For those long fingers, and long feet, 110 And long neck, and smooth shoulders sweet ; So, scarce awake, For Robert—both his eyes were dry, With a start Up Godmar rose, thrust them apart; 115 120 125 130 135 140 In Robert's hair; she saw him bend Then Godmar turn'd again and said : This was the parting that they had 390 SUMMER DAWN 144 150 155 160 W. MORRIS. Pray but one prayer for me 'twixt thy closed lips, Think but one thought of me up in the stars. The summer night waneth, the morning light slips, Faint and grey 'twixt the leaves of the aspen, betwixt the cloud-bars, That are patiertly waiting there for the dawn: Patient and colourless, though Heaven's gold Waits to float through them along with the sun. Far out in the meadows, above the young corn, 5 10 The heavy elns wait, and restless and cold The uneasy wind rises; the roses are dun; Through the long twilight they pray for the dawn, Round the lone house in the midst of the corn. Speak but one word to me over the corn, Over the tender, bowed locks of the corn. W. MORRIS. 391 As we rush, as we rush in the train, All the beautiful stars of the sky, The silver doves of the forest of Night, We will rush ever on without fear; Let the goal be far, the flight be fleet! 5 10 392 ITYLUS Swallow, my. sister, O sister swallow, How can thine heart be full of the spring? What hast thou found in the spring to follow ? O swallow, sister, O fair swift swallow, Why wilt thou fly after spring to the south, The soft south whither thine heart is set ? Shall not the grief of the old time follow ? Shall not the song thereof cleave to thy mouth ? Hast thou forgotten ere I forget? Sister, my sister, O fleet sweet swallow, Thy way is long to the sun and the south; But I, fulfilled of my heart's desire, Shedding my song upon height, upon hollow, From tawny body and sweet snall mouth Feed the heart of the night vith fire. 7 12 15 I the nightingale all spring through, 20 All spring through till the spring be done, Clothed with the light of the night on the dew, Sing, while the hours and the wild birds follow, Take flight and follow and find the sun. Sister, my sister, O soft light swallow, 25 Though all things feast in the spring's guestchamber, How hast thou heart to be glad thereof yet? For where thou fliest I shall not follow, Till life forget and death remember, Till thou remember and I forget. Swallow, my sister, O singing swallow, I know not how thou hast heart to sing. Thy lord the summer is good to follow, 30 35 But what wilt thou say to the spring thy lover? O swallow, sister, O fleeting swallow, And over my head the waves have met. Couldst thou remember and I forget. O sweet stray sister, O shifting swallow, Thy heart is light as a leaf of a tree; But mine goes forth among sea-gulfs hollow O swallow, sister, O rapid swallow, Are not the roofs and the lintels wet? 40 45 50 O sister, sister, thy first-begotten! The hands that cling and the feet that follow, The voice of the child's blood crying yet, Who hath remembered me? who hath forgotten? Thou hast forgotten, O summer swallow, But the world shall end when I forget. A. C. SWINBURNE. 55 60 393 THE GARDEN OF PROSERPINE Here, where the world is quiet; I am tired of tears and laughter, For men that sow to reap : 5 10 15 Here life has death for neighbour, Wan waves and wet winds labour, 20 They drive adrift, and whither And no such things grow here. |