Lady, sweet lady, I behold thee yet, With thy pale brow, brown eyes, and solemn air, And billowy tresses of thy golden hair, Which once to see, is never to forget! But for short space I gazed, with soul intent Upon thee; and the limner’s art divine, Meantime, poured all thy spirit into mine. But once I gazed, then on my way I went: And thou art still before me. Like a dream Of what our soul has loved, and lost for ever, Thy vision dwells with me, and though I never May be so blest as to behold thee more, That one short look has stamped thee in my heart, Of my intensest life a living part, Which time, and death, shall never triumph o’er.

FRAGMENT

Walking by moonlight on the golden margin That binds the silver sea, I fell to thinking Of all the wild imaginings that man Hath peopled heaven, and earth, and ocean with; Making fair nature’s solitary haunts Alive with beings, beautiful and fearful. And as the chain of thought grew link by link, It seemed, as though the midnight heavens waxed brighter, The stars gazed fix’dly with their golden eyes, And a strange light played o’er each sleeping billow, That laid its head upon the sandy beach. Anon there came along the rocky shore A far-off sound of sweetest minstrelsy. From no one point of heaven, or earth, it came; But under, over, and about it breathed, Filling my soul with thrilling, fearful pleasure. It swelled, as though borne on the floating wings Of the midsummer breeze: it died away Towards heaven, as though it sank into the clouds, That one by one melted like flakes of snow In the moonbeams. Then came a rushing sound, Like countless wings of bees, or butterflies; And suddenly, as far as eye might view, The coast was peopled with a world of elves, Who in fantastic ringlets danced around, With antic gestures, and wild beckoning motion, Aimed at the moon. White was their snowy vesture, And shining as the Alps, when that the sun Gems their pale robes with diamonds. On their heads Were wreaths of crimson and of yellow foxglove. They were all fair, and light as dreams; anon The dance broke off; and sailing through the air, Some one way, and some other, they did each Alight upon some waving branch, or flower, That garlanded the rocks upon the shore. One, chiefly, did I mark, one tiny sprite, Who crept into an orange flower-bell, And there lay nestling, whilst his eager lips Drank from its virgin chalice the night dew, That glistened, like a pearl, in its white bosom.

SONNET

Cover me with your everlasting arms, Ye guardian giants of this solitude! From the ill-sight of men, and from the rude, Tumultuous din of yon wide world’s alarms! Oh, knit your mighty limbs around, above, And close me in for ever! let me dwell With the wood spirits, in the darkest cell That ever with your verdant locks ye wove. The air is full of countless voices, joined In one eternal hymn; the whispering wind, The shuddering leaves, the hidden water-springs, The work-song of the bees, whose honeyed wings Hang in the golden tresses of the lime, Or buried lie in purple beds of thyme.

WRITTEN ON CRAMOND BEACH

Farewell, old playmate! on thy sandy shore My lingering feet will leave their print no more; To thy loved side I never may return. I pray thee, old companion, make due mourn For the wild spirit who so oft has stood Gazing in love and wonder on thy flood. The form is now departing far away, That half in anger oft, and half in play, Thou hast pursued with thy white showers of foam. Thy waters daily will besiege the home I loved among the rocks; but there will be No laughing cry, to hail thy victory, Such as was wont to greet thee, when I fled, With hurried footsteps, and averted head, Like fallen monarch, from my venturous stand, Chased by thy billows far along the sand. And when at eventide thy warm waves drink The amber clouds that in their bosom sink; When sober twilight over thee has spread Her purple pall, when the glad day is dead My voice no more will mingle with the dirge That rose in mighty moaning from thy surge, Filling with awful harmony the air, When thy vast soul and mine were joined in prayer.

SONNET

Away, away! bear me away, away, Into the boundless void, thou mighty wind! That rushest on thy midnight way, And leav’st this weary world, far, far behind! Away, away! bear me away, away, To the wide strandless deep, Ye headlong waters! whose mad eddies leap From the pollution of your bed of clay! Away, away, bear me away, away, Into the fountains of eternal light, Ye rosy clouds! that to my longing sight Seem melting in the sun’s devouring ray! Away, away! oh, for some mighty blast, To sweep this loathsome life into the past!

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