R. D. Blackmore

“ He "Tis the sound of the ebb, in Newton Bay, Quickens the spring, as the tide grows less; Even as true love flows alway Counter the flood of the world's success." She "There is no other way for love to flow, Whenever it springs in a woman's breast; With the tide of its own heart it must go, And run contrary to all the rest." He "Then fill the sweet cup of your hand, my love, And pledge me your maiden faith thereon, By the touch of the letter'd stone above, And the holy water of Saint John." ”

“ For husband, wife and home it meant, And no more solitude! IV We trample now the faith of old, We make our Gods of dream and doubt; Yet life is but a tale untold, Without one heart to love, without One hand to hold— The fairer half of humankind, More gentle, playful, and confiding: Whose soul is not the slave of mind, Whose spirit hath a nobler guiding Than we can find. So Eve restores the sweeter part Of what herself unwitting stole, And makes the wounded Adam whole; For half the mind is heart. ”

“ Pausias "Then whence thine art? Hath Phoebus given thee boon Of wreath and posy, fillet and festoon? Of tint and grouping, balance, depth, and tone— Lo, I could cast my palette down, and groan!" Glycera "No art, fair sir, hath ever crossed my thought, The lesson I delight in comes untaught. The flowers around me take their own sweet way, They tell me what they wish—and I obey. Unlike poor us, they feel no spleen or spite But earn their joy, oy ministering delight. So loved and cherished, each may well suppose Itself at home again just where it grows. ”

“ God, my new God, give me grace To be worthy of my race. "Though this death our bodies sever, Thou shalt find me there above; Where I shall be learning ever, To be worthy of thy love." XVI From his gaze she turned, to borrow Pride's assistance against sorrow— God vouchsafes that scanty loan, When He taketh all our own. Sudden thought of heaven's inspiring Flashed through bold Duke Iram's heart; Angels more than stand admiring, When a man takes his own part. 'Tis the law the Lord hath taught us, To undo what Satan wrought us; To confound the foul fiend's plan, With the manliness of man. ”

“ VI "Dark sin, the deadly foe of love, All bowers of bliss thou shalt infest, Implanting thorns the flowers above, And one black feather in the breast Of purest dove. "Almighty Father, once our friend, And ready even now to love us. Thy pitying gaze upon us bend, And through the tempest-clouds above us Thine arm extend. "That so thy children may begin In lieu of bliss, to earn content, And find that sinful Eve was meant Not only for a sin." ”

“ XI Free among them stands the maiden, Clad in white for her long rest; Crowned with gold, and jewel-laden, With a lily on her breast Lily is the mark that showeth Where that pure and sweet heart gloweth; Here must come, to shed her life, Point of sacrificial knife. Here the knife is, cold and gleaming, Here the colder butcher band. Was the true love nought but dreaming, Feeble heart, and coward hand? XII Strength unto the weak is given, When their earthly bonds are riven; Ere the spirit is called away, Heaven begins its tranquil sway. ”

“ These have been my childhood's love, These my maiden visions were; When I meet their gaze above, These will tell me, God is there." Pausias "'Tis done! No more the palsied doubt molests; The crown of glory on my labour rests. Thy clear voice hath my flagging thoughts supplied, My model thou, my teacher, and my bride! Now stand, beloved one, where the soft glow lies, Yet judge not rashly, ere the colour dries. Find every fault, pick every flaw thou canst; I'll not be vexed; true art is thus advanced. So meek is art, that (when it comprehends) It loves the carping of its dearest friends. ”

“ Up leaps the sun, to paint thee with his plume, And every blossom seems to be thy bloom." Glycera "Why stand we here, so early of the morn, In love with things that treat our love with scorn— Grey crags, where Time with folded pinion broods, Ana ever young antiquity of woods; The brooks that babble, and the flowers that blush, Ere woman was a reed, or man a rush? And he for ever, as the Gods ordain, Would fain revive with art what he hath slain; Shall nature fail to laugh, while man doth yearn To teach the canvas what he ne'er can learn?" ”

“ So trembling, and so faint—"My own, It must be my own Eve!" II As when the mantled heavens display The glory of the morning glow, And spread the mountain heights with day, And bid the clouds and shadows go Trooping away, The Spirit of the Lord arose, And made the earth and heaven to quiver, And scattered all his hellish foes, And deigned his good stock to deliver From all their woes. So Long the Twain Had Strayed Apart, That Each As at a Marvel Gazed, With Eyes Abashed, and Brain Amazed ”

“ II "For trie, no joy of earth or sky, No commune with the things I see, But dreary converse of the eye With worlds too grand to look at me— No smile, no sigh! "In vain I fall Upon my knees, In vain I weep and sob for ever; All other miseries have ease, All other prayers have ruth—but never Any for these. "Are we endowed with heavenly breath, And God's own form, that we should win A proud priority of sin, And teach creation death? ”

“ Religion did not him compel To harass and defy it No price he charged for Heavenly love, No discount on Resurgo; His conscience told him—one side-shove Is worth ten kicks a tergo. But while the path of life he showed To win the Christian guerdon, No post was he, to point the road, But a man to share the burden. The lapse of years made manifest The sanctuary of holy age; As clearer grows the ring-dove's nest, When time hath stripp'd the foliage. ”

“ While the broad flood murmurs glistening To the moon that hangeth listening— Moon that looketh down the sky, Like an aloe-bloom on high— V Sudden conch o'er the wave ringeth! Ere the date-leaves cease to snake, All, that hath existence, springeth Into broad light, wide-awake. As at a window of heaven thrown up, All in a dazzling blaze are shown up, Mellowing, ere our eyes avail, To some soft enchanter's tale. Every skiff a big ship seemeth, Every bush with tall wings clad; Every man his good brain deemeth The only brain that is not mad. ”

“ Love is hate, if it degrade. "But when thou hast well surrendered, And thy sacrifice is tendered— God do so, and more to me, If I slay not, who slay thee! "Abraham's God hath ne'er forsaken Them who trust in Him alway. Thy sweet life shall not be taken. Rest, and calm thee, while I pray." XVIII Like a little child, that kneeleth To tell God whate'er he feeleth, Bent the tall young warrior there, And the palm-trees whispered prayer. She, outworn with woe and weeping, Shared that influence from above; And the fear of death went sleeping In the maiden faith and love. ”

“ Glycera "Nay, heed me not. True pleasure is not dry; The sunrise of the heart bedews the eye." Pausias "If that were all—but lately there hath been A listless air beneath thy livery mien; Thyself art all fair petal, and sweet perfume, And smiles that light the damask of thy bloom; Yet some, pale distance seems to chill the whole." Glycera "Forgive me, love, forgive a timorous soul. ”

“ The work, the weather, and the world are fair; A few more strokes—and fame flies everywhere." Pausias "Who cares for fame, except with love to share?" Glycera "To share! Nay every breath of it is mine, Whene'er it breathes on thee; for I am thine. But pardon now—if I have seemed sometime Impatient, glib, too pert for things sublime, Remember that I meant not so to sink; Forgive your Glycera, when you come to think." Pausias "I'll not forgive my Glycera—until She hath discovered how to do some ill. ”

“ XII "Then hope shall shine from heaven, and give To fruit of hard work, sunny cheek, And flowers of grace and love revive, And shrivelled pasturage grow sleek, And corn snail thrive. "Beholding gladness, Eve and I, Enfolding it also in each other, May talk of heaven without a sigh; Because our heaven in one another Love shall supply. "For courage, faith, and bended knees, By stress of patience, cure distress, And turn wild Love-in-idleness Into the true Heartsease." The Lord breathed on the first of men, And strung his limbs to strength again ”

“ No theft of man it's affluence impairs, A thousand flowers, without a loss, it spares; Whose bashful elegance no brush can trace, Heartfelt delight, and plenitude of grace; No palettes match their brilliance, although Pandora filled her box from Iris' bow." Pausias "Her want of faith sweet Glycera will rue, When she hath seen what Pausias can do." Glycera "Forgive me, sir; In truth it was no taunt. A great man can do anything—but vaunt." Pausias "E'en that he can do, if he sees the need. But out on words, when time hath come for deed! ”

“ For man shall ne'er suspect in them The plucking of the fatal stem, That brought him all his ill. XI "And when hereafter—as there must, Since He, that made us, so hath sworn— From that whereof we are, the dust, And whereunto we shall return In higher trust— "There spring a grand and countless race, Replenishing this vast possession, Till life, hath won a larger space Than death, by quick and fair succession Of health and grace; "They too shall find as I have found The grief, that lifts its head on high, A dewy bud the sun shall dry— But not while on the ground. ”

“ Oh, heaven, let some one rise, Some woman, since revenge is small,— Who shall not care about its size, If only she can get it all, For those black lies! "Poor Adam is too good and great, I felt it, though he said so little— To hate his foes, as I can hate— And pay them every jot, and tittle, At their own rate. ”

“ Waves are warmth, and storms are shelter, In the upper heaven of love. XVIII Fierce the flood, and wild the danger; Yet the noble desert-ranger Flinches not, nor flags, before He hath brought them safe ashore. Lives there man, who would have striven, Reckless thus of storm and sword ”

“ Can the heart of man alone be dull, And the mind of man be spiteful, When all above is beautiful, And all below delightful? When Season bright, and Season rich, Make bids against each other; And earth, uncertain which is which, Smiles up at Nature Mother. ”

“ Pausias "A poet! We do things in a superior way; A painter is a poet, who makes it pay. A poet, though deep and mystic as the Sphinx, Will ne'er earn half of what he eats and drinks, He dreams of Gods, but of himself he thinks."
Scene III.—A western slope near Sicyon. Pausias has his easel set, Glycera is dressed in white. Pausias "Seven times the moon hath filled her silver horn, And twice a hundred suns awoke the morn, Since thou and I—for half the praise is thine— Began this study of the flowers divine." ”

“ Take your choice of many a flower, Lily, rose, and melilot, Lilac, myrtle, virgin's bower, Pansy, and forget-me-not. Ladies'-tresses, and harebell, Jasmin, daphne, violet, Meadow-sweet, and pimpernel, Maidenhair, and mignonette. What is gold, that doth allure Foolish hearts from field and flower? If you plant them in it pure, Will they keep alive an hour? What is fame, compared with these, Fame of wisdom, sword, or pen? Who would quit the meadow breeze, For the sultry breath of men? ”

“ III "Of all the flowers that bow the head, Or gaze erect on sun and sky, Not one there is, declines to sned, Or standeth up, to qualify His incense-meed: "Of all that blossom one by one, Or join their lips in loving cluster, Not one hath now resolved alone, Or taken counsel, that his lustre Shall be unshown. "So let thy soul a blossom be, To breathe the fragrance of its praise, And lift itself, in early days, To Him who fosters thee. ”

“ III Our God hath made a fairer thing Than fairest dawn of summer day— A gentle, timid, fluttering, Confessing glance, that seeks alway Rest for its wing. A sweeter sight than azure skies, Or golden star thereon that glideth; And blest are they who see it rise, For, if it cometh, it abideth In woman's eyes. The first of men such blessing sued ”

“ IV Yea, but heaven hath ordered duly, Lest mankind should wax unruly, Egypt, garner of all lore, Narrow as a threshing-floor. East, and West, lies desolation, Infinite, untracked, untold Shroud for all of God's creation, When the wild blast lifts its fold; There eternal melancholy Maketh all delight unholy; As a stricken widow glides Past a group of laughing brides. Who is this, that so disdaineth Dome and desert, fear and fate ”

“ Pausias "Nay, but a friend No stranger now am I. Good art is pledge of perfect modesty. From chastened heights the painter glanceth down; No maid can fear a youth who loves renown." Glycera "Thy words are trim, If mother deems them true, Thou shalt come with me. ”

“ Like tips of a little maiden's glove, Ere ever she has to buy them. But ours are not the maids to bite A gore or gusset undone; How neat they look, how trim and tight! Those frocks were made in London. Long time, we glance in awe and doubt, Suppressing all frivolity; Till the spirit of the age breaks out, And all is mirth and jollity. One flash, that stole from eyes demure, Hath scattered all convention; And then a pearly laugh makes sure That fun is her intention. The smiling elders march ahead; We dance, without a fiddler, We play at cross-touch, White and Red, Tip-cat, and Tommy Tidier. ”

“ What hath made this great king stagger, Reel, and shriek—"unclean, unclean!" Thunderbolt, or flash of dagger? Nay, 'twas but a garden bean. XVI Brave Pyropus, blood-bespattered, Snorts at men and corpses scattered, Throws his noble chest more wide, Leaps into the leaping tide. Vainly hiss a thousand arrows, Launched at random through the foam; Every stroke the distance narrows Twixt him and his desert home. Sorely tried, and passion-shaken, Long amid her foes forsaken, Now, in tumult of surprise, Lita knows not where she lies. ”

“ She scorns a hundred years of woe% And binds her hair, because the breezes blow. THE MEETING I The wind is hushed, the moon is bright, More stars on heaven than may be told; Young flowers are coying with the light, That softly tempts them to unfold, And trust the night. What form comes bounding from above Down Arafa, the mountain lonely, Afraid to scare its long-lost dove, Yet swift as joy—"It can be only, Only my love!" ”

“ Though art is not encouraged as of old, She is worth a score of nature; I design To manufacture, from these flowers of thine, A silver * talent—or perhaps of gold!" * Lucullus is said to have given two talents for a mere copy of this picture. Glycera "Good heavens, how precious is your Worship's time! Some minds are lowly, others too sublime. Before thee all my simple flowers I spread; Long may they live, when Glycera is dead!" Pausias "The Gods forefend! Fair omen from fair maid— Bright tongue, recall the dark thing thou hast said!" Glycera "Then long live they, with Glycera to aid!" ”