John Payne

“ The glad sun rives the sapphire deeps Down to the dim pearl-floor’d abyss Where, cold in death, my lover sleeps; Crowns with soft fire his sea-drench’d hair, Kisses with gold his lips death-pale, Lets down from heaven a golden stair, Whose steps methinks his soul doth scale. ”

“ Though Time blend with Eternity, Our lives shall never meet again,— Never by gray or purple sea, Never again in heavens of blue, Never in this old earth—ah me! Never, ah never! in the new. For me, he treads the windless ways Among the thick star-diamonds, Where in the middle æther blaze The Golden City’s pearl gate-fronds ”